Off Topic: A New Page!

[Dominator83]

I figured we'd be seeing some old faces around here with all of this news and I figured we could use a thread just to check in on one another. Been here 15 freaking years from a 17 year old kid to a 32 year old man and throughout all of those years, this team and more importantly this community has been such a large part of my life.

Over the past few years we've seen a serious air fall out of the ballon that is this franchise, I personally had it when they fired Thibs and over the past few years I know a lot of y'all hit that same point as me. It's nice to have a reason to care again and in turn, I hope we can revive this place to where it once was.

It's nice to just let go of all of the past 17 years. We have a clean slate, sure there will be some of the same players from previous years but overall, this just feels nice.

Shoutout to my boys - ben b, brooklyn bulls, ben s (forgot your username), coldfish, doug, p4p, Bulls6, nonamezooro, Cliff Levingston, homo, HINRICHPolice, Kelly Dwyer and allllll of the others who have made this such a special place

And finally, JackFinn I hope you can pop your head into this thread!

I beat you hear by a week! Cheers bud

[Susan]

I was the biggest cross country nerd on the planet back in HS.

There was a runner message board for HS kids back then called Dyestat and I probably had 30k posts on that damn site from 2001-05. I made my username my freshman year of HS and this place didn't let you change your username and since I was an idiot kid, my username "fentonfreshman" was infamous.

Still think Susan is funnier though. Wish that thread choosing the name was still up.

[_txchilibowl_]

Cliff Levingston approves of this thread.

[Senor Chang]

I originally joined in 2000 as CRUMBS at the age of 17, then changed my name to i_killed_kenny. Then grew up a bit and decided that username was too childish so i changed it to Senor Chang (ha!). When i talk to old roommates they ask me if i still goto that one basketball site and i say YES. i will always be a bulls fan i will always need a place to discuss bulls. Between all that i had joined the Navy working on computer systems on F-18 figher jets on the USS Ronald Reagan. Then decided to pursue nursing school so i got out and did the old dude at college thing for a while. Speaking of cross country, i ran cross country for Aurora University while in nursing school. I am 37 now and it's crazy to think that most of my life i have been on realgm.

Im still sad about Bullsmaniac passing away

[Senor Chang]

2001 not as active once was but yea a long time

whats up pduh!

[BeKuK]

I wished we would still have Tommy Udo 6 around. I miss to talk to him! Time flies! RIP

[VolumePoster]

Started on the old school Blogabull when I was in medical school 2007-2011. That led me to the since departed “Bullsbeat” podcast by our very own Doug Thonus. During one of the podcasts, he mentioned “well of course the best Bulls talk is at Realgm”. So here I am, 13 years later. I’ve now indoctrinated my two kids into Chicago basketball lore. They’re nostalgic for a place they’ve never lived and players they never watched. I should have just let them be Celtics fans.

[khiladi23]

Guy from Dubai here - around since Aug or Sept 2002 reading daily, posting yearly.

This forum is world class. Nothing compares to the high quality analyses, dedicated Mods, continual engagement (even in down years), and unique personalities. It would be great to do a massive Zoom call for everyone to discuss, share Bulls memorabilia / stories, and discuss the “new era” I hope we are about to embark on with AK + others. But I know some of us prefer to engage less personally. So understand that interest may not be there.

I think Michael R is dedicated to making his mark and building us back into champions. With less focus on bottom line annual profits and more focus on short and medium term investments which lead to longer term growth. In my mind, we have been operating like the “old GE” model (assuming our brand loyalty and individual “leaders” would take us into the future). I hope we are now changing our approach into the more modern organization - diverse and inclusive of different views, strong decision making at the top, growth mindset, agile approach towards building organizational capacity, and extreme accountability & empowerment for our players.

[Friend_Of_Haley]

Guy from Dubai here - around since Aug or Sept 2002 reading daily, posting yearly.

This forum is world class. Nothing compares to the high quality analyses, dedicated Mods, continual engagement (even in down years), and unique personalities. It would be great to do a massive Zoom call for everyone to discuss, share Bulls memorabilia / stories, and discuss the “new era” I hope we are about to embark on with AK + others. But I know some of us prefer to engage less personally. So understand that interest may not be there.

I think Michael R is dedicated to making his mark and building us back into champions. With less focus on bottom line annual profits and more focus on short and medium term investments which lead to longer term growth. In my mind, we have been operating like the “old GE” model (assuming our brand loyalty and individual “leaders” would take us into the future). I hope we are now changing our approach into the more modern organization - diverse and inclusive of different views, strong decision making at the top, growth mindset, agile approach towards building organizational capacity, and extreme accountability & empowerment for our players.

I bet people would do a zoom. Heck a large contingent of the board went to in person draft parties over the years (I was never one). Biggest issue on the zoom would probably be timing with how the posters here span across the globe. I might consider popping in though.

[pduh01]

2001 not as active once was but yea a long time

whats up pduh!

Hey hey Ikk!

[Magilla_Gorilla]

I was the biggest cross country nerd on the planet back in HS.

