Don't Let the Name Fool You

I went to my first Chicago Bulls game tonight. Mike scored some free tickets from a vendor so we hopped on over to the United Center after work.

Now I had never been to a professional basketball game before, and even though our seats weren't anything to brag about, I was still looking forward to it. I was kind of surprised though by one major aspect to the game. There's a lot of crap going on. I had a hard time figuring out when the game was on and when it was off. There were a few times when I'd glace away during a fan contest or some music montage only to realize the game unbeknown to me had resumed. There was so much going on I wasn't sure where to look when. We didn't even stay through the second half, however in the short time we were there we saw was a bat spin make a shot game, an inflatable bulls race, a virtual bottled water drag race and two dance numbers. And the music. I'm used to sporting events where music only plays when the game action has stopped. At the United Center though, it was constant.

Although the game didn't really capture my interest, I was glad we went for one and one reason only - the second dance performance. The first was predictably by the Luvabulls cheerleaders. Snore. If I wanted to see girls gyrating their hips and flinging their hair around I could go to any old Lincoln Park bar on a dollar beer night. The second dance performance was exponentially awesome-r. It was by the Swinging Seniors. (I highly recommend you click on that link. And then I dare you not to smile.)

Contrary to what the name might tell you, the Swinging Seniors didn't appear to be a sect of free loving grannies and gramps who were looking for a good key party. Instead they came out in their headbands, sweats and Bulls jerseys and performed a little dance to a medley of Old Time Rock 'n Roll and Great Balls of Fire. And while their hip movements may not have been as in sync as the Luvabulls, and one of the grannies may have dropped her hula hoop, the joy on their faces more than made up for the lack of their technical skills. In fact, it more than made up for my rather confusing and somewhat disappointing Bulls experience.