Watching the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona was like watching a hometown hero slay the rest of the basketball world. Michael Jordan was electric to watch, no matter how lopsided the score was -- and the scores were frequently, insanely lopsided.
Since then, the Bulls dynasty has crumbled and Michael Jordan has moved on from this great city. But just because his airness is a part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats doesn't mean he's snubbed Chicago.
But the fact that he's skipping an Olympic Hall-of-Fame induction ceremony in Chicago tonight, is dangerously close.
He says it's a "scheduling conflict."
Naturally, we don't doubt that MJ has a very busy schedule. After all, he does run his own shoe company, and he is doing some vague NBA front office work. And there's the whole Gatorade marketing push happening this quarter. And there's golf.
But when you become as famous and powerful as Michael Jordan, you become free from scheduling conflicts. You can schedule yourself. Whatever it is that you want to attend, you attend; the rest of the engagements get blown off. So we have a feeling that Jordan could be here if he wanted to. For whatever reason, he doesn't.
Which, really, is fine. It's his call. Tonight's ceremony is more about the $500-a-plate dinners than it is the Hall of Fame induction itself. But it would have been nice to see Jordan on-stage again with Scottie Pippen, a brief reminder of the summer of 1992. Was it really that long ago?
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
