Feb. 25--How do you get second-graders to do their homework?
Make this the assignment: Watch the Bulls game and take some notes.
One enterprising student at Blaine Elementary in Lakeview even knew the first name of the newly acquired Justin Holiday. How? She wrote down the name of every player on the team.
That's called a roster, I said.
"A rooster?" one replied.
I spoke to my daughter's second-grade class (actually two classes) on Thursday morning. We analyzed K.C. Johnson's excellent game story on the Bulls' 109-104 victory over the Wizards.
You could go five seasons and not find a better, more uplifting Bulls game to discuss with 7- and 8-year-olds.
--Seven players scored in double figures: "Teamwork."
--Pau Gasol played with the flu: "Tough it out, kids; be a good teammate."
--Derrick Rose sat with hamstring tendinitis: "If you're really hurt, don't risk making it worse." (Perhaps not the majority opinion on talk radio.)
Fortunately no one asked me to explain "defensive three seconds" and what constitutes "actively guarding."
I started by telling the kids I became a sportswriter after someone decided that I could not play shortstop for the Yankees. I love sports, I'm naturally curious and I know the difference between "your" and "you're" ... so why not make this my profession?
In my career I've been fortunate enough to interview Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Derrick Rose, Kris Bryant and Jonathan Toews.
Whom would they wish to interview?
Some of the replies were fascinating: Aaron Rodgers. Lionel Messi. Connor Cook. Hines Ward. Peyton Manning. Cam Newton. Darren Sproles ("he's really short and really good"). Odell Beckham Jr. Anthony Rizzo. David Beckham. Patrick Sharp. Antonio Brown. Patrick Kane. T.J. Oshie. (Seriously.)
About three-quarters of the kids said their parents subscribe to a newspaper: "My aunt gets lots of Tribunes but she doesn't pick them off her doorstep." (I needed an emoji to express my reaction.)
Our print headline read: "Sore Rose watches 3rd straight victory" and I asked for their suggested heads.
Best of the bunch: "The Bulls are rockin' poppin'" ... "So many injuries, so many surprises" ... "There's no stopping now."
I responded, I thought cleverly: "There's no stopping Pau."
Crickets.
Second-graders are not so into puns.
We discussed words/terms from Johnson's game story. No one could explain "desperation" but one girl knew exactly what "triple double" meant.
I asked for their favorite Bulls player and the first batch was split between Rose and Jimmy Butler. Then someone said Jordan and another chimed in with: "Michael Jordan forever."
Wow. His final game for the Bulls took place about 10 years before they were born.
My favorite reply: "Aaron Brooks. He's our neighbor and he helped my dad when his car was broken."
But the best line of all mirrored what I was thinking while I watched the game: "My dad was wondering about Jimmy Butler: What was he wearing?"
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
