|
|
|||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, Jerry Reinsdorf, who was born in Brooklyn, New | ||||||
| 3 | York on February 25, 1936; he moved with his family to Chicago, | ||||||
| 4 | Illinois in 1957; Mr. Reinsdorf then went on to graduate from | ||||||
| 5 | George Washington University in Washington D.C., earn a law | ||||||
| 6 | degree from Northwestern University, as well as a Doctorate of | ||||||
| 7 | Humane Letters from Illinois College; Mr. Reinsdorf is married | ||||||
| 8 | to his wife, Martyl, and has four children and seven | ||||||
| 9 | grandchildren; and
| ||||||
| 10 | WHEREAS, In addition to his sports interests, Mr. Reinsdorf | ||||||
| 11 | is an attorney, a certified public accountant, a specialist in | ||||||
| 12 | real estate securities, a registered mortgage underwriter, and | ||||||
| 13 | a certified review appraiser; in December 1987, Mr. Reinsdorf | ||||||
| 14 | completed employment as chairman of the board of a real estate | ||||||
| 15 | investment firm he co-founded in the early 1970s and sold to | ||||||
| 16 | American Express; currently, he is a partner in Bojer | ||||||
| 17 | Financial, Ltd., a land investment company; he is a former | ||||||
| 18 | member of the board of directors of Shearson Lehman Brothers, | ||||||
| 19 | Inc., the Northwestern University Law School Alumni | ||||||
| 20 | Association, LaSalle Bank, Equity Office Properties, and | ||||||
| 21 | numerous other corporations and charities; Mr. Reinsdorf is | ||||||
| 22 | also a current trustee of Northwestern University; and
| ||||||
| 23 | WHEREAS, In 2005, Jerry Reinsdorf began his 25th season as | ||||||
| 24 | chairman of the Chicago White Sox, the second-longest ownership | ||||||
| 25 | tenure in franchise history behind club founder Charles | ||||||
| 26 | Comiskey (1901-31) and the second-longest as a controlling | ||||||
| 27 | owner among the 30 Major League clubs; during Reinsdorf's 25 | ||||||
| 28 | seasons as chairman of the White Sox, the team has captured | ||||||
| 29 | American League division championships four times, including | ||||||
| 30 | an AL Central title in 2005; the White Sox, who also won | ||||||
| 31 | division titles in 1983, 1993, and 2000, were in first place in | ||||||
| 32 | both the 1994 and 2005 regular seasons; and
| ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | WHEREAS, During his career in professional sports, Mr. | ||||||
| 2 | Reinsdorf has been responsible for the construction of two new | ||||||
| 3 | sports facilities in Chicago, Comiskey Park (1991), now U.S. | ||||||
| 4 | Cellular Field, and the United Center (1994); over the past | ||||||
| 5 | five off-seasons, Mr. Reinsdorf, the White Sox, and the | ||||||
| 6 | Illinois Sports Facilities Authority have undertaken dramatic | ||||||
| 7 | off-season renovations to U.S. Cellular Field with the goal of | ||||||
| 8 | improving the ballpark experience for White Sox fans; and
| ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, Mr. Reinsdorf expanded his involvement in | ||||||
| 10 | professional sports in March 1985 by purchasing controlling | ||||||
| 11 | interest in the Chicago Bulls; during his tenure as chairman of | ||||||
| 12 | the Bulls, the team has captured six World Championships for | ||||||
| 13 | Chicago (1991-1993, 1996-1998); and
| ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, On October 26th, 2005, after the Chicago White Sox | ||||||
| 15 | swept the Houston Astros to become the 2005 Major League | ||||||
| 16 | Baseball World Series Champions, Mr. Jerry Reinsdorf became | ||||||
| 17 | only the third owner in sports history to win championships in | ||||||
| 18 | two of the four major sports (baseball, basketball, football | ||||||
| 19 | and hockey); Mr. Reinsdorf has now won championships with both | ||||||
| 20 | the Chicago Bulls (1991-1993 and 1996-1998) and the 2005 World | ||||||
| 21 | Series Champion Chicago White Sox; therefore, be it
| ||||||
| 22 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 23 | NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 24 | Mr. Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago White Sox, be | ||||||
| 25 | recognized and honored for his ability and astuteness in | ||||||
| 26 | assembling one of the most winning teams in Chicago White Sox | ||||||
| 27 | history; not only did the 2005 Chicago White Sox have the best | ||||||
| 28 | regular season record of all American League Baseball teams in | ||||||
| 29 | the 2005 season (with 99 wins and 63 loses), but the 2005 | ||||||
| 30 | Chicago White Sox have dominated the 2005 playoff postseason by | ||||||
| 31 | sweeping the Boston Red Sox three games to none in the American | ||||||
| 32 | League Division Series and then soundly defeating the Los | ||||||
| 33 | Angeles Angels of Anaheim to become the first Chicago White Sox | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | team in 46 years to reach the World Series; and be it further
| ||||||
| 2 | RESOLVED, That Jerry Reinsdorf be honored by the 94th | ||||||
| 3 | Illinois General Assembly by bringing the first World Series | ||||||
| 4 | Championship to the Chicago White Sox since 1917, a span of 88 | ||||||
| 5 | years; not only did the 2005 Chicago White Sox win the World | ||||||
| 6 | Series, but did it by sweeping the Houston Astros in four | ||||||
| 7 | straight games, showing that leadership, teamwork, and | ||||||
| 8 | humility are the keys to success, from the owner down to each | ||||||
| 9 | individual ball player; and be it further
| ||||||
| 10 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 11 | presented to Mr. Jerry Reinsdorf and his family and to the | ||||||
| 12 | Chicago White Sox organization.
| ||||||