BULLISH DETERMINATION THE CITY OF CHICAGO NOT INCLUDING THE METRO AREA IS HOME TO 2 7 MILLION PEOPLE BULLISH DETERMINATION 8
Beginning in the mid-1800s and continuing for more than a century the bellowing of cattle and squealing of hogs rang out in the city of Chicago Illinois Home to the Union Stock Yards Chicago was a focal point of the United States meat-packing industry The city’s location along the shore of Lake Michigan made it a logical site for processing livestock of the Midwest and transporting it by boat or railway to the rest of the country Today Chicago has evolved into America’s third-largest city and major international companies such as McDonald’s call the area home The Windy City nicknamed for the gusts that come off Lake Michigan has a long proud history of professional sports Football’s Bears baseball’s Cubs and hockey’s Blackhawks are all among the oldest franchises pre-1930 in their respective leagues However the more intricate JERRY SLOAN 9
POINT GUARD CLEM HASKINS BATTLED WILLIS REED 19 AND THE NEW YORK KNICKS game of basketball was slower to catch on A local team called the Stags started playing in 1946 and when the National Basketball League NBA began in 1949 the Chicago Stags became one of the league’s first teams Failing to gain a foothold they folded after only one season It would be 17 years before another NBA franchise would test its welcome in Chicago Drawing upon the city’s meat-packing history that new team was named the Bulls The title also suggested explosive power and aggression beneficial traits on the hardwood Playing in a city that had previously shown little interest in pro hoops the Bulls were determined to make a strong first impression So they hired head coach Johnny Red Kerr Kerr had spent his high school playing days in Chicago and competed collegiately at the University of Illinois They also brought in Illinois native Jerry Sloan a second-year swingman who epitomized hustle and basketball intelligence In the Bulls inaugural 1966 67 campaign Sloan paired up with efficient scoring forward Bob Boozer and slick-passing guard Guy Rodgers The trio led Chicago to three straight wins to open the season and eventually took the team into the NBA playoffs The Bulls were quickly dispatched in the postseason but 10
Before the Bulls It took a while for professional basketball to catch on in Chicago The Stags franchise took the court in 1946 and played three seasons in the Basketball Association of America BAA and one final season in the new NBA in 1949 Under future Hall of Fame coach Harold Olsen the Stags got off to a quick start advancing to the league finals in their inaugural season but losing to the Philadelphia Warriors Despite making it to the playoffs every season and compiling an impressive 145 92 record the team failed to win over fans Pro basketball was fairly new at the time said point guard Mickey Rottner It didn’t catch on the way we all hoped it would Following the 1949 50 season the Stags disbanded In 1961 the Chicago Packers arrived but they changed their name to the Zephyrs the next year and moved to Baltimore in 1963 to become the Bullets Finally in 1966 the NBA granted Chicago another franchise the Bulls In tribute to their predecessors the Bulls wore replicas of the 1946 Stags uniforms three times during the 2005 06 season COURTSIDE STORIES Before the Bulls 11
