We are pleased to announce that Chicago media personality David Kaplan will be inducted into The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame with our 2021 class on October 28th at Wintrust Arena. 

Commonly known in Chicago sports fan circles as "Kap", the David Kaplan story is a great one.  The Skokie, IL native never set out to be in the media. He was a coach and scout first and his tale has one important theme, "Be available."

In 1986 Kaplan was a young assistant basketball coach at Northern Illinois University under his mentor John McDougal. He was four years into the role when he learned that McDougal had been fired. Knowing his fate as a coach at NIU would be coming to an end, he scrambled and pivoted. With little money and determined to build a bankroll for law school at Lewis University, he started calling college coaches and offering to sell his Chicago area scouting reports and tapes. A lover of the recruiting process, Kaplan had extensive research and information on Chicago area high school players that most college coaches didn't. It was a desperate but wise choice. Within a few weeks he started getting checks in the mail from coaches asking for more. Some of the checks were backdated assuming that Kaplan's new enterprise was a monthly newsletter. It quickly became one and law school was scrapped for The Windy City Roundball Review. A few years passed and the newsletter had grown to 250 subscribers and Kaplan had made a name for himself among Chicago area basketball junkies and national college coaches. You can catch him briefly in the iconic Chicago based and 1994 Oscar nominated film Hoop Dreams.

The innovation of the newsletter led Kaplan to start pondering his next move. Confident in his approach and knowledge of the Chicago basketball landscape, he started reaching out to local media personalities to share his wisdom. One of them called. Fellow Chicagoland Sports Hall of Famer Chet Coppock. Coppock had a weekly radio show in Chicago called Coppock on Sports" and was light on guests when a cancellation happened. He asked his producer to reach out to Kaplan and a media star was born. Kaplan would become the "go to" guest when future cancellations occurred, and his upbeat personality and extensive basketball knowledge impressed Coppock. With time, the name "Kap" was catching on with Chicago sports fans and he was taking television gigs when other announcers cancelled to cover High School Game of The Week and DePaul basketball games in addition to featuring as a guest on Coppock's show. He was always available.

David landed his own show with WMVP Radio in 1993 with recommendation from Coppock. It was a basketball themed show to start, but his extensive contact list and ability to book prestigious guests quickly elevated him to the top of the talent pool and he soon found himself reporting on all sports. A defining moment in Kaplan's career came in 1995 by a twist of fate. Kaplan was sick and running a fever when his old friend and colleague Thom Brennaman called. David had just wrapped his afternoon show when his phone rang. Brennaman and David had become pals covering college basketball games in what is now the Horizon League and Thom was now the voice of the Chicago Cubs. He was looking for a buddy to hang out with at the Cubs Convention. WMVP didn't offer contacts at the time so calling in sick for his afternoon show hadn't been an option, but attending the convention was going to be rough for Kaplan. With some ribbing and prodding from Brennaman, Kaplan reluctantly agreed to meet him out. At the convention, Brennaman introduced David to Tina LaSorte who was the Program Director at WGN Radio. Unbeknownst to him, she was a fan of his show and wanted to know if he was "available". Chicagoland Sports Hall of Famer Chuck Swirsky was leaving WGN and Tina needed to find a fresh voice. It was Kaplan's dream job. David took it and remained at WGN for 22 years where he solidified his name as a Chicago media great.  
 
Today David is the host of the Kap and J Hood Show on ESPN 1000 Radio that airs M-F from 7am-10am and The NBC Sports Chicago Football Aftershow. Kaplan has won three Emmy Awards for his television work including 2 at Comcast SportsNet and 1 for hosting the highly successful A Piece of the Game which is a sports memorabilia show that airs nationally and has received multiple awards for excellence. In addition, he co-authored the award-winning "Around Town" column in the Chicago Tribune with longtime writer Fred Mitchell from 2009 to 2011. He is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches (IBCA) Hall of Fame and the Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and was inducted into the prestigious WGN Radio Walk of Fame in May of 2018.

David Kaplan is the only person in Chicago media history to host a daily TV show, a daily radio show and write a regular column in a major newspaper all at the same time. We reached out to David to let him know the news and he sent us a note, "Call me anytime!!! My family and I are over the moon and humbled. I'm honored and thrilled to be included in this great fraternity of men and women that I've not only grown up idolizing, but had the amazing privilege of covering and working with as well. I can't wait to celebrate with my amazing fans and family on October 28th."  

