Top Ten reasons to keep watching Chicago baseball

To put it simply, Chicago baseball has been difficult to watch right now. The Cubs were supposed to run away with the poor NL Central and while the Sox expectations were not high, the sporadic hitting has made it frustrating to pay attention. But it's times like these that separate the real fans from the phonies. Real fans are going to pay attention while fake fans are going to continue to file into Wrigley. (BOOM... ROASTED!) But there are a ton of reasons why you the fan should continue to watch, Below are the top 10.

10. Cub Milestones
Both Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly are shooting for their 100th wins of their career. Big Z is on 99 while Lilly is not too far behind with 95. Both TV announcing crews do a great job honoring marks like that, making the games that much more fun to watch.

9. Gordon Beckham
Beckham will most likely be up in the bigs by mid-June, and he is surely the most anticipated prospect to be called up for the Sox in the last 10 years. Where he will play is interesting also, as he has ties to play third, short, second and even played a little center in spring training. How sick would it be if he created an Evan Longoria-like spark and didn't miss a beat in the move to the bigs?

8. Slumping stars
Derek Lee and Alexei Ramirez have been downright pitiful this season. Neither are hitting over .210, and both need to succeed if the team is going to win. Both have been rightfully benched. Alexei should turn it around within the next few weeks while a veteran like Lee just needs to find his stroke. Regardless, these make for interesting story lines, as Ramirez and D-Lee are key components for their respective teams.

7. Carlos Quentin



Quentin went into the season with something to prove after the should-have-been MVP broke his hand. And Carlos hasn't let himself down. While his average has dipped to .245, his on-base is .352. He had an early lead on the home run title but Carlos Pena has just been on a tear (yay for fantasy baseball). If he can up up the average there is no doubt we will see numbers similar to his 2008.

6. Pitching
There are so many interesting story lines with the pitching for both teams. Buehrle has been awesome while Floyd and Danks have both looked good too (Danks needs to turn things around though), but the senior citizen duo of Colon and Contreras have been subpar. Meanwhile on the North side, the big four have done enough, but Zambrano and Dempster have not lived up to expectations. Oh, and both bullpens have been disastrous.

5. What else you going to do?
Alright, the Hawks are still playing, so it's hard to make this argument, but they play once every three days. And all ESPN talks about is Manny, A-Rod and Brett Favre so by default I have steered clear of that.

4. Milton Bradley
This might be unfair because I have never met Bradley (or any major leaguer for that matter), but he is out of his mind. All of the fan's fears have come true, almost as if he is trying to be an idiot. It's only a matter of time before he does something even more ludicrous than he has already done and I want to be there when it happens.

3. Two explosive managers



The only good thing about both teams not playing well is the fact that the likelihood of a manager rant escalates. And as we have said a million times before, Ozzie and Lou are baseball's two greatest "ranters." We're coming up on the one-year anniversary of Guillen throwing Ken Williams under the bus for lack of offense. I'd just settle for another blowup doll incident at this point.

2. Red Line series
Now the games don't start until mid-June, but it's never too early to start discussing Chicago baseball's most anticipated regular-season games. Last year was one of the more memorable six-game sets, with the Cubs taking the first three at Wrigley followed by a Sox sweep at the Cell. While you cannot ever expect another Michael Barrett punch, something outlandish along those lines would make for interesting contests.

1. It's May
As long as you can the games back to a minimum, come August, if you're playing good ball, that's all that matters. The Sox are three games out in a division led by the Royals while the Cubs -the most talented team in MLB on paper- are 2.5 games out and should turn it around. Almost anybody can win both divisions, and even if both teams were 10+ games out right now, I wouldn't be worried.

Top Ten reasons Brett Favre to the Vikings would be good for the Bears

Rumor has it that Brett Favre is out for revenge. Even though reports came out yesterday that he’s going to say retired, chances are he’ll change his mind by next week. John Madden’s man-crush was supposedly talking with the Minnesota Vikings about joining their team so he can get back at his old team, the Green Bay Packers, who told him to go away last summer. Which team benefits most from this? Da Bears. Here are ten reasons why Bears fans should be excited about the possibility of having #4 back in the division.

