🏀 Blame Ben for the Bulls

It's all his fault, but please limit your hate mail. [READER]( The Daily Reader November 28, 2023 It’s come to my attention that I’m to blame for the wretched condition of my beloved Bulls, who have lost one game after another and become the laughing stock of the NBA. I realize it’s my fault thanks to a text exchange with several friends which started when one friend (I’ll call him Dan) pointed out that Bulls tickets cost more on the secondary market than Milwaukee Bucks tickets. Even though the Bucks are awesome and the Bulls are, as I said, a laughing stock. Did I mention that the Bulls were outscored by 25 points in the second quarter of a recent game? Well, they were. To quote Dan, “It doesn’t matter that the Bulls suck. They keep selling tickets at the United Center for top dollar.” To which another friend (let’s call him Mick) texted, “There’s the key problem.” That’s when it hit me—it’s my fault. Perhaps I love my beloved Bulls just a little too much. Purchasing tickets and hats—many hats—even though they’re awful. If I behaved like a rational consumer, I’d stop buying tickets and hats. And the Bulls owners would have to improve their product to win me back. And so they would get better—if the laws of the market follow. In this way, I’m similar to Cubs fans, like the brother of a journalist I’ll call Rummana. The brother buys tickets to Cubs games even when the Cubs are awful. Rummana must also be partly blamed as she’s been known to go to a Cubs game from time to time. This leads to a bigger question about motivation. Would the billionaire owners of the Bulls, the Cubs, and other sports teams rather: A. Spend whatever it takes to win a championship? Or... B. Keep the money to get even wealthier than they already are? (If such a thing is possible.) The general consensus of most sports fans in Chicago is that the answer is B. Here’s something you should know about Chicago sports fans... Deep inside we fancy ourselves as behavioral economists, analyzing incentives to see how they shape behavior. In this case... If billionaire owners make millions no matter how lousy their team performs, then they have no incentive to build a championship team. And so they don’t. They put any old dreck out on the floor knowing that tons of suckers will buy their tickets. In the case of the Bulls, that’s me. In the case of the Cubs, it’s Rummana’s brother. And, occasionally, Rummana, as I already mentioned. I often wonder if the owners get together and cackle like Mr. Burns as they laugh at people like me, Rummana, and her brother for making them richer and richer. Of course, there’s something reassuring about thinking the Bulls are motivated solely by greed. It would be even more demoralizing to think I’ve given my heart (and money) to a crew who haven’t a clue about what they’re doing. Well, I’d like to discuss this more, but I’ve got a Bulls game to watch. Like I said: it’s all my fault. 🎙Listen to [The Ben Joravsky Show]( 🎙 [What Ben's Reading] [The Last One]( by Will Dean. Caz goes to bed as one of a thousand or so people on an ocean liner steaming from England to New York. And she wakes up to discover she’s the only one on the ship. A page turner with a helluva surprise ending. [Maxwell Raab]( on Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage. [Ben Joravsky]( (from 1988) on the Ertharin Cousin campaign. [Best of the Ben J. Show]( Inside Chicago Government’s [Dave Glowacz]( on a recent City Council breakdown Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist [James Risen]( (The Intercept) on the sins of the CIA Chicago Sun-Times editorial board member [Rummana Hussain]( on Kim Foxx and John Kass [Review: The Nomi Song]( Nearly two decades later, The Nomi Song still bangs. by [Micco Caporale]( | [Read here]( → [Review: The Boy and the Heron]( Hayao Miyazaki’s latest isn’t perfect, but it’s full of the magic that viewers have come to expect. by [Andrea Thompson]( | [Read here]( → [Chicago indie rockers Cafe Racer say farewell with help from local punks Edging]( by [Leor Galil]( | [Read here]( → [Bar Italia create a stir with low-key minimalist indie pop]( by [Jamie Ludwig]( | [Read here]( → It's Giving Tuesday! Support community journalism and join the Reader Membership Community today! [SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE READER]( [Issue of Nov. 16 – 29, 2023 Vol. 53, No.]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE [PDF]]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2023 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616