We Need To Be Better

     I can't get a break! On my father's grave, I was going to write something light-hearted and maybe even humorous! I even showed a list of topics to a board member (who shall remain nameless) of TheGolfRoom who suggested, in the strongest possible terms, that I muse about topic "D"...the FUNNY one! "Get off my lawn is fine, Peter," she chided. "But not every single time! Really? Next thing you know, your sainted stepfather will be taking YOU to the hospital for some type of stress attack! Lighten up!" It drives me crazy when other people are right... But this topic really annoys me, as I hope, it will you. This space will be funny next time! Maybe... 

    At the United Center in Chicago where the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association play their home games, they had a little ceremony last week (maybe you read about it). The ceremony was to induct the Michael Jordan Era Bulls teams into the very first Chicago Bulls "Ring of Honor" (it took them this long to have a Ring of Honor? Anyway...). Now, this is not only a no-brainer, but it's a big deal. I know enough about basketball to know that those Jordan-led teams won 3 NBA titles in a row...TWICE! That's SIX titles in a span of 8 years (1990-1998) for those of you out on the West Coast! Those teams were great...I mean, really GREAT! And it probably would have been 8 or 9 titles IN A ROW (which is Bill Russell/Boston Celtics stuff) if "Be Like Mike" hadn't decided that baseball was a viable option for him. Really?...Mike?...Cmon, man? Ugh... But we all get that. His Dad had just been murdered (bow your heads) and he needed to get away. So that, as they say, is history.

    But, and there's always a BUT... That Bulls dynasty was still special. And because it's sports, you get all kinds of dopey sports-bar, and sports talk-radio dopes yapping about the greatest NBA team ever....blah, blah, blah! And while we will not indulge in that type of low-rent, sports-talk here, feel free to give me a call and try to tell me there's a better team than the '86 Celtics, I'll do my best not to hang up on you!! You also get a celebration of teams such as those Bulls' teams; and the Chicago Bulls organization did just that. They set aside a night where they would roll out the red carpet and dip into their past (because, let's be honest, the Bulls have absolutely sucked since then) and pay homage to greatness. 

    So here we are, the United Center for a meaningless Bulls game in 2024 (because, as I said, they currently suck), and it's only January, because you have to remember the NBA season runs FOREVER. So the red carpet was rolled out and most of the players and coaches and executives of that historic run were hailed. Kind of like Caesar and the crew rolling into the Colosseum for one last hurrah! And everybody got their last Chicago day in the sun; from Jordan, to Scottie Pippen, to former head coach Phil Jackson. EVERYBODY! Well...almost everybody. 

    You know who didn't get his one last hurrah? Jerry Krause. Who the hell is Jerry Krause, you ask? Well, Jerry Krause was the General Manager of the Bulls at the time...you know, the guy who usually, and in this case was, the architect. The guy who puts teams together...whether it's football, basketball, baseball...doesn't matter. The GM does the roster work. And Krause did the roster work, assembling GREAT teams. Let me repeat that for those of you on the West Coast. He assembled multiple GREAT teams over 8 years that not only had to cope with Michael Jordan's extraordinary talent, but also his extraordinary ego. That ain't easy, and if anyone tells you it is...they're an idiot. 

    By all accounts it was a great night...until. Until what , Boss? Until Mr. Krause was introduced, my four-legged friend. Now, Krause was introduced posthumously, because, well, he's dead. He died almost 7 years ago. And because he was dead, he was represented by his widow, Thelma, who is 80-years-old. So, they bring Mrs. Krause out, who can barely walk, and announce her dead husband's name (you know, the guy who BUILT those teams that won SIX titles in EIGHT years) over the hi-tech sound system...and...they let loose with a chorus of boos! Really? I just saw the video on various sports casts and "YouTube". It was awful. I mean, I've booed in various arenas over the decades. But this was bad. It was Philadelphia-like! Philadelphia sports-fans might be the most neanderthal-like fans in this section of the Milky Way! And I say that with all due respect to Neanderthals! But this was awful. 

    This woman, a widow mind you, was sitting in front of 20,000 people, hoping to represent her dead husband who was being honored for putting together one of the great dynasties in sports. And these fans are killing her! And because professional sports doesn't mean as much to me as it once did, I found myself thinking... "Is this what it's come to? We're so wrapped up in this shit (meaning sports), that we can't hold on to any sense of our humanity?" Look, I'm not trying to be holier-than-thou about modern sports fandom. I usually have better things to think, or write about. But, man...this was bad. She starts crying and she's trying to fight it off because she knows she's in the spotlight AND she's on local and national television, and she can't do it! She just lets go. Awful.

    Now, do people want to kill Krause for how that dynasty ended? Have at it. I can make an argument that he screwed it up and cost the Bulls two or even three more championships. But is that really the point on this particular night? I think not. To cascade his widow with a shower of vitriol is obscene and speaks to a larger problem that I've been tiptoeing around, or maybe not so tiptoeing around, for a while now. Also, I don't want to sound like a hypocrite here, either. I hurled a few "Boos," and other remarks the other night at a rally that some may have seen as out of line. I can make the argument that there is a time and place for that. But I think intelligent people can agree that this particular night in Chicago was not one of those times and places. 

    In some ways, we seem to be witnessing the descent of man. I return to the word Civitas. And while I'm cognizant of the fact that behavior like this has always been with us, it saddens me that human beings in the 21st century refuse to embrace what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature." We need to work harder. And we need to be better.

write to Peter: magtour@icloud.com