10. May lead to less rushing from Vikings

Adrian Peterson is a running back, probably the best in the NFL. If the Vikings and coach Brad Childress were smart, he’d get the ball to AP 30 times a game. Brett Favre is a quarterback whose best seasons were a decade ago. If the Vikings and coach Childress were smart, he’d throw the ball as little as possible. Thankfully Childress isn’t smart and signing Farve is sure to make Minnesota a pass-happy team.

9. Confused Packer fans

Imagine Derek Jeter suiting up for the Red Sox or Tyler Hansbrough slapping the floor at Cameron Indoor wearing Duke blue. That’s what it will be like if Favre plays for the Vikings. Green Bay fans won’t know if they should root for their favorite team or the greatest player in their franchise’s history. This may not help the Bears directly, but it will be hilarious watching the Cheese-heads argue with themselves about where their loyalty lies.

8. Takes pressure off Jay Cutler

Having Brett Favre back in the NFC North immediately takes the spotlight off the Bears new signal-caller. All preview stories on the division will lead with the Favre, with the second story being Green Bay’s reaction to Favre. The Bears biggest trade in decades will be pushed to the back, which means Cutler should be able to learn the offense and adjust to his new teammates without the pressure of intense media scrutiny.

7. Wasted draft picks

In the 2006 Draft, the Vikings took QB Tarvaris Jackson in the second round. A couple years later, they took another quarterback, John David Booty, in the fifth round. Then over the winter, Minnesota traded a fourth round pick for yet a third quarterback, Sage Rosenfels. That’s a lot of draft picks to use for a position that will end up going to a player that will turn 40 in October.

6. Interceptions

If you thought Rex Grossman was irritating throwing picks, take a peek at #4. No player threw more interceptions than Favre’s 22 in 2008, and only once since 2004 has he thrown more touchdowns than interceptions. That’s good news for opposing defenses, bad news for Minnesota wideouts Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin.

5. He’s bad in cold weather

In four December games last year with the Jets, Favre threw a grand total of two touchdowns and eight interceptions; New York went 1-3. The year before, in a December game at Solider Field, Favre threw for only 153 yards and tossed another two interceptions. Call it a coincidence, but the Vikings visit to Chicago in 2009 is on the Monday night of December 28. Better pack your gloves Brett.

4. Makes NFC North must-see

The Bears trade for Cutler was the biggest NFL story of the off-season. The Lions drafting Matt Stafford #1 and giving him the biggest signing bonus in league history was pretty important too. Then you add Favre returning to the Vikigs, creating an Aaron Rodgers vs. Brett Favre / apprentice vs. teacher battle, and the black and blue division got a lot more interesting than it was when 2008 ended.

3. Brett vs. Lovie

People have this perception that Favre dominated the Bears over his career in green and gold. But since Loive Smith’s hiring in 2004, the Bears were 6-2 against Favre’s Packers. One of those losses was the 2006 season finale on New Years Eve, where the Chicago defense rested in the second half and Rex Grossman refused to prepare because he had to figure out where to party. Lovie may not be the most popular coach these days, but his ability to consistently beat the Favre counts for something.

2. Age

Of the eight division winning quarterbacks in 2008, only one - Kurt Warner - was over the age of 35. Favre is 39, set to reach the four-decade mark in October. Combine the age with the wear and tear of playing in 291 consecutive regular season and playoff games, and Brett Favre is John McCain old in football terms. If he has a season like Warner’s ‘08, the Bears are screwed. But if he acts like McCain in ’08, well, we all know how that turned out.

1. Gives us our enemy back

We might not like to admit it, but Bears fans kinda missed Favre last year. We missed the way he used to throw that bullet pass between two defenders for a Green Bay touchdown and follow it up by missing a wide open receiver and throwing a pick. We missed that little smirk of his when he would take a big hit and pretend like it didn’t hurt him. So having him back in the division will be good. Plus it buys some more time to build up hatred of Aaron Rodgers.

Top Ten 2005 White Sox that should return to the South Side

NOTE: TODAY MARKS OUR 300TH TOP TEN LIST SINCE WE BEGAN THIS SITE. CONGRATS TO THE ENTIRE TTCS CREW AND A BIG THANKS TO ALL OF OUR READERS BECAUSE WITHOUT YOU, WE'D BE NOTHING.

On to today's list.

