Blackhawks vs. Bulls: Which bandwagon should you jump on?
There's only room for two post-season juggernauts in this town
Where teams go to win.
As Chicago sports weekends go, this one’s pretty huge: Not one but two teams kick off their respective playoff runs, with the Blackhawks starting a best-of-seven series against the Nashville Predators and the Bulls squaring off for a best-of-seven against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Each enters the postseason under highly different circumstances with wildly different chances of survival and, while most Chicagoans will be rooting for both, there’s only so much all-encompassing emotional investment any one fan can make. In the spirit of properly rationed allegiance, The A.V. Club offers some suggestions on how best to enjoy Chicago sports’ moment to shine.
Option A: Witness the birth of a new dynasty.
The Hawks are poised to become this city’s next great champion, and with good reason: total team balance. No, they didn’t take the Western Conference title last year, but their 112 points left them one point behind the first-place San Jose Sharks who, by the way, are already choking away a cakewalk of a first-round matchup. The Predators boast a solid team, but the Hawks’ unrivaled combination of a unified core, playoff experience, mighty offense, solid defense, and just-good-enough goaltending makes them the team to beat this year—and for years to come.
Option B: Pull for the scrappy underdog with the fantastic sideshow.
The Bulls finished the season fighting (literally) to stay alive, with center-forward Joakim Noah and guard Derrick Rose hitting their strides down the stretch and the team clinching the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season. Although all signs point to a first-round crushing at the hands of the powerhouse Cavaliers, Noah’s tough talk combined with rampant speculation that these playoffs mark megastar forward LeBron James’ last stand as a Cavalier could make Chicago-Cleveland this spring’s most interesting series for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the games.
Option C: Screw that, they’re both bringing home the hardware.
Because if you’re going to believe, you might as well believe big.
