Halloween has always been such a joyous holiday. Not because of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” marathons, the flocks of creative Halloween costumes or the endless supply of candy. It’s because Halloween night also means NBA basketball is back.

About a week and a half into the basketball season, things couldn’t be going any better. LeBron and his precious Cavaliers are sputtering, random teams like the Suns and Grizzlies are excelling and, most importantly, the Bulls are 6-2. Sure, they lost to the Cavs in overtime in the home opener at the United Center, but when will Tristan Thompson ever grab 12 offensive rebounds again? Never.

The point is, basketball is in full swing, and although it’s only been a couple weeks, the Bulls aren’t disappointing anybody yet.

In the games he’s played, Derrick Rose has shown no signs of slowing down, even though every time he goes up for a layup, I cringe as if my grandma were about to be punched in the face. But hey, that adds to the excitement. Aaron Brooks is Nate Robinson 2.0, Pau Gasol is playing like an angry, seven-foot grandpa and Nikola Mirotic’s giddy smile after he nails a three in a defender’s face is a constant reminder why I love this team. This is a deep, fun team poised to go far.

Hopes are high in Chicago.

Then, there are the Bears.

The Bears were drubbed by the Packers on Sunday night two weeks after a 51-23 thrashing at the hands of the Patriots and are 3-6 at the midway point of the season. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Trestman’s offense was supposed to eat up defenses, Mel Tucker’s defense was supposed to improve with key free agent signings and the Bears were supposed to be in the upper echelon of the league.

That’s not been the case. This extremely talented offense has been pedestrian, the defense is near the bottom of the league again, and the Monsters of Midway are poised to miss the playoffs for the fifth straight year.

In their next seven games, the Bears will face an NFC North foe four times. Under Trestman, the Bears are 2-6 against such opponents. Those games include two games each against the Lions and Vikings. Under Trestman, the Bears have yet to defeat the same team twice in one season. This does not bode well for any potential winning streak.

I’m tired of Jay Cutler acting like he’s too cool to care about doing well for the fans, whose emotions hang on his every throw. I’m tired of having to learn new names on defense every week because players are getting hurt, especially while celebrating a sack in a blowout. And I’m tired of trying to figure out why this team is underperforming so drastically. That’s why I’m giving the Bulls my complete attention.

The past two seasons without their star player, the Bulls have overachieved for their fans. They play with an unmatched grit and passion. They labor through hours of practice with a screaming Tom Thibodeau for their fans. The Bulls know they’re playing for the entire city of Chicago, and every player on the roster embraces it. I don’t feel the same about the Bears.

Come January, the Bulls will be in the midst of a long, hard-fought and hopefully successful season. And I’ll be watching every possession from the same spot Cutler, Trestman and company will be at that time: the couch.

Joey can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @joeyfigueroa3.