Game 1, Blog 1.

A couple firsts today:

First game of the Chicago Bulls' 44th campaign. First look at Simpkins' Dickey. Guess we'll see which has more staying power over the next 6 months (last Dickey themed joke written here).

The tip was at 7:00pm, So 5stone and I took off from work at about 5:30, grabbed some cash and headed over toward the UC for some food and beer before the game. Decided to brave the backwards baseball caps and "hey brahs" and go to to WestEnd Tavern. Despite our early arrival, the WestEnd was abuzz with junior date-rapists sporting North Face and "don't-take-no-for-an-answer" attitudes.

5stone spied what appeared to be the last open table, but as we made our way to it, a backward baseball cap moved toward us.

"That's my table."

Backwards baseball cap gestured crudely at the table. On it was a Blackberry. We looked at it, then at Backwards baseball cap. 5stone gives him the eyetalian stinkface and says,

"Oh. Didn't see your little cell phone marker there."

Backwards baseball cap thinks this a joke, and laughs. We don't, and go find an even better table in the corner. A few beers, a couple of sandwiches and we're off the the United Center to open the season with our Chicago Bulls. On our way out, we pass backwards baseball cap's table. It's still just him and his Blackberry. I ask if everyone's having fun. He blinks at me in response.

The walk to the UC is fun, on the way over you can feel the excitement coming from the fans. That's probably the best part of any opening day ... that "Here we go, it's gonna be a great year feeling" that in recent years has dried up before the end of November. Tonight's no different, and even though the opening game is against the loaded Spurs, spirits are high. We walk the long way around to drink it all in.

We make our way up to section 316 and stop at the bar right at our gate for pre-game beers. Before we even get in line the women behind the counter both smile in recognition and say hello. It's moments like these that remind us that when alcoholism isn't ruining lives, it's bringing us together. As per the terms of their employment, both bartenders agree that the Bulls are going to have a good year and will beat the Spurs tonight.

Their optimism turns out to be well founded, but we'll get to that soon.

We make our way to our seats and begin to hash out the business details of our nightly bets. I'm a firm believer that gambling, like bacon, makes everything better, and over the last years I've corrupted Barndogg and 5stone into believing the same. So Bulls games are always rife with contests within the contest.

What we ALWAYS bet on (each wager is worth $5):

- 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th quarter over/under.

- Each of us picks two players from either team, and total points at the end of the game wins the bet.

- The Dunkin Donut Race on the jumbotron.

- The Hinkley Springs truck race on the jumbotron.

- The InflataBull race.

- Tic Tac Toe.

and the grandaddy of them all -- The $1000 souvenir t-shirt catch. Premise is, if you catch a souvenir t-shirt (either dropped from the rafters, tossed from a cheerleader, or shot out of a cannon) the person you're with owes you $1000. We're on the 3rd level, so it doesn't really come into play very often, but there have been a few close calls -- which are stories in and of themselves.

I end up choosing Tim Duncan and Derrick Rose, 5stone gets Tony Parker and Tyrus Thomas. He sets the +/- at 53 for the quarter and I take the over.

We settle into our seats as the Spurs are announced to the Imperial March. It's fitting -- they're a big team, dressed in all black warm ups. Now I know that everyone at this level is supremely gifted, but this has the feeling of High School seniors vs sophomores in dodgeball. As the lineup of Duncan, Parker, Jefferson, McDyess and Finley is announced, I am a bit worried that this will not work out well for the Bulls.

Then the sound begins. It's a really loud, deep, but also clipped noise coming from behind us. I turn around to see an overweight Spurs fan standing, banging his meaty hands together and LOUDLY barking what turns out the word "yeah" after each player is introduced. Great. This is what we'll have to hear all night.

The lights dim and the familiar Chicago Bulls introduction music begins. At center court a very tall ladder stands alone. As the music builds, Benny the Bull appears and begins to dramatically scale the ladder.

So dramatic ... will he dive off the top? Let off fireworks from his lofty perch? Ascend to the heavens on guide wires?

Nope. Benny waves a flag. Yay. Let's get it on and whatnot. The Bulls are loudly supported during their first intros of the year, although I'm a little annoyed at the lack of folks standing to cheer. This is the same team that just gave us one of most memorable 1st rd playoff series ever and we can't stand up to welcome/thank them? Whatever. I stand and represent.

Finally, game time. The Bulls win the tip and off we go. The first quarter was definitely a feeling out process, fairly evenly matched. I'm immediately encouraged for a couple of reasons:

Rose, despite the bum ankle, is moving well. And more importantly, so is the ball. As expected, the Bulls run a ton of high screen rolls, bringing Noah out to set the picks. But when they're not going screen roll, the ball is whipping around the perimeter, with everyone making the right pass. Scoring is evenly distributed, with no Bull breaking out. Bad news is John Salmons is shooting like someone just gave him a basketball for the first time in his life. This keeps up and we'll be wishing for the Ben Gordon era back.

Conversely, Noah looks great. This whole "get in shape thing" that we've been hearing so much about seems to be true. His arms are finally bigger than my wife's and it looks like he can sustain his manic pace up much longer. So although I'm not surprised at how the Bulls are running offense, it's nice to see it functioning effectively. And this style should work well against the older Spurs, make the old, creaky guys switch and recover all night and maybe they'll wear down. First quarter ends with the Spurs up by one 23-22, but the Bulls are definitely beating the Spurs to the punch on rebounds and loose balls. Good news is that the close game has quieted pudgy Spurs fan behind us.