Watching Scott Podsednik return to the White Sox really brought back some fond memories from 2005. And to everyone's surprise, he's actually been productive since making his debut on May 1.

So it got us thinking. With the Sox seemingly bogged down in mediocrity, who else from that 2005 squad could help them right now?

10. Shingo Takatsu

Two reasons:
1. The gong
2. The Frisbee pitch

9. Freddy Garcia

If Jose Contreras can’t break out of the funk he’s found himself in since the team broke camp, it’ll be sayonara to the prehistoric Cuban.

Sweaty Freddy could be had on the cheap and could fill the spot nicely if he can prove that his shoulder has healed from reconstructive surgery.

8. Luis Vizciano

Every bullpen in the bigs needs help in the bullpen, regardless of what the stats say. Vizciano may not be great, but he's serviceable and might feel good making a return to the South Side after being released by the Cubs in late April.

7. Geoff Blum

The sparsely used Blum is remembered only for his game-winning home run against the Houston Astros in extra innings in the World Series.

Not a bad way to be remembered in one of the greatest sports cities in the world.

He's now a reserve third baseman for the Astros and could be a stopgap until the Sox ultimately decide what to do at that position if Josh Fields fails.

6. Frank Thomas

Why not?

You're talking about one of the greatest, NON-STEROID sluggers in the history of baseball. The Big Hurt is lounging at home, still waiting for a phone call from a potential MLB franchise willing to sign him.

Should he get a call from the Sox?

5. Willie Harris

It's frightening to think that Fast Willie would actually be an upgrade over our current center field options.

He wouldn't be tough to pry away from the Nationals, a team that rarely finds time for him in the lineup.

4. Joe Crede

It's painful to see Crede rocking a Twins jersey these days. The Sox are scuffling along right now with a project in Josh Fields and miss the solid glove work Crede provided on a full time basis since 2003.

But the reality is Joe Crede will never be the player he could have been. Back problems are a death sentence for professional athletes and Crede is on his way down that path.

3. Brandon McCarthy

Sox fans were appalled when Kenny Williams traded away a kid that was once thought to be the future ace of the staff. In 2005 he performed at a level well beyond his years and seemed destined to be the next big thing.

He's since had his struggles since donning the Texas Rangers uniform but is off to a hot start in 2009 that includes a win over the White Sox this past Saturday.

2. Jon Garland

Garland, believe it or not, has been the model of consistency during his time in the bigs and would be a welcome addition to a Sox staff lacking just that.

He's made at least 32 starts for seven consecutive seasons and fell just short of recording his fifth consecutive season with 200+ innings pitched.

1. Aaron Rowand

Sox fans clamored for their 2005 starting center fielder when he left Philadelphia as a free agent, but the money didn't make sense and Rowand ended up with the Giants.

Rowand would be the perfect fit at this team's most glaring positional weakness in center field. He's a great clubhouse presence and would immediately bring a gold glove and above average bat back to the South Side.

Top Ten notable White Sox stats

Today marks what should be the one month anniversary of the start of the 2009 White Sox season. Mother Nature ended up delaying it by a day, but I post every Wednesday not every Thursday, so deal with it. Here are ten notable Sox stats through the first month of the season.

10. 3.23
Mike MacDougal's WHIP

We were shocked when MacDougal made the Sox' opening day roster, but at least the damage was limited to only five games. Small sample size, sure, but a major league pitcher almost has to try to allow to allow more than three walks plus hits per inning.

MacDougal has to be much more comfortable now that he's in Washington, where he should fit right in with a whole slew of terrible relievers.

9. .288/.342/.379
Chris Getz's triple slash hitting stats

Two questions dogged the Sox in Spring Training: a) who's going to play center field (more on that in a sec...), and b) who's going to hit leadoff? While the Sox are a world away from solving the first problem, it didn't take long to figure out the second.

Most expected Getz to be able to hit major league pitching eventually, but it's a bit of a surprise that he figured it out so quickly. Getz had just seven career major league at-bats heading into this season, but has already proven himself to be a capable hitter atop the order.

8. .293/.381/.500 (in AA)
Gordon Beckham's triple slash hitting stats

To all those already clamoring for Becks in Chicago, please stop. The kid is going to be a great pro, but the Sox don't want to risk it by rushing him. You'll find Beckham in AAA midway through this season, and in the majors by 2010.

