Chicago Definitely His Kind of Town : Reaction: After week of anticipation, the city goes giddy after Jordan says he is returning to the Bulls today.

CHICAGO — Michael Jordan was nowhere to be found Saturday in this hub of the Jordan-centric universe, and it was a good thing. The return of basketball’s greatest star set off a tidal wave of euphoria on the streets and in the sports bars of Chicago that would have turned even the briefest public appearance into a stampede.

“God, if I saw him, I’d come right at him with a bearhug like you would not believe,” said Mark Drummond, 23, a burly stockroom worker who spent four hours inside Jordan’s restaurant Saturday downing beers with buddies in the vain hope that the returning Chicago Bull star would show up.

“Maybe even a kiss,” he added without a hint of sheepishness.

If there is a fine line between elation and giddiness, there were plenty of border raids Saturday in Chicago after Jordan announced he will end his retirement against the Indiana Pacers today. For 10 days, the only real news in this haven of sports buffs has been what Jordan was up to.

There may not have been much genuine surprise when he finally announced, “I’m back”--but that was not about to prevent Jordan’s devoted flock from a long day and night of celebration.

All day Saturday, the faithful made their pilgrimages to his restaurant and Niketown, a four-story chrome and neon monument to running shoes and Jordan memorabilia.

Menelik Seyoum, 31, a red-jacketed valet parker at the restaurant, had never even heard of Jordan until he emigrated from Ethiopia seven years ago. But now, the man who recently parked Jordan’s brand-new Chevy Blazer on the night of Jordan’s birthday was patiently explaining to visitors that, yes, he had met M.J. and no, he was not around.

“He’s a great man. He makes everyone feel like they win,” Seyoum said.

Inside the cavernous bar, facing a massive grid of televisions broadcasting an NCAA tournament game, Aaron Williger, 14, sat in awe of Jordan and his employees.

The teen-ager had walked over with a friend, Alex Means, hoping, like so many others, to see his idol.

“Imagine seeing him here all the time,” Williger said. “Oh man, I’d give anything to see him now.”

Williger said he has a Jordan poster hanging over his bed, 15 Jordan basketball cards and a small pile of sports magazines with Jordan on the cover.

He was planning to buy more memorabilia at the restaurant’s souvenir store. When the restaurant opened, hordes of fans crammed in to buy merchandise, prompted by the news of Jordan’s return.

“It was getting pretty scary for a minute,” saleswoman Lisa Woodruff said. “I thought we were going to run out. These people were serious.”

And they had been for more than a week, since the rumors of his return began.

“People wouldn’t stop coming in here asking us if we’d heard anything,” Tom Grinton of Triple A Sports Collectables told the Associated Press. “I told them ‘Michael hasn’t called me yet, I don’t know.’ Now I can give a prayer of thanks.”

With No. 23 back in business, sporting goods stores were scrambling to meet the expected rush for jerseys, jackets and caps.

“Fortunately, we kind of stashed a few away for this day in case he decided to come back, and I just ordered a bunch more,” said Joe Yalda, owner of Triple A.

Tickets from brokers to remaining games also were $20-$50 higher, according to Mr. B’s Ticket Service in Skokie.

“We’ve had dozens of calls asking for tickets to see Jordan in Indiana, but it’s a little too late for us to get them,” the company’s president said.

The phones were flooded at sports talk radio station WSCR, where Jordan calls came in at the rate of one every two minutes. Thousands more were unable to get through the station’s busy signal, host Mike Murphy said--compared to a typical Saturday load of 15 or 20 calls every four hours.

“It’s all been Jordan,” Murphy said. “No NCAA calls. No baseball strike. No Chicago Blackhawks.”

Murphy told listeners that he was glad it had taken so long for Jordan to make up his mind. “If it had happened overnight, I would have had to get hold of a cardiologist.

“This is a beautiful day,” said Murphy, overcome and nearly as speechless as his listeners as he contemplated life, again, with M.J.

* JORDAN RETURNS: Two words--”I’m back”--and Michael Jordan is a Bull again. A1.