Chicago

Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are a professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They play in the National Basketball Association. The team was founded in 1966, and has won six NBA Championships since.

Early years

The Chicago Bulls are actually the third NBA team in Chicago, after the Packers/Zephyrs (now the Washington Wizards) and the Stags (1946-1950). Today, the Bulls occasionally wear the throwback blue and red jerseys from the Stags. The team began play for the 1966-67 season, and immediately posted the best record by an expansion team in NBA history, qualifying for the playoffs. During its first two seasons, the Bulls played a majority of their home games at the International Amphitheatre, before moving all of their home games to the Chicago Stadium. Over the next few years, the Bulls assembled the pieces to be competitive, though they never quite reached the top. During the 1970s, the Bulls were known as a tough, defensive-minded team, built around hard-nosed defender Jerry Sloan, forwards Bob Love and Chet Walker, point guard Norm Van Lier, and center Tom Boerwinkle. Nevertheless, the team only won one division title, and never made it to the Finals.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the team had hit the cellar of the league. The Bulls fortunes would have been forever changed were it not for a simple coin flip. In 1979, the Bulls lost a coin flip for the right to pick first in the NBA draft (Rod Thorn, the Bulls General Manager, called "heads"). Had the Bulls won the toss, they would have selected the great Magic Johnson; instead, they selected David Greenwood with the second pick.

Artis Gilmore, acquired in the ABA dispersal-draft in 1976, led a Bulls squad which included guard Reggie Theus, forward David Greenwood, and forward Orlando Woolridge. After Gilmore was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for center Dave "Mean"  Corzine, the Bulls employed a high-powered offense centered around Theus, and which soon included guards Quentin Daly and Ennis Whatley. However, with continued dismal results, the Bulls decided to change directions, trading Theus during the 1983-84 season.

Starting Lineup Introductions

The Chicago Bulls was the first NBA team to dim its lights during the starting lineup introductions of home games. Other teams around the league soon followed suit. During the Bulls' run of dominance, the player introductions became world famous. The organization found the perfect public address announcer in Ray Clay to match the music, Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius", for all six championship runs. The lights are first dimmed during the visiting team introduction, which uses the song On The Run by Pink Floyd. Then essentially all lights are shut off for the Bulls introduction. Coincidentally, Alan Parsons wrote Sirius for his own band and was the sound engineer for On the Run from Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon. As a tradition, Scottie Pippen was always the first Bulls player introduced, and Michael Jordan the last. Although internal disputes eventually led to the dismissal of Clay, a modified version of "Sirius" is still used. To this day, the Bulls' starting intro is widely regarded as the best in professional sports.

Black shoe tradition

The Bulls have an unofficial tradition of wearing black shoes (regardless of being home or away) during the playoffs, which dates all the way back to 1989 when they debuted the tradition. It was noted when the Bulls made their first playoff appearance during the 2004-05 season after a six year hiatus, they went back to the tradition and sported black shoes. They were also the first NBA team to outfit the black socks with black shoes when they made their championship run during the 1996 playoffs. Starting with the 1999 playoffs, this fashion became the norm around the NBA.

Uniform and logo

The Bulls' have three different uniforms: a white home uniform, a red road uniform, and a black alternate road uniform. The design of the white and red sets are nearly identical, with the team name featured on the front over the number, and the player's last name over the number on the back. The shorts have the Bulls logo in a diamond shaped design on the sides of the legs. The less-often used black uniform shares the same design as the white and the red ones, except that "Bulls" is replaced with "Chicago" on the front of the jersey.

The Bulls wear white shoes during the regular season, but black shoes during the playoffs. This unofficial tradition goes back to the Jordan era. The Bulls also wear only their red uniform on the road during the playoffs.

The Bulls' logo is a red bull's face with an angry expression. The horns are tipped with blood.

occasionally - иногда

majority - большинство

flip - подбрасывание в воздухе

coin flip - щелчек монеты

to dim- тускнеть

lineup - выстраивать

acquired - приобретённый

dismal - мрачный

strict - строгий

hiatus - пропуск

implement-осуществлять

humbleness - скромность