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Chicago Bulls Have the NBA's Best Fans
February 5, 2012
Being present at last night's Bulls-Bucks tilt, it was unbelievable to witness the amount of raucous Bulls fans who ventured north to Wisconsin.
Last night, the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee was warped into the United Center North, or the Madhouse in Milwaukee.
Bulls fans are growing accustomed to doing this in their Midwest battles. In last year's playoffs against Indiana, Bulls fans converged on Indianapolis and painted a significant portion of the Conseco Fieldhouse seats red.
Furthermore, when Bulls fans assemble at opposing arenas, they don't do it quietly. The challenge of the night seems to be taking ownership of the building and always exceeding the volume of the hometown crowd. In this quest, Bulls fans seem to always prevail.
It's clear that the support of the Chicago Bulls is avid and consistent. It begs us to ask if the Bulls possess the best fans in the NBA.
The support at the United Center is obvious, as it has been for years. A ticket was hard to find in the Jordan-era, but even immediately after the "Unforgeta-Bulls" moved on, tickets were still a hot commodity.
There were some ugly years in there too, in which the marquee players were Ron Mercer, Eddy Curry, Jalen Rose and Brad Miller. Despite the below average Bulls squads, fans crammed the United Center seats.
They're cramming the Madhouse on Madison all the more these days. And not only the Madhouse on Madison, but also other nearby venues.
Truthfully, Chicago fans appear to take it up a notch at opposing arenas. During last night's introductions, Milwaukee's starting lineups were drowned out by the boo-birds.
It's like the Bulls' fans enter opposing arenas to make a statement, and then they go make it while having a lot of fun in the process.
Now, let's not got overly biased and act like there aren't other teams with great fans. Oklahoma City has their own madhouse, as they've developed a college-like atmosphere in which they color the stadium blue.
And classic, large-market teams like the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and now the Los Angeles Clippers also create a crowd-pleasing environment. I doubt hundreds of Bulls fans would be able to weasel into those arenas. Their devout fans wouldn't allow it.
But it does appear that loyal Chicagoans are attached to the Bulls in a rather unique way. How many teams possess thousands of fans who travel across state lines to catch a game? In this, the fans of Chicago should be respected.
Chicago fans have proven they will support the Bulls through triumph and defeat. Right now, triumph appears to be on the horizon, and you can expect to see plenty of red in the coming weeks, months and years.