Final Excitement in Chicago Is Just Short of Incredi-Bull

NBA finals fever —  everyone seems to be catching it.

In Chicago, fans of the Bulls are paying as much as $900 for a seat for the games in Chicago Stadium. The prices would be higher, but last week a judge issued a restraining order preventing the city’s brokers from scalping tickets.

To no one’s great surprise, television has voraciously gobbled up any and all minutiae regarding the games. Before Game 1, the local NBC affiliate ran a 30-minute preview show called “Running with the Bulls,” and followed that with another half-hour show--a visit with Bull General Manager Jerry Krause.

Of course, they also cover the news. The Lakers’ press conference, held upon the team’s arrival, was covered . . . live.

The championship series is being broadcast to 70 nations, including Radiodifusion Ivoirienne in the Ivory Coast.

Calling all Bulls: From Mike Littwin of the Baltimore Sun, on Michael Jordan’s reference to the rest of the Bulls as a “supporting cast”:

“He means teammates, right? This ain’t the Oscars, pal.

“Maybe it’s just a slip of that famous tongue and he’s only parroting what everyone else is always saying. If his teammates are insulted, they haven’t mentioned it. Of course, you’d have to find them to ask.

“How’s this for a cast that was not quite supporting: Other than Scottie Pippen, none of Jordan’s Chicago Bulls’ teammates scored more than six points. Really. I never heard of that in an NBA game either. This is the box score as missing-persons report.”

Trivia time: What is korfball?

Wait a minute: During Sunday’s telecast of Game 1 of the NBA finals, NBC’s Marv Albert noted that the Lakers were without several people who helped them win five championships in the 1980s, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper, Orlando Woolridge and former Coach Pat Riley.

Orlando Woolridge?

Woolridge, who played two seasons with the Lakers, never played for a team that won an NBA championship.

Trivia answer: It is a distant cousin of basketball popular in the Netherlands and Belgium. Teams must have four men and four women, players may not dribble and physical contact is forbidden. Goals are scored by throwing a ball into the opponent’s basket, which is 11 feet 6 inches high and has no backboard.

Quotebook: Pittsburgh Pirate catcher Mike LaValliere, after his fly ball got past the St. Louis Cardinal outfield and rolled to the wall for a rare triple: “I like to space them out. If the third-base coach had waved me in, I’d have punched him in the nose right there.”