As for Ozzie Guillen's recent declaration that Beckham is shortstop, well, we urge him to look at another stat: errors. Beckham has seven of them in just 24 games. Sure, errors isn't the best way to measure a defender since it doesn't account for range, but few thought Beckham would be able to stick at short even when the Sox drafted him. I wonder if he could play center field.

Oh yeah: Tyler Flowers (.314/.444/.571) and Brandon Allen (.284/.343/.474) are holding their own in Birmingham, too.

7. 18
Gavin Floyd's walks (in 34.1 innings)

Control has been the biggest reason why Floyd's ERA is 6.2 right now. He's had two straight up terrible outings: a seven walk performance against the Tigers and a five walk performance against the Blue Jays. His WHIP, while not MacDougal like, still isn't pretty at 1.75.

6. .105
AJ's runners thrown out percentage

It's no secret that AJP struggles behind the plate. When the Sox signed him, a friend of mine wondered if the Sox thought people were only trying to steal the pitcher's mound. But even by his standards, Pierzynski has been awful this year at throwing out runners.

So far, he's 2-for-19 on the year.

5. 24
John Danks' age

If not for Danks' last two starts, this stat would have been his immaculate ERA or WHIP. But, alas, Danks was pumbled his last two outings. It's important to remember that the Sox' best pitcher is only 24, though. We'll give him a pass for what happened in Texas (aka Coors of the AL), but he gets no excuses against the lifeless Mariners.

4. 8 homers, .516 slugging
Carlos Quentin's power numbers

So much for last season's wrist injury draining Q!'s power. While it'd be nice if he could raise that batting average 20 or so points (don't put it past him), the Sox have to be pleased with what Quentin has given them the first month.

3. .255
Alexei Ramirez's on-base percentage

We knew Alexei's OBP would always be batting average dependant, so maybe his BA - .211 - should be the stat here. But .255 is too ugly a number to pass up. It's, dare I say, Uribe-like.

I'm really not all that concerned, though: as the weather starts to get warmer, so should Che's bat.

2. .238/.288/.167
The batting averages of the three center fielders (Wise, Anderson, Lillibridge)

Dewayne Wise is simply not an everyday major league center fielder (let alone a leadoff hitter). Brent Lillibridge is a bench player at best, and is better suited in the infield than in center anyway. The middle number there belongs to Brian Anderson - and hey! - it's actually not so bad. But for now, BA is on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique.

1. 3.5
Games back of the division leading Royals

Call me crazy, but I'm still pretty optimistic about these Sox. Alexei won't be this bad forever, and neither will Floyd. No one on the offense is really outperforming expectations, either. This is still a team with productive, championship ring wearing players throughout the roster. And though they've now lost four in a row, 3.5 games is a hardly a division death sentence in the first week of May.

*
Brett Favre to the Vikings!? At TUP.

Top Ten Chicago sports media personalities

Don’t worry, this guy is nowhere to be found on here.

10. Jeff Joniak
For the Bears’ first two games in the 2006 playoffs, I put the television on mute and turned on WBBM 780 to listen to Joniak and Tom Thayer. Some of that was just my strong dislike for Joe Buck, but that’s how much I enjoy listening to Joniak call a Bears game. He is fun to listen to, and understands the game inside and out. My all-time favorite line of his has got to be, “Devin Hester, you are ridiculous” after Hester returned two kicks for scores against the Rams.

9. Phil Rogers
Hands down, the best baseball writer in Chicago. His “Around the League” column every Sunday and his Power Rankings every Monday are great-reads. He shows no bias toward either the Cubs or Sox, and also does a nice job of blending in stories about what’s happening in the rest of baseball. Rogers also wrote this really sweet book.

8. Sarah Kustok

Erin who? Just like Joakim Noah, the Bulls/Celtics series was sort of her coming-out party.

7. Stacey King When the Bulls decided to shake things up on their telecasts by letting go of Tom Dore and bringing over Neil Funk from radio, I remember thinking one thing: more Stacey King is never a good thing.

