Jonesin' Around: Circ and the City

As this is my first post at Pro Basket-blog, I'd like to start by saying that I am thankful to Mr. Becker for opening his doors to a select few other writers, including myself. It is an honor and a privilege to contribute to this soon-to-be giant of basketball opinions.

In dealing with the lighter aspects of the sport, and having not yet graduated from the Bill Simmons' School of Writing, my posts will be more brief than that of my fellow bloggers.

I'd also like to state that the opinions I express are mine alone, and not reflective of the other writers.

Let's begin.

In dealing with tradition, we must acknowledge that some of them have run their course. For example, hazing freshmen during senior year - while entertaining and filled with vengeance - is something we can all do away with. It is an immediate kick in the self esteem pants for young students trying to start off a new school year.

This is essentially what happens every year during the Bulls Circus Trip.

For those of you unfamiliar, every season the Chicago Bulls play somewhere around 6 or 7 games away from home, in a row. This usually happens somewhere within the first month of the NBA year. It's known as the Circus Trip, because during this span the United Center (the Bulls' home) plays host to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

This isn't very inviting.

It sounds innocent, and even a little fun. Who doesn't like tight rope walkers and animals jumping through flaming hoops? I mean, I get the appeal. It's just not good for basketball.

The Bulls have historically faired poorly during this stretch, at one point losing 37 games straight. That's 5 plus years of an awful annual tradition. It's as if the world is hobbling the team right out of the gate, standing over them, and commanding, "Now march!"

But it isn't the world, it's the circus.

Stop mocking me!

Here's some ideas to solve the issue:

1) Move the acts to a different venue - Simple, rational, doable.

2) Hire PETA to boycott the event months in advance - Not the "high road," but people would think PETA was just up to their crazy ways.

3) Explode the circus - Totally irrational, but very effective.

Bottom line: the circus trip is not fun for the whole family. In fact, the family hates it. One night of drunk clowns versus 7 possible Bulls victories is not that difficult of a decision to make. For the good of the Chicago Bulls, we should seriously evaluate changing this tradition.

However, If it stays a tradition (and this blog has no sway on the universe) then at the very least Ringling, Ringling, Barnum, and Bailey should give all Bulls fans a treat. Personally, I'd love to see an elephant on roller skates playing the harmonica. That'd be worth an 0-for.

The choice is yours.

Toodle-doo-doo-duh-duh-duh-doo-doo-doo do,

Tapan Jones