THE BALLOON MAN

Bulls vacate the United Center to make way for circus


(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Bulls travel for days with the circus in town.
from:  wbez.org
By: Cheryl Raye-Stout
November 14, 2012
Every November Chicago plays host to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and every November the circus takes over the United Center for a few weeks.
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What does that have to do with sports? While the circus is here, the Bulls and the Blackhawks pack up their bags and play on the road while the elephants and clowns take over. The media has coined this long road trip the “circus trip” — not very creative, but it does conjure up some images of this stretch on the road. The Bulls begin their five-game trip in two weeks Wednesday night in Phoenix but the Blackhawks aren't concerned: The players and owners are still clowning around with their labor dispute. (Sorry, couldn’t help it!)

 

(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
The clowns and the circus take over the United Center the next few weeks.
Three years ago at the Bulls practice facility, reporters asked players for their thoughts on the circus trip. The response we got from Joakim Noah was priceless: “Why do they always call it the circus trip?” Noah asked, clearly irked. "What's so circus about it anyway?" He thought it was a “dig” at the team. When I explained where the term came from he just said, “Oh.” You know, the media and the players are not always on the same page. We see and do things day in, day out, year after year — but the players change.
This year, I couldn’t resist asking some players for their thoughts on this year's circus trip. Jimmy Butler (he missed the trip last year because of the lock-out), Nate Robinson and Marquis Teague all gave me a look like I was crazy (similar to Noah’s) — they had no idea what I was talking about. When Butler was told what it was he said, “Oh, snap. I don’t even know that.”
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http://www.wbez.org/blogs/cheryl-raye-stout/2012-11/bulls-vacate-united-center-make-way-circus-103800