Will the Bulls ever become Chicago's team? (Cleveland: moving, association)

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by Attrill

I think Bulls 91-98 are just as big a deal. They didn't record a cheesy song, and Phil Jackson was much more low key than Ditka, but the city was just as into the team. The '85 Bears may have made a bigger bang at the time, but the Bulls championships run much deeper. For example - Michael Jordan is still seen as more of a symbol of Chicago than any player from the '85 Bears.



That depends on where you live and who you hang out with. On much of the Northside the Cubs are certainly more popular, and the Cubs have many fans that are all over the country. Within Chicago as a whole though I think it is evenly split (I say this as a Northside Sox fan).



Yeah, the problem with the Blackhawks is the problem with the NHL. Hockey has never had the popularity of other sports, and the '94-95 lockout was a huge blow to the NHL as a whole. The creation of the IHL and AHL along with the success of the Wolves has also drawn off some support for the Hawks.

Overall I think it feels like Football gets more attention than Basketball due to the limited number of games. Each football game certainly gets more coverage and fan support, but basketball and baseball get longer and more sustained coverage and fan support. They're two different things.

I also don't see any need to declare a team "Chicago's Team" - they're all Chicago teams. To be honest I think it's a stupid thing that football teams like to push (i.e. the Cowboys calling themselves "America's Team" - it's all BS).

good point the cowboys being called americas team
why ? and where did that ever come from?
who came up with that crazy idea!
people say the same about the yankees

[SJaye]

Originally Posted by Swandaddy

Two advantages the Bulls have (and maybe the Bears and the Hawks too but IDK since I'm not a Bears expert) are 1: they are in the largest city to have only one NBA team (as LA and NY both have multiple basketball and hockey teams), and 2: they built up a huge global following with the Jordan era.

LA is kind of complicated, as the Clippers are kind of a joke compared to the Lakers. They never developed anything close to the fan base the Lakers did. We'll see if Blake Griffin changes that, but it has always appeared that the Lakers pretty much had an 80-90% share of basketball fans in that area.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by linicx

I wonder where some of the polls are taken? I think baseball is more popular in the Midwest, but I could be wrong; I'm not an avaid sports fan.

I am not an avid sports fan either but I can certainly see where baseball is more popular in the midwest -

[prelude91]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

I am not an avid sports fan either but I can certainly see where baseball is more popular in the midwest -

Other than possibly St. Louis, I cant really think of a midwest city where Baseball is more popular than Football:

Chicago: Bears over Cubs/Sox (pretty close though)
Milwaukee: Packers over Brewers
MPLS: Vikings over Twins
KC: Chiefs over Royals
STL: Card over Rams
Indy: Colts over ___
Cleveland: Browns and Indians probably equal
Cincy: Im not sure

I think the Northeast is the only region where Baseball is king: Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies

[Drover]

Originally Posted by ole69

Your whole "sport as novelty" approach mystifies me, though. You either enjoy the sport of it or you don't.

Well then let me try to demystify it for you. It's really not the either/or you paint it out to be. There's a lot of people in between who enjoy watching their favored teams when they're winning and don't enjoy watching them when they're losing. Also, watching athletes do their thing isn't the only reason to watch sports -- it's a peer activity, fosters a sense of belonging, togetherness, common interest, etc. The intensity of that interest can come and go with a team's fortunes. For those folks, enduring a losing season is more bearable if the losing doesn't drag on for dozens and dozens of games. To paraphrase the original quote, will the Bulls ever replace the Bears as "Chicago's team?" For the foregoing reasons, my answer is "no" unless they manage to put together a Lakers-like dynasty and keep it going.

Originally Posted by ole69

Fun factoid: During the last NFL labor strife, teams employed scabs. The Chicago Bears "Spare Bear" QBs were Tim Hofstedder (sp?) and Sean Payton, future HC of the New Orleans Saints.

Ah yes, Sean Payton, proud product of my alma mater along with Tony Homo and Mike Shanahan who both played and coached there.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

good point the cowboys being called americas team
why ? and where did that ever come from?
who came up with that crazy idea!
people say the same about the yankees

Why, the Cowboys of course.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by prelude91

Other than possibly St. Louis, I cant really think of a midwest city where Baseball is more popular than Football:

Chicago: Bears over Cubs/Sox (pretty close though)
Milwaukee: Packers over Brewers
MPLS: Vikings over Twins
KC: Chiefs over Royals
STL: Card over Rams
Indy: Colts over ___
Cleveland: Browns and Indians probably equal
Cincy: Im not sure

I think the Northeast is the only region where Baseball is king: Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies

That poll doesn't state that baseball is king, the NFL has been forever. It simply says baseball is more popular than basketball.

[ole69]

Originally Posted by Drover

Well then let me try to demystify it for you. It's really not the either/or you paint it out to be. There's a lot of people in between who enjoy watching their favored teams when they're winning and don't enjoy watching them when they're losing. Also, watching athletes do their thing isn't the only reason to watch sports -- it's a peer activity, fosters a sense of belonging, togetherness, common interest, etc. The intensity of that interest can come and go with a team's fortunes. For those folks, enduring a losing season is more bearable if the losing doesn't drag on for dozens and dozens of games. To paraphrase the original quote, will the Bulls ever replace the Bears as "Chicago's team?" For the foregoing reasons, my answer is "no" unless they manage to put together a Lakers-like dynasty and keep it going.

Ah yes, Sean Payton, proud product of my alma mater along with Tony Homo and Mike Shanahan who both played and coached there.

Oh, you meant band wagoners!

Shanny was a QB there too right?

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by Drover

Well then let me try to demystify it for you. It's really not the either/or you paint it out to be. There's a lot of people in between who enjoy watching their favored teams when they're winning and don't enjoy watching them when they're losing. Also, watching athletes do their thing isn't the only reason to watch sports -- it's a peer activity, fosters a sense of belonging, togetherness, common interest, etc. The intensity of that interest can come and go with a team's fortunes. For those folks, enduring a losing season is more bearable if the losing doesn't drag on for dozens and dozens of games. To paraphrase the original quote, will the Bulls ever replace the Bears as "Chicago's team?" For the foregoing reasons, my answer is "no" unless they manage to put together a Lakers-like dynasty and keep it going.

Ah yes, Sean Payton, proud product of my alma mater along with Tony Homo and Mike Shanahan who both played and coached there.

Yes these are all valid points I espicially agree with you the belonging and the togerness. Now that I think about "it" its pretty cool when on any given fall sunday afternoon you see the whole area with either a white or a blue or a rare orange jersey on

For that matter it is nice to see someone wear a cubbie hat or a sox hat
and wow the lakers are probably one of sports all time great legacies!
To think Chicago had Jackson-

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Why, the Cowboys of course.

Yeah I gues but they were better to watch back in the 90's
If your a cowboy fan that is good too , good buddy of mine loves them
so i wont argue this fact out of sheer respect to my friend