HUNTLEY — A gathering of Chicago sports fans began the new year with testing their knowledge in a fun atmosphere at Huntley Ares Public Library.
They attended the monthly Chi-Town Sports Trivia Group, organized by Bill and Sue McMahon of Sun City. The Jan. 3 event at a library program room marked the group’s one-year anniversary. Professional sports teams the Chicago Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks were topics of questions that the teams answer, and a general Chicago sports category, with 30 questions in total. Attendees are assigned teams at random. The winning team takes home the “pot” from a small donation by sports fans on hand.
“We have about 12 to six people attending up to 25 to 30,” group organizer Bill McMahon said.
“I enjoy it,” participant John Hodal said. “It’s a good group, relaxing, somewhat competitive. I also enjoy the stories.”
Hodal was a member of the winning trio with Tom Rudis and Jim Sverty, all of Sun City. They nosed out the second place team by three points.
Participants answered a variety of sports questions such as: the swingman who played alongside Michael Jordan for a short time and reached the pro basketball Hall of Famee, George Gervin; the Bulls player who changed his name to “Metta World Peace”, Ron Artest; the Bears’ last Super Bowl quarterback, Rex Grossman (2006 season); the year that Soldier Field opened, 1924 and when the Bears moved in, 1971.
A Bulls-White Sox interesting fact was the name of the baseball team Jordan played for, the minor league Birmingham Barons. Cubs questions, included the third baseman who hit a clutch grand slam against the Marlins in 2003, Aramis Ramirez; the 1935 National League MVP, who was Gaby Hartnett; and the shortstop in World Series champs years 1907-08, Joe Tinker.
In the general questions category, the questions included who succeeded Northwestern football head coach Randy Walker when he died in 2006. The answer is former head coach and alum Pat Fitzgerald.
Football fans probably know the answer to this one – whose name is attached to the award given to the best collegiate linebacker? It’s Chicago Bears Hall of Famer Dick Butkus.
Former Chicago Cubs athletic trainer Tony Garofalo served as the “halftime” story teller, relating some of his favorites, including the 1984 Chicago Cubs post-season squad, which ended a post-season drought since 1945.
“I remember when we were the Game of the Week broadcast once in 1977,” Garofalo commented. “Bobby Mercer was playing right field, and he said before the game he would go down in right field, I would come out to help, but laid there for a few minutes and told me to get up because it was for TV time. Mercer was a good guy, our relief pitcher Bruce Sutter also helped me out a lot. I would say 99 percent of the major league players are great guys.”
He also recalled how the team members and legendary broadcaster Jack Brickhouse handled a black-out in New York City.
The next meeting of the Chi-Town Trivia Sports Group will be at 2 p.m., Feb. 7. For more information, contact Bill McMahon at 1-224-276-0140 or email rambler701@comcast.net.