Now, I have pulled a complete 180 and can’t get enough of the guy. Yeah, he’s a bigger homer than “Hawk” Harrelson, but listening to him during the Boston series was awesome. King was so entertaining, I even chose to tune into Comcast over the broadcasts on TNT, which had the great Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins for Games 5-7. My favorite King line, and there were many, from the series: “if you’re scared, go buy a dog.” (said whenever the Bulls blocked a shot.)

6. Marc Silverman Unlike most of the other sports talk shows on WSCR 670 and ESPN 1000, “The Waddle and Silvy Show” comes across as very professional and entertaining. Silverman is always prepared, doesn’t take himself too seriously, and is able to work around Waddle’s sometimes diva persona. And he is truly a fan first and offers great insights from a fan’s perspective.

5. Steve Stone This guy understands baseball like Albert Einstein understood electricity. The one thing I will say though is that Stone is still adjusting to being a fan of the White Sox. Stone hasn’t yet seemed to let go of the Cubs and embraced his new team, which is strange considering he did radio for the Sox last year. With all that said, his analysis and insights pretty much make up for his rather slow transition back to the television side.

4. Sam Smith Smith took his talents to bulls.com after the Tribune surprisingly bought him out last April. The author of the best selling, The Jordan Rules, Smith has so many connections around the league, he even had Shaquille O’Neal calling him out last year after one of his articles. Even though Smith was known to write unbelievable trade rumors without having any sources, it sure was entertaining stuff to read.

3. Len Kasper In my opinion, Kasper is very underrated as a play-by-play man. He can hold a conversation while doing a game, and unlike a certain guy on the South Side, doesn’t let biases get in the way while doing a broadcast. Hard to believe, but back in 2005, Kasper was actually the Cubs’ third choice for an announcer behind Dave O’Brien and the great Matt Vasgersian.

2. David Kaplan It’s not the easiest job in the world to have to try and host a Chicago sports talk show when you have baseball writers talking about the Bears or football writers talking about the Cubs. Kaplan manages to keep the discussions very lively by inserting his own opinions and often stimulating debate amongst the panelists. This guy is versatile enough to be an expert in any sport, although at times he can come across as too much of a Cubs homer.

1. David Haugh Whether he’s writing interesting profiles on Bears players, giving his take on issues surrounding the team, or writing one of his must-read Ten things I know about the Bears columns, Haugh is as good as it gets on the print side in Chicago. His insights and observations are always spot on, and he takes great angles on his stories.

Top Ten question marks looking forward to the '09-10 Bulls season

The 2009 season wrapped up Saturday with the Bulls falling short in a series many are calling the greatest of all-time. For a team that sputtered into the playoffs, they played up to and possibly over their potential for the majority of the seven-game series. Unfortunately though, it wasn't enough, as they had their chances in Game 7, but couldn't get it done.

With this surprisingly stellar performance however, it almost brings more question marks towards the off season than initially anticipated. Below are 10 questions- some newborn- looking forward to the next season.

10. Is Brad Miller going to continue to be a "force"?



Miller not only played well after coming over from Sacramento, but also became squad's form of Adam Burish, the team enforcer. While he could make an argument for most unathletic-looking guy in the League, he is the team's most defined center. But he will be 33 and with an exception of Lindsey Hunter, the senior member age-wise of the squad.

9. How will this last playoff appearance affect them?

Would you rather see the Bulls lose in the fashion they did with a tough Game 7 loss or see them maybe advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to be rocked by Cleveland?

I would prefer the former, with the idea that they will go into the season with chip on their shoulder, ending their year by losing to a team they not only could have beaten, but probably should have. Getting to the ECF is solid, don't get me wrong, but it could give them an unrealistic sense of confidence and getting blown out by the Lebrons could put a damper on the young squad's thoughts.

Look at Atlanta. They lost a tough Game 7 to the C's last year, and came back this season to take the 4-seed in the East and advance to the second round.

8. Where do they look on draft day?

I think I am alone with this idea as for TTCSers, but I honestly don't know if anything they select with the 16th and 26th picks will benefit the team ever, much less anytime in the future, if the team stands pat. Regardless of what happens in the free agent market (more on that in a bit), they have decent enough depth that would make Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough (NBAdraft.net's projected selections) entirely unneeded.

