Twice is nice, but three times is the charm, the Chicago Bulls told thousands of cheering fans celebrating the NBA champions' victory at a rally in a downtown park.
"The first time was neat, the second time was quite a feat . . . the third time will be, oh, so sweet," center Will Perdue said at the city-sponsored rally celebrating Sunday's win over the Portland Trail Blazers for the Bulls' second straight NBA title.Tens of thousands of people turned out for the celebration, many on their lunch hour from office buildings in the downtown Loop. Fans turned out as early as Monday night for a shot at one of 5,000 seats and others climbed to a better vantage point on the surrounding trees.
"This may never happen again," said Lora Boburka of Chicago, who stood atop a cooler. "We missed it last year, so we weren't going to miss it this year."
Many wore Bulls T-shirts and caps in combinations of the team's colors - black, red and white. Some in business suits wore fake Bull horns.
"I called in sick to work just to be here," said Vinnel Thomas of Chicago. "This is great. The first is always the best, of course, and the third will be sweeter."
And the Bulls say they'll do their best to repeat the rally again next year.
"Last year, I talked about how nice it would be to be back here," guard John Paxson said. "We got our first in '91, our second in '92 and maybe our third in '93."
The rally was similar to last year's victory celebration, although there was no motorcade this time. The crowd this year appeared to be smaller and more manageable than 1991, when the Bulls won the championship for the first time in the franchise's 25-year history.