Weekly Round-up #2

Greetings,

It was a bad week for the Chicago Bulls, who played four games, losing three and winning just one. The Bulls are on a West Coast road trip, so they are playing tougher teams, as the Western Conference has just been altogether stronger than the East this year, so I wasn't expecting much; however, I also wasn't expecting a blowout loss to the Sacramento Kings- the worst team in the league. So let's start with that one. 

The Bulls went into Sacramento a game over .500, and put up a complete stinker. There came absolutely no production  from the offensive or defensive side of the ball. Our Nick Friedell summed it up great. 

Nick Friedell ‏@NickFriedell  Feb 3

I'm sick of saying the Bulls are playing ugly basketball. So how would you describe this contest so far?

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When the Bulls have these types of nights, sometimes there is no other words to describe it other than "ugly." That's just their nature. The Bulls always find themselves grinding out games; with no Derrick Rose, they have a tremendously hard time scoring the basketball. Even under those circumstances, they often do come away with victories, most probably due to their defense. When Friedell uses the word "ugly", he isn't necessarily indicating a bad thing, even as he's describing the team with it. Even if you were to ask players on the team, they would probably nod their heads regarding the notion that their style of play doesn't fall in accordance with the aesthetics of the game. When Friedell asks "So how would you describe this contest so far?", I honestly believe he poses that question because he too was lost for words to use besides ugly. Plain and simple, the Bulls play an ugly brand of basketball and nothing is going to change that other than the return of the best scorer, Derrick Rose. 

Our other friend who covers the team, Jason Patt happened to respond to Nick Friedell's tweet in a comical manner.

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   2. 1. Nick Friedell ‏@NickFriedell  Feb 3

         I'm sick of saying the Bulls are playing ugly basketball. So how would you describe this contest so far?

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      2. Jason Patt ‏@Bulls_Jay  Feb 3

         @NickFriedell Vomit inducing

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This tweet appealed to my emotions because I knew exactly what was going on in Jay's mind when he tweeted that. Of course, no game of basketball should ever make you physically sick- unless your playing, but sometimes, when your so passionate about a team whose play is so porous, it does makes you sick. You see, Jason Patt is only half-joking. He most likely didn't actually throw up, but these kinds of games have seemed to become weekly fixtures that they do actually make guys like Jay and I question ourselves on why we tune in every week and put up with this crap. That thought alone almost made me a little nauseous. Obviously, we follow the team because its one of our passions and keep in mind, there have been worse days and there are worse teams (see New York Knicks); however, there have also been better ones, which weren't too long ago and if theres anything that could truly make me sick, it is the fact that we were so close then, and so far away now.

Lastly, the official Twitter account of the Chicago Bulls were also very busy this week, providing a lot of in-game analysis and statistics, yet they even found a way to squeeze in some marketing!

Chicago Bulls ‏@chicagobulls  20h

Tweet a quest. w/ #morelifehappenshere. Best Q read on radio pre gm + 2tix & $5-25 gift card to @Chilis. Info & prizes: http://bit.ly/_cc14 

The tweet asks for followers to send their Bulls related questions to be read on the radio, in order to win 2 300-level tickets and a 25$ gift-card to Chilis. The Bulls have a partnership with Chilis, so it makes sense that it wants to give its' fans some gift cards, so they can spend more money there. It also requires the fans to be listening to the radio station, which also boosts their broadcast ratings. Basically what the Bulls are doing is asking their fans if they want something, so their fans can indirectly give them what they want: $$$. Good move, Bulls.

Aside from that tweet from the Bulls, there was another that I saw as an attempt to appeal to ethos. The tweet was a reminder for those following to tune into the broadcast for the game against Golden State (mainly, to bolster their ratings). It was the wording of the tweet that was a little fishy to me. 

1. Chicago Bulls ‏@chicagobulls  Feb 6

   Joakim Noah and the defensive-minded Bulls visit the Warriors tonight (9:30 p.m. | WGN-TV/TNT | ESPN 1000) #CHIvsGSW pic.twitter.com/EVXbvUjurw

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Note how the tweet describes the team as "the defensive-minded Bulls" in their attempt to sound legit. Sure, the Bulls are definitely a good team defensively, but they aren't the best. Now on the other side of things, how do you think the tweet would sound had they said the 30th ranked offense Bulls? Not as cool, huh? I mean I get it, why would the organization want to make their there team sound less worthy? After all, I'm here to point out things that I notice and only criticize the team a little bit, or maybe a lot. 

   
   

   
   

   Hope you guys enjoyed this weeks reading, till the next time...

   
   

   Matt.