A big body like DeJuan Blair might be an interesting pick. But if anything, they would probably go bigger than the 6-foot-6, near 290-pounder from Pitt, though there aren't many true centers or even many true good-sized power forwards. Maybe they go with Gani Lawal from Georgia Tech?

7. Will Tyrus become a more complete player?

Tyrus Thomas is a freak, probably one of the most athletic players in the East. But this is a case where he is almost too athletic and needs to control himself. He will always be compared to LaMarcus Aldridge, and so, far they are on entirely different tiers. Aldridge is almost exactly what they ideally are looking for in forward now.

At times during the Celtics series though, TT showed that he can harness his abilities and still be a force. If he can look more like that more often in 2009-10, the gap between the two could close.

6. Will Rose be a 20/10 guy next year?

It is clear, eventually Rose will be a 20-point, 10-assist guy within the first five years. But the question is how soon. While it would be great for it to be next year, I would rather take a few points off his total if he could cut down on his turnovers. Rondo won the point guard battle during the series because of that alone. There were a few times where he would go to the hole, be surrounded by defenders, panic and throwing the ball away.

He will learn though, and those turnovers will become assists.

5. Is Joakim good enough to be trade bait?

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Just a theory here. I realize I have been talking about the needs for another big guy, but maybe this is the way they upgrade the position. Nobody's stock went up more than Noah's after the first series, and while I think he is solid, who's to say he outplayed himself for seven games? Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which way you feel about this), Paxson is missing his index finder when it comes to pulling the trigger on moves that have questionable outcomes.

4. How much did Vinny Del Negro learn from the playoff series?

Only time will tell to see how much VDN will improve. But one thing is for sure, after the dog fight with Boston, Del Negro has to have learned something, or else there is no hope for him to improve. Because let's face it, if any person involved in a series like that doesn't learn from the experience, then there is no way anything else they face, can.

3. Do they look for another big?

This has become the topic of discussion for years, and they thought they had it solved with Curry and Chandler. But the trio now (Noah, Thomas, Miller) could use another guy to compliment them. And while they have bigger cap issues at the moment than getting another big (more coming up, I promise), and they may be saving up for 2010 and Chris Bosh, there are a few solid 4.5's available.

Rasheed Wallace and Lamar Odom (huge Odom fan here) are unrestricted free agents, oh and Chris Andersen anybody?

2. What role will Loul Deng play?

It's funny to think that many (myself included) entirely forgot that Loul Deng was a member of the Bulls. It's easy to do when John Salmons does a stellar job replacing/overtaking the swingman position however. This will be an interesting race, as JS is a more athletic but less defensive minded than #9. They did have Salmons playing the 4 for a bit of time when the Bulls played a three-guard offense, so I suppose they could play together for a few minutes per.

1. What happens with Ben Gordon?

This question has been lingering over Paxson and the rest of the organization for the majority of the season and now is time to see what happens. Commentators say they need to find a way to sign him, but that would put Reinsdorf significantly over the cap and would cancel out any chance of signing somebody large in 2010.

Hinrich did prove he could be one of the top defensive players in the league, matching up with Paul Pierce extremely well, shutting him down entirely in Game 5. Something like that is always wanted by any basketball team, so his stock and trade desire did rise. That would clear up a lot of cap space for one of the game's best closers, Gordon.

I would like to see Kirk around in '09-10 more so than Gordon, simply because they won't need him as much as they do in two years because of the almost guarantee that Rose will become the go-to guy sooner than later. Not to mention BG's defense is worse than below average.

They could use "Gordon money" on either another big or -what they will more likely do- hold out and not spend money on either him or anybody, use one of their draft picks on a formidable 2-guard, which there are a lot of, and try to hit it big in the 2010 free agent market.

Top Ten Playoff Series’ in Bulls History

No doubt about it, the Bulls and Celtics are in the midst of one of the greatest NBA Playoff series’ of all-time. But where does it rank among the best in team history? Here are the Top Ten post-season series’ the Bulls have ever played in.

10: 1996 Eastern Finals vs. Magic

Not a great series in terms of games, as the Bulls swept Orlando in Shaq’s last games for that franchise. But this series was about revenge, as the Magic had been the team to end the Bulls’ 1995 season. The tone was set early on in this one, as the Bulls won Game 1 by 38 points, thanks to Dennis Rodman’s 13 points and 21 rebounds.

