One trio of Chicago sports trivia experts ended as the winner of the monthly Chi-Town Sports Trivia Group gathering March 6 at Huntley Area Public Library.
The winning team for the monthly gathering was John Hudal and Jim Suerth of Sun City and Gary Konca of Pingree Grove. They answered the most questions correctly on Chicago Cubs, Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls and the wildcard category, college sports nicknames.
“The thing I enjoy most about the events is the friendly competition with the teams involved,” trivia group coordinator Bill McMahon, who asks the questions, said. “It is also great to see the superb knowledge about Chicago sports that the competitors display.”
The friendly competition is decided by points, and the winners edged the second-place group by a narrow margin March 6. Most sessions the winning points total is 35, and the maximum is 36, McMahon said. Sessions sometimes have guest speakers, such as retired Chicago Cubs Public Relations Director Bob Ibach and retired Cubs trainer Tony Garrafolo.
Questions ranged from who Bulls’ great Michael Jordan scored a famous jump shot against (Craig Elo, Cleveland) to which college Bulls’ Scottie Pippen attended (Central Arkansas). For Bears interests, one had to know Mike Ditka set the then tight end pass catching record of 56 and 1,000 yards in 1961. Cubs facts included who won the National League Rookie of the Year from the team before Kris Bryant in 2015 (Geovany Soto in 2008) and which animal did manager Joe Maddon bring into practice to lighten the mood in 2016 (bear cubs was the correct answer).
“I learn something new every time I come,” participant Jim McGrath said.
The group meets from 2 to 3:30 p.m., the first Friday of the month, at Huntley Area Public Library, but will take a month off, for an NCAA men’s basketball title game gathering, and meet again May 1.