Welcome to The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame David Kaplan! 
​

Curtis Granderson is a Chicagoland Sports Hall of Famer. We are happy to announce that he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at our awards dinner on October 28th at the Wintrust Arena. Curtis embodies just about every trait we look for in selecting candidates. A hometown hero, a stellar athletic career and a strong commitment to charitable endeavors, his work speaks volumes.

​The son of two Chicago teachers, Curtis was born in 1981 and grew up in the south suburbs of Blue Island and Lynwood. He attended Thornton Fractional South for High School where he played baseball and basketball. An All-State selection his senior year on the diamond, he chose to attend college at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to play both baseball and basketball. An immediate impact player his freshman year, he led the UIC Flames with 7 home runs and 45 walks. Quitting basketball to focus on baseball, he continued his career at UIC hitting 304 as a sophomore leading the team in walks, home runs and total runs scored. In his junior season Curtis held a .483 batting average which was the second highest in the nation. He was named Second-Team All-American by Baseball America and USA Today's Baseball Weekly and a Third-Team Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American. Curtis graduated from UIC with a double major in business administration and business marketing.

The Detroit Tigers selected Curtis in the third round of the 2002 MLB draft and he made his major league debut on September 13, 2004. He spent his first six of 16 total seasons in Detroit. In his career, Granderson played 2,057 games and totaled 1,800 hits, 344 home runs, 153 stolen bases, 937 RBIs and 1,217 runs scored. At retirement in January of 2020, he was MLB's active leader in triples, with 95. Granderson made it to the postseason eight times and played in two World Series, with the Tigers in 2006 and the Mets in '15.

His best seasons came in 2007 with the Tigers and 2011 with the Yankees. In '07, Granderson batted .302 with 23 homers, 26 steals and an MLB-best 23 triples. In '11, he hit 41 home runs, stole 25 bases, led the AL with 119 RBIs and the Majors with 136 runs scored while finishing fourth in American League MVP Award voting. 

Curtis is well known for his contributions to his community. While still playing he was the 2016 winner of MLB's Roberto Clemente Award - given annually to a player who demonstrates Clemente's values of commitment to community and helping others - and he was also named the Marvin Miller Man of the Year four times by the MLB Players Association, including in 2019.

​Granderson has served as an official ambassador for Major League Baseball International and has visited England, Italy, the Netherlands, France, South Africa, China, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan to promote the game. He has also served as something of an unofficial baseball ambassador to the African-American community, often participating in and initiating dialogue about the lack of Black players at all levels of the sport. When he endorsed Nike, Inc., Louisville Slugger and Rawlings, he asked them to donate money to his "Grand Kids" foundation or equipment to inner-city baseball programs rather than pay him. Most recently Curtis provided the narration for a video that went across all ballparks commemorating Jackie Robinson Day on April 15th of last month and he donated 42,000 meals to the COVID-19 food bank partners in honor of Robinson's jersey number 42.

In addition to his work with the "Grand Kids" foundation, in 2013 he donated $5 million to the University of Illinois at Chicago for the construction of their ballpark, Les Miller Field at Curtis Granderson Stadium. Welcome to the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame Curtis. You are most deserving! 

The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame is thrilled to announce the confirmation of baseball great Andrew "Rube" Foster as our first member of the 2021 class. He will be inducted posthumously at our October 28th ceremony with a very special guest to be announced at a later date accepting on his behalf.

Often called the Father of The Negro Leagues and the first black baseball executive, Rube Foster was born in Calvert, Texas in 1879.  The son of a preacher, he began his professional baseball career as a pitcher for the African American Independent Waco Yellow Jackets in 1897. After making a name for himself among white and black baseball fans as a premier player, he was eventually signed by Frank Leland's Chicago Union Giants as a player/manager in 1907 where the team finished with 110-10 record and won the Chicago City League Pennant. 1n 1910 the brash and confident Foster was able to wrestle legal control of the team from its founder, Frank Leland and then proceeded to put together a team he later considered his finest. He signed John Henry Lloyd away from the Philadelphia Giants, second baseman Grant Johnson, catcher Bruce Petway, and pitchers Frank Wickware and Pat Dougherty. Lloyd sparked the Lelands to a 123–6 record (with Foster himself contributing a 13–2 record on the mound). 

The following season, Foster established a partnership with John Schorling, the son-in-law of Chicago White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey. The White Sox had just moved into Comiskey Park, and Schorling arranged for Foster's team to use the vacated South Side Park, at 39th and Wentworth. The Leland Giants then became known as the Chicago American Giants and they went on to claim the Western Black Baseball Championship for the next four years. In the years following, discrepancies began to emerge with other black clubs over the legitimacy of Championships and cross league play between other clubs. These discrepancies helped pave the way for the foundation of a National Negro League with Foster leading the charge in 1920 with the help of team rival C.I. Taylor of the Indianapolis ABC's club. Foster, Taylor and the owners of six other midwestern clubs met in the spring to form a professional baseball circuit for African-American teams. Foster, as president, controlled league operations, while remaining owner and manager of the American Giants. With the formation of the new league, a stable schedule and reasonably solvent opponents, Foster was able to improve receipts at the gate for the Chicago American Giants. It is reported that when opposing clubs lost money, Foster was also known to help them meet payroll, sometimes out of his own pocket. The American Giants won the National Negro League's first three pennants, before being overtaken by the Kansas City Monarchs in 1923. 

In 1925 Foster was on the receiving end of a gas leak during a stay in Indianapolis that almost killed him. In the year following he began to show signs of mental illness as a result of the accident and was eventually institutionalized after relinquishing control of the team and league. The American Giants and the NNL lived on and the Giants won the pennant and World Series in both 1926 and 1927—but the league clearly suffered in the absence of Foster's leadership. Foster died in 1930, never having recovered from his illness, and a year later, the league he had founded sadly fell apart. 

Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame President Charles Carey said, "Ryan Nilsson of The Chicago SunTimes wrote an excellent piece on Rube Foster last July during the lock down of the pandemic. After reading the piece and the discovery of all his achievements it was clear that he was a must for our next Hall of Fame class."

In 1981, Foster was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the first representative of the Negro leagues elected as a pioneer or executive. The induction of Rube Foster to The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame will happen Thursday night October 28th. Please follow us on twitter for more announcements and updates to the 2021 Hall of Fame class. 

​https://twitter.com/CSHOFChicago






​

​Hall of fame member Kenneth R. Geiger passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 21st, while surrounded by his loving family in the tranquility of his own home at the age of 89. Ken was instrumental to the growth of our organization and his contributions and help over the years were invaluable to the continued success of our mission and charitable cause. Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame president Charles Carey said, “Not all of our members are nationally recognized names and Ken Geiger epitomized what makes our fraternity of members so special as his character, contributions and career as a Chicago area educator and coach are a great example of what we look for each year as we consider each new class of inductees. He was a great help to us and he will be greatly missed.”

Born and raised in Berwyn, Illinois, Ken graduated from Fenwick High School in 1949. He was a high school teammate and lifelong friend of fellow Chicagoland Sports Hall of Famer Johnny Lattner and he often credited Fenwick High School and his coach Tony Lawless for instilling his very best knowledge of the game of Football in him. Post Fenwick, Ken became an All-Conference guard at Monmouth College where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree and then went on to serve with the United States Army in the 101st Airborne Division during the Korean War. Post war he continued his education at the University of Illinois, earning a master’s degree and working as the freshman football offensive line coach. He then moved on to the University of Missouri where he obtained a doctorate in education and was the assistant varsity line coach. Returning to his alma mater Monmouth College in 1972, he helped lead the Fighting Scots to an undefeated conference championship as the varsity line coach. Following that magical season, he left Monmouth for his old hometown of Berwyn, IL to teach and coach at Morton East and West High Schools. He coached and taught at Morton for 34 years, as head football coach, wrestling coach, athletic director and department chair. Together with other Chicago suburban highs school coaches, Ken was instrumental in bringing about the IHSA football playoff system in 1974. 
 
After retiring as an educator in 1982, Ken joined the Chicago Bears as a Player Personal Assistant. That position launched an 11-year career in professional football that also took him to the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints as a college scout and pro player evaluator. In the early ’90s, he served as one of the NFL’s first advance scouts. He also was a moving force in bringing American football to Europe, teaching the game to European youths and representing the National Football League as a clinician. 
 
In addition to our Hall of Fame Ken is in the Monmouth College, Chicago Catholic League and IHSA Halls of Fame and is an emeritus member of the American Association of Football Coaches.
 
Former student and player Dennis Deegan said, “What a great man; who lived a great life; always giving of himself. Coach Geiger introduced me to Monmouth College, and coached me in High School Football at Morton West High, Berwyn, Illinois. He opened the door at Monmouth College for so many athletes and I credit him for earning my BA at Monmouth. You will always be a winner in my heart, Coach.”
 
Jimmy Gray played quarterback at Morton for Geiger. “Back in the "good 