Just Happy to Win

As crazy a sports day this was in Chicago with the hiring of Marc Trestman as Bears coach and the revealing of Manti Te'o's girlfriend hoax, there was indeed a Bulls game.  In Canada to play the Toronto Raptors, it didn't look like a good matchup on paper.  Still, the Raptors made a game of it and five more minutes were needed for a 107-105 win.  Luol Deng hit the game-winner with seconds to play, but it was nearly forgotten when a final three-point attempt by Jose Calderon missed.

On a normal night, Carlos Boozer's 36 points would be a bigger story.  It's not because had he shown more offense down the stretch, there would be no overtime and he might have even reached 50.  Give the Raptors credit for not allowing much from here toward the end.  They knew he was hot and weren't going to let the Bulls take an easy win.  At least he had 12 rebounds to add to his growing double-double total.

Every other starter besides Kirk Hinirch reached double figures.  Deng scored 19, Rip Hamilton had 15 and Joakim Noah joined Boozer on the double-double front with a 16/14 line.  Six of Marco Belinelli's 10 points came from free throws.  He was needed after Hinrich fouled out, a fate shared by Taj Gibson and his eight points.  The Bulls have to be happy they weathered a storm with two of their big names confined to the bench.

As I drove home from North Central's basketball game tonight, I listened to the Bulls postgame show, trying to come up with an angle for tonight's post.  Then, I heard the thought that even though a big lead was blown, the Bulls should just be happy with a win.  That got me thinking about how I watched games when I first got into the team.  If they won, I was happy.  I didn't care about any x-factors or near disasters.  All that mattered was whether they had more points than the other team when the clock hit zero. 

Often times, I think we forget that a win is a win is a win.  For games like tonight, we may find ourselves with thoughts like "They almost blew it!" or "We're in trouble if we keep playing like this!"  That just comes with getting older.  We flirt with a line between realism and cynicism.  Next time a game like this happens (and will likely come sooner than we want), just remember the joy a child feels whenever his/her team wins even when the effort doesn't always produce satisfactory results.  Appreciate that we get to watch basketball nightly this time of year.  Love wins and hate losses.  You love those two prospects or you don't love sports.  It's what they're all about.

Now that I'm finished being philosophical, you can enjoy Friday's game against the Boston Celtics.  That's a team desperately trying to keep their playoff position, though their prospects at one last championship run don't look so hot.  It's in the Garden, always a tough place to play.  The Bulls can win though.  With just the right amount of effort, they can do it.

I promise I won't sound so much like Mister Rogers during my next post.  Just trying to relieve stress from games like this.