9: 1989 Eastern Quarterfinals vs. Cavs

Over the course of his pro career, Michael Jordan made 12,192 field goals and another 7,327 free throws, scoring a total of 32,292 points. Yet only one of his jumpers and two of his points are known as ‘The Shot’. Sorry, Craig Ehlo, but the ending of this classic five-game series (back when the first round was best of five) has to be on the list.

8: 1992 Eastern Semifinals vs. Knicks

A grueling, seven-game war between the Chicago and New York was one of the toughest tests the Bulls ever faced during their six titles in eight years run. Led by Pat Ewing, John Starks, Xavier McDaniel and a crew of physical goons, the Knicks’ goal was to put as many bruises and scars on the Bulls as possible. The plan was successful until the decisive Game 7, when MJ scored 42, Scottie had a triple-double and the Bulls won 110-81.

7: 1990 Eastern Finals vs. Pistons

It took the Bulls another year to finally take down Motown, but this series was the final piece of motivation that gave way to the dominance of the 1990’s. The Pistons wound up winning the NBA Title, but not before needing seven games to get rid of MJ and Co. Jordan had to pretty much do it all himself against the Bad Boys, but the experience wound up helping the team in the long run.

6: 1993 NBA Finals vs. Suns

Michael Jordan put up a lot of impressive stat-lines over the course of his career, but there aren’t many that top this: In the six-game series versus Phoenix, His Airness averaged 41 points, nine rebounds and six assists a game, shooting 51% from the field. Add in John Paxsxon’s go-ahead three and Horace Grant’s game-saving block to win Game 6 and you’ve got a classic series.

5: 1998 Eastern Finals vs. Pacers

Indy had great squad in ’98, coached by Larry Bird and featuring Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose along with several physical big men. But despite being one of only two teams in the ‘90s to push the Bulls to a full seven games, the Pacers didn’t have enough to top their Central Division rivals. Toni Kukoc was the star of Game 7, scoring 21 points off the bench to bring the Bulls back to the Finals to face…

4: 1998 NBA Finals vs. Jazz

Each of the six games had a final margin of victory of four points or less - except for Game 3, which the Bulls won 96-54, the Jazz recording the lowest point total in NBA history since the introduction of the 24-second clock. Game 6 was the classic ending, as Michael Jordan ripped Karl Malone (who had stolen MJ’s regular season MVP), gave Byron Russell a little love tap and sank the game-winner with five seconds left, giving the Bulls title number six.

3: 2009 Eastern Quarterfinals vs. Celtics

When I wrote the rough draft of this list on Wednesday afternoon, this series was ranked six. But in honor of the number of overtimes the Bulls and C’s played Thursday evening, it had to be moved up. Outside of a hideous Game 3, these two teams have been as even as two teams can be, with a combined 206 lead changes, 65 ties and seven OT periods in the six games thus far. They should just skip the suspense and decide to air Game 7 live on ESPN Classic. Only reason it isn’t top two is because it is a first rounder.

2: 1993 Eastern Finals vs. Knicks

It’s strange to think about it because it happened so rarely in the ‘90s, but the Bulls actually didn’t have home court in this series, going to Madison Square Garden for Games 1 and 2. They lost both those contests, but because they still had two future Hall-of-Famers, they still had a chance. MJ dropped 54 in Game 4 to tie the series at two, and in Game 5, Jordan recorded a triple-double (29 pts, 14 ast and 10 reb) and Scottie Pippen swatted three shots in the last ten seconds by NY’s Charles Smith to preserve the win. The Bulls finished off their rivals in Game 6, knocking the Knicks out of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

1: 1997 NBA Finals vs. Jazz

Game 1 ended on a buzzer-beater by the greatest player ever following some important missed free throws (remember ‘The Mailman never delivers on Sunday’), Game 3 featured a legendary steal-and-assist sequence by the all-time leader in both those stats and Game 6 had a game-winning shot with five seconds remaining to win the NBA championship. And none of those are even close to being the most memorable game in the ’97 Finals. That would be Game 5 AKA the Flu Game, where Michael Jordan scored 38 points, including the go-ahead three with 25 tics left, to lead the Bulls to victory despite being sick in bed for the 24 hours leading up to the contest.