(wagering) 5stone wins the 1st qtr bet with the under. And then deals me a crushing defeat in the InflataBull race. For those who don't know, this race consists of 3 fans putting on huge inflatable Benny the Bull suits, then racing 2 lengths of the court. I have Bull #1, 5stone has #2. Bull #1 just dominates the race, leads wire to wire, or rather, wire to 5 feet from the finish line, where he stops to do a celebratory jig. And gets passed. And costs me $5 bucks. I express my displeasure loudly enough to where 5stone has to explain to the couple seated next to us why his friend is yelling obscenities at a guy in a balloon bull suit. Net result, 5stone up $10.

2nd Qtr. I set the +/- at 50 and 5stone takes the over.

This quarter follows the same script as the first, a tight back and forth affair. Duncan is unstoppable, he's wearing out the backboard on that patented bank shot from the elbow extended. Noah seems content to let him drain that shot all game long, which is a little weird, because Joakim has been everywhere all game long -- around every loose ball, tipping the ball on offensive rebounds, showing hard on high screen and rolls and rebounding like hell. Maybe Vinny still owes Tim money or something, because he seems to be content leaving Noah out there alone to get picked apart.

Good news is Duncan is the Spurs' only bright spot, Ginobli is ineffective off the bench and the much heralded Richard Jefferson is a non-factor. I credit the Bulls here, they were really switching well on defense (can't believe I wrote that) rebounding, (ditto) and staying away from dumb fouls. They're winning the game, and they're doing it at the defensive end! Rose punctuates this by volleyball spiking a Richard Jefferson take off a turnover. This kid is nuts, he simply jumped, hung in the air, waited for Jefferson to go through his series of ball fakes, and then mashed the shot from behind.

Brad Miller is huge for the second unit, they're basically letting him play point guard from the high post; he either dishes to the cutter, or sticks the J if the defense plays pass. He even threw in a couple of the "ball fake, get his man off his feet, then take 15 minutes to drive to the hoop" moves the crowd loves so much. Miller thinks fast, plays slllloooowwww.

Salmons continues to stink up the joint, while other Bulls do things too. Did I mention we drink quite a bit at these games? Probably important to mention. Bulls lead at the half 47-46.

(wagering) I win with the 2nd qtr under, but during a break, we have a new McDonald's hamburger game that 5stone and I bet on. The gist of it is that each team has to make a basket and then put on another layer of a burger costume (bun, lettuce, meat, pickle, bun). 5stone's team changes into a burger much more efficiently than mine. He's still up $10.

Halftime. We do our usual ritual of grabbing a beer and taking a long, leisurely stroll around the 300 level, admiring the rich tapestry that is the Chicago Bulls fan base. Halftime comes to a close, so we grab another beer and return to our seats ready for some second half action. I set the +/- at 50 and 5stone takes the over.

The second half begins and the Bulls just take it to the Spurs. They're outplaying them all over the floor, with Deng, Hinrich and Thomas (welcome to the party) all contributing. It's anything but a picturesque effort, with both teams are shooting like crap -- especially from behind the arc. But the Bulls are again doing all the little things to win, rebounding, second chance buckets, making their free throws. They just plain look tougher than the team who's supposed to be the definition of a tough team. They also get a break when Tony Longoria exits the game for good after a spill. 5stone is not pleased with this turn of events, but Duncan (well on his way to 28, 16, 3) had already earned me 5 bucks. Bulls win the quarter 27-18.

(wagering) I win again with the under, and Hinckley Springs truck #1 comes through for me as well, and suddenly the gambling gods are smiling upon me. 5stone is angered, and takes it out on his beer.

(LuvaBulls) It's the first night for this squad too, and we immediately notice that they've done some housecleaning; lots of fresh, new, eerily permagrinning faces. What's stayed the same is the organization's relentless commitment to below average dancing. The '09 LuvaBulls stagger their way through a few cheesy megamixes culminated by a truly weird group yearbook photo pose finish. Now my guess is the LBs are supposed to be cut from the same cloth as say the Laker Girls, but for some reason it's never really worked. They're pretty -- but not jaw dropping pretty, more like Kappa Kappa Gamma bid day pretty. They dance, but it's not really professional dancing, more like someone plucked them off the bar of a suburban Coyote Ugly, pushed them into some glittery spandex and then threw them out on center court before they had the chance to sober up type dancing.

The 4th qtr begins, and 5stone sets the +/- at 48. I take the over. The final stanza is pretty uneventful, with the Bulls and Spurs for the most part trading buckets. Thomas continues the nice run he started in the 3rd quarter, which is nice because maybe it means he'll start showing the consistency we've all been dying for, but also because 5stone is annoyed he showed up too late. The Spurs take the quarter 21-18 but the Bulls win the game. The crowd is legitimately geeked, and also (full disclosure) a little surprised. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win on opening day against a team more than a few experts have chosen to go to the Finals. If the Bulls play like this at home all year, they're going to be a tough out even on the nights their shooting is off. Exciting stuff.

A couple of numbers jumped out at me:

52. Bulls pulled down 52 rebounds to the Spurs' 44. Doubled them on offensive boards 15-8.

.417. The Bulls shooting percentage. Awful. This has to get better.

9. Only 9 turnovers. This is good for a still young team.

Deng finishes with 17, 9,

Thomas 13, 10

Noah 10,10 (Played way bigger than this)

Rose, 13, 7, 7

Hinrich 14, 2, 6

(wagering) Biggie Bagel takes the Dunkin Donut Race for me -- nice kick over the last 300 pixels, but I call the +/- wrong so 5stone and I end up even. Who cares, Bulls win!