Crazy-Talk

I have to give the Bulls some credit: They have rebounded and notched two wins in a row. Granted, those wins came against Milwaukee and the New York Knicks—not exactly your upper echelon NBA franchises—but hey, wins are wins and the Bulls just increased their win total on the season by 22 percent.

What happens next is anyone’s guess. Will Ben Gordon be happy coming off the bench? Will they continue to play hard even if they go on another losing streak?

If the Bulls get it together enough to make the playoffs, there are sure to be people who will say the firing of Scott Skiles was justified and that the team is better off without him. But saying that misses the point. The point here is—and this won’t change with win streaks or playoff appearances—that this team of overpaid babies didn’t get their way and quit on their coach, which in turn got their coach fired on Christmas Eve. That’s a behavior trait, one that wins won’t alter.

The Bulls could go on to win it all, but that alone won’t change my perspective. What would change it is if the players collectively dedicated a winning season to Skiles, and issued a group statement saying they took responsibility for his firing, that they regretted acting like petulant adolescents who didn’t get to borrow the car, and called for him to be reinstated.

Skiles is gone for good, of course, but it would be a nice gesture. I’m not gonna hold my breath, though. It’d be more likely that Mayor Daley would start off the new year by taking responsibility for corruption in city hiring and in the police department, vow to throw the bums out, and then actually throw the bums out.

But that’s all just crazy-talk. The short days and lack of sunlight does strange things to my brain this time of year.

Happy New Year.

The Indignant Citizen