Now that Oprah has moved out of the United Center after taping her show there Tuesday night, the Bulls are once again the hottest ticket in town.
Throngs of fans made their way to the game Wednesday afternoon.
Physician Ram Gajjela was confident enough to plunk down $2,185 for three seats in section 115 -- right over the tunnel from which the hometown heroes will emerge to the delight of his basketball crazy 8-year-old son.
"He says his dream is to be a NBA player, so if he goes to these kind of games, he might get inspiration," Dr. Gajjela.
"We're better prepared than in the Michael Jordan years, because in the Michael Jordan years they weren't a lot of tickets around. And with that accessibility with tickets everywhere, it's much easier to get tickets this time around," said Max Waisvisz, Gold Coast Tickets.
Selling dream experiences is at the heart of what they are doing at VIP Sports Marketing. They can put you on the floor close enough to catch the sweat -- like they have placed clients on the fairways at the Masters golf tournament and other marquee events -- if you've got the inclination.
"You can go times where something like this doesn't happen in 10 years like one sports team in a city, and we're lucky to have one of those cities where we have a team for every sport," said Paul Sejnoha, VIP Sports Marketing.
After Game 1's dominating performance by the Bulls, people around the city are expecting big things, especially given the woes of the city's baseball teams.
"The 'hawks did it. The Bulls can do it, you know. Hawks, Bulls, Bears, baseball's done," said Bart Ellis of Chicago.
"The Bulls are on fire and everyone will jump on the bandwagon and everybody hates the heat as we all know. LeBron is probably enemy number one in the NBA for the way he conducted himself last summer, and I'm part of that bandwagon," said Richie Greenstein of Brooklyn, NY.
Back at the ticket broker, Dr. Gajjal ponders his purchase and hopes his submission to the buzz proves worthwhile on the court and in the game of life.
"This kind of big games, when they see [them] they might remember them as a milestone," said Dr. Gajjela.
