April 28, 2012. I remember like it was yesterday. My friend
and I decided to hit the bar and celebrate the start of the Bulls
postseason. As far as I was concerned,
we were on our way to the Finals in a few months. We just had to conquer several
teams along the way, starting with the Philadelphia 76ers. Easy, right? We were
the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference facing off against an overly confident #8
seed. According to Evan Turner, the Sixers were happy to face the Bulls since
the Heat were a tougher team for them. Oh really? Well, let the games begin.
That Saturday afternoon, they did.
Throughout the game, the bar would cheer for every massive
dunk, every great defensive play, and every time a Bulls player connected from
beyond the arc. Although it was only
Game 1, we were well on our way to winning this series. So, while finishing my
second martini with the Bulls up by 12 and less than 2 minutes on the clock,
you couldn’t prepare me for what would happen next. Derrick Rose was bringing
the ball up the court and started to drive towards the basket. This was all
normal. However, suddenly he went down. That could be considered normal as well
during a physical game, as the defensive-minded Chicago Bulls are known to
play. Only problem is, he didn’t jump back up and head back down the court.
Instead the game came to a halt as did the city of Chicago. The United Center
began to chant MVP as the trainers worked on Rose. At the bar, we all sat
trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong. It would be a few hours
before we would receive the official word….the 2011 MVP Derrick Rose had torn
his ACL. Deep, long sigh.
I remember getting on Twitter when I first arrived back at home.
Some Miami news source had taken to their Twitter page to report that Rose had
torn his ACL. Ummm, how would you all know first? Although something told me it
was true, I refused to believe them. The Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat DO
NOT like one another and neither do the fans. Trust me, I know firsthand. So,
of course I just knew this was a practical joke that stupid Miami press was
playing on the Chicago Bulls fans. It wasn’t April 1, but it was still April.
This HAD to be a joke. It just had to be. Then, I turned to Channel 5 news, and
my heart sank as they announced that Chicago’s native son, Englewood’s pride
and joy, little brother in my head Derrick Rose had torn his ACL. Once the
Bulls announced it the next day, it was really official.
Yes, he had gone through injuries all season and missed 27
games, but I wasn’t prepared for this. If anyone knows me, they know my love
runs deep for the Chicago Bears and the Bulls. I will defend my teams until the
day I leave this earth. I remember traveling with my family down to Grant Park
each time the 90’s Bulls would win the championship. My dad would come home
with t-shirts, and I would wear them proudly throughout the year. I was already
preparing for the Bulls to take the title, and then the unexpected happened. I
still had faith in my team and continued to watch even without Rose, but we
went onto lose the series to the Sixers in 6 games. Deep, long, dramatic sigh.
There was nothing to do but rebuild and prepare for Rose’s
return to the court. During the offseason, we signed Kirk Hinrich again and
added the loveable Nate Robinson. While no one can take Rose’s place, I must
say we had a pretty good squad. But I, along with the rest of the Chicago Bulls
fans awaited The Return. I watched commercial after commercial from Adidas
hyping us up for Rose’s return to the court. I know that’s not an injury to play with, and
I definitely wanted him to follow the doctor’s orders. But I still waited
anxiously. Then, came the day when we found out he was cleared to play. To say
I was excited is an understatement. I just knew we would see him take the court
after the All-star break, right? Wrong. Week after week, I would hear the
rumors fly that this was the night that Rose would return. We were doing great
without him, but there’s just a sort of je ne sais quoi that Rose adds to the
team. His explosive, fearless play was definitely missed. Needless to say,
after much hype and speculation, he never returned for the 2012-2013 season.
After a hard fought playoff run riddled with sickness and injuries, the Bulls
lost to the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the semifinals and were eliminated. Oh
well, it was time to look forward to the 2013-2014 season and The Return.
On October 5, 2012, one day after his 25th and 18
months after he went down and Chicago took a collective sigh, D. Rose returned
to the court to face the Indiana Pacers. If this was someone’s first time
watching him play, they would never know he had suffered a torn ACL. It was
still the same Derrick driving to the basket, creating contact and finishing as
only he can do. So, why was I smiling yet cringing on the inside? Even for his
return to the United Center on October 16 to face the Detroit Pistons, I jumped
around like a crazy fan at home as the crowd roared on the TV and the announcer
introduced him. But I went back to cringing as the game went on. Yes, I have
wanted to see Rose back on the court since forever. Now that he’s back, I can’t
seem to handle it. Seeing him fall to the floor every time he gets knocked down
takes me back to April 28, 2012. I know, I know. I need to get it together, but
I’m a fan who takes every loss and injury to heart, especially injuries to my
favorite players. He looks like the Derrick of the past as he plays, but I
think of him as a fragile individual now. But again, I need to get it together
and take my crazy emotions out of it. He’s out there playing fearlessly and
with ease. He’s still the same Rose that all Bulls fans have grown to love. Therefore,
I just need to sit back, relax and watch as he does work (maybe through my
fingers and with a cup of chamomile tea to calm me down – don’t judge me lol). No
matter what, I’ll still be tuned in to every game as he hopefully goes for an
injury-free, MVP-worthy season and leads my Bulls to the Promised Land known as
the NBA Finals. Let us pray, and let’s go Bulls!