There was a runner message board for HS kids back then called Dyestat and I probably had 30k posts on that damn site from 2001-05. I made my username my freshman year of HS and this place didn't let you change your username and since I was an idiot kid, my username "fentonfreshman" was infamous.

Still think Susan is funnier though. Wish that thread choosing the name was still up.

Your name choosing thread is one of my favorites of all time. Wish we could see the poll results (and wish I could remember who suggested Susan.)

[RealFan]

Joined in 2002. Was also registered on the forerunner to this site in the late 90s which is where I first heard of Eddy Curry. Used to post a lot in the old days and have been lurking since with occasional posts now and then.

[Shill]

Started posting on the ESPN boards freshman year of college, then they went to hell.

Was a mod on Sham's board before he shut that part of the site down.

Stumbled onto this board in '06.

[Bandit King]

JackFinn who's that? A ghost?

[coldfish]

JackFinn who's that? A ghost?

The most awesome poster in the history of the internet.

[nitetrain8603]

Sham had a board??

Started posting on the ESPN boards freshman year of college, then they went to hell.

Was a mod on Sham's board before he shut that part of the site down.

Stumbled onto this board in '06.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using RealGM mobile app

[pylb]

I've never been a huge poster, but I've definitely stopped posting these last couple of years. I still visit the forums daily to keep up with the news and read what people have to say, but it is hard to get motivated when your team has been bad for a few years and you know most of its players won't be around for long.
Also I think just growing older, I'm not as invested into sports as I once was and don't have as much time as I used to.

So anyway thanks to everyone still posting here for providing the best place to find discussions about the Bulls.

[HINrichPolice]

Hey RealGM Fam,

It's really hard to put into words what this board as meant to me. Pre-RealGM, I think I was on ESPN Boards and maybe nbadraft.net boards (if that was a thing), and then I found the Trade Machine, and then made my original RealGM name end of HS/beginning of college. Then we drafted Hinrich, got sick of seeing "Heinrich", and decided to do something about it as a way to procrastinate while in college. None of my real-life friends ever got into discussing Bulls basketball on RealGM with me, but I definitely have made a lot of friends because of this board.

Little did I know how much this forum would mold me. I feel like I would turn to this board during my low points and I would also turn to this board during my high points in life. I don't know what other forums are like (non-basketball), but I imagine that the quality of discussion and sense of community here is top notch. I've always looked up to so many of our posters, and I believe that I became a better writer, reader, and thinker because of you all.

I'd say 3 years ago started my actual decline in watching Bulls games and reading this board, where the last 2 years has taken a nose dive. I was hopeful at the beginning of this year, and I remember a moment maybe a month into the season telling myself, "Bulls basketball no longer sparks joy. I need to make a conscience effort to not read about it, to not watch highlights, nothing. I'm done." And knowing how much of a fan I was to mentally divorcing myself from the Bulls for the sake of feeling happier, I knew that Bulls basketball had reached the lowest point possible. So the fact that we have a new Executive VP comes as no surprise, and what a time in life to be able to have interesting Bulls basketball discussion yet again.

I'm relieved to be able to think about the Bulls again in an excited and hopeful way. The past year, I took all my would-be Bulls related time and energy to join the #YangGang (any of my RealGM brethren #YangGang as well?). And considering how depressing things are in the world, it feels nice to be able to find all of you here again. It's weird thinking about all the really memorable moments over the past 17 years I've been on RealGM, and how I would be in my dorm, my bedroom, my phone, frantically reading, scrolling, and refreshing RealGM during all of the different free agency periods, NBA drafts, trade deadlines, Woj Bombs, playoff runs etc.

For as heartbreaking as this franchise has been, we've had some fun times together. Here's to hoping the Karsinovas Era brings more!

[Susan]

For as heartbreaking as this franchise has been, we've had some fun times together. Here's to hoping the Karsinovas Era brings more!

At least it's going to be interesting to talk about again! <3

That's really the biggest thing to me. Even discussing this stuff became so toxic for so many of us but this is such a breath of fresh air.

So glad you caught this thread (not sure if it was because of my facebook post that you came back, but if it was I'm so happy!).

I'm going to post my facebook/ig on here in case any of y'all wanted to connect with me.
https://www.facebook.com/KYLEBUNGA
www.instagram.com/kybunga

[Susan]

Guy from Dubai here - around since Aug or Sept 2002 reading daily, posting yearly.

This forum is world class. Nothing compares to the high quality analyses, dedicated Mods, continual engagement (even in down years), and unique personalities. It would be great to do a massive Zoom call for everyone to discuss, share Bulls memorabilia / stories, and discuss the “new era” I hope we are about to embark on with AK + others. But I know some of us prefer to engage less personally. So understand that interest may not be there.

I think Michael R is dedicated to making his mark and building us back into champions. With less focus on bottom line annual profits and more focus on short and medium term investments which lead to longer term growth. In my mind, we have been operating like the “old GE” model (assuming our brand loyalty and individual “leaders” would take us into the future). I hope we are now changing our approach into the more modern organization - diverse and inclusive of different views, strong decision making at the top, growth mindset, agile approach towards building organizational capacity, and extreme accountability & empowerment for our players.

Great idea with the zoom meetup! I could try and spearhead it if y'all want!