OK, for most of you this isn't the Super Bowl, maybe not even the Pro Bowl. For at least half the sporting public it may not qualify as major league basket bowl.

	Michael Jordan and Doug Collins did nice things when they were in Chicago.

But come, come. When the mix is made up of Chicago and Michael Jordan and the Bulls, this is big-time stuff.

Let the Bears and the Eagles have their little tiff on the frozen turf of Soldier Field. The business in the United Center is the stuff that sets Chicago a bellowing. MJ's back and he's coming to work in Washington duds, wearing that silly Wizard do-ad on his jersey. The sacrilege is complete.

You know how this one is going to go from the moment they speak his name in the introduction, saying it soft and fast so it's hardly a whisper on the ears. But the fans will already be stomping and screaming. You know the adrenalin rush Jordan gets when they open for business at noon local time. You know this is going to be choke time for the Bullies, even though Jordan is a vague memory for some and only a name for others.

But wait until the first rush passes, six, seven minutes into it when they've gone though the opening time out and Bill Cartwright's soft voice has had a chance to gentle his troops. Then you will see the fun starts. Unless the Bulls are blown out early, Michael is going to have a war on his hands Saturday. If he doesn't finish off Jerry and Krausemates then it's going to be a fascinating duel down the stretch, validated of course, by the Peacock Network, which is dedicated to recording every single droplet of sweat that slides down the great one's schnozz.

MJ is one up on his old team, the 89-83 game in Washington Jan. 4. That was game No. 3 of the Cartwright era, which is 3-7 in its infancy with glorious victories over the Bucks and the Lakers.

Mr. Bill is the key, the one bona fide personality in the organization who can actually galvanize this motley crew into some sort of cohesive team while Krause fishes for free agent talent.

It will be like old times when the arena fills up. They counted 23,142 when the Bulls knocked off the Lakers in OT last week. They will be scalping tickets for Michael's return. What a boon to a franchise that has gone into eclipse at the box office. What a great coup having Michael back in the league and not having to pay him.

More local media will go for the Bears game, but so what? The Bulls have been slipping steady at the gate, only 15,532 for Seattle, fewest in the eight-year history of the United Center and the Bulls' lowest total since 15,172 were at Chicago Stadium on April 7, 1987, for a game against Detroit.

The Bulls once had 610 straight sellouts and business was the product of No. 23. They still pull in better than 18,000 a game in Chicago, which speaks to the wisdom of staggering multi-year season ticket plans and luxury box licenses.

And Mike's not the only one who wants a piece of the Bulls' scalp. Antonio Davis went for 17 and 12 in the Raptors' victory in Toronto, a little payback for Krause's decision to pull his free agent offer off the table last summer. Davis is one of the dwindling numbers who has a history with Krause and the Bulls who eliminated his Pacers team in Game 7 of the '98 East finals.

And then there is the matter of Charles Oakley. Like every other broken down big man who came down the pike the last few years, Oakley wants to go out with guns blazing and flags flying as MJ's sidekick. We all know Oak is not a nice fellow to cross and we know Oak also happens to like Mike a lot. The question: Can he refrain from taking Michael out if there's a play at the hoop. That prospect rather makes the anticipation worth the 48-minute ordeal, even if the game turns out to be a clunker.

Leave it to Oakley. After Cartwright had a player recite the Lord's Prayer after a recent practice, Oak shook his head. "Some dogs you can train and some dogs you can't," he said.

Basically, it comes down a matter of who really needs this, who really benefits from winning. The young Bulls are going to want this one and they are going to want it bad. This is a validation game for guys like Ron Artest, Eddie Robinson, Tyson Chandler and Ron Mercer. This is their chance to say, 'hey, we are somebody and we have a future even if you (Jordan) own our past.'

And if the game becomes heated and the Bulls are in it down the stretch, watch the Chicago fans cheer for the home team. Listen to them roar if there's a chance to pull this one out of the fire.

If Chicago has a chance to win, then it's a Chicago crowd. If Chicago can win it, the sellout crowd will remove Michael's heart from their sleeves and replace it with the Bulls logo. Oh, they're still MJ's people and they are still anti-Krause to the 10th degree.

But this is still about home town. That never fades. Never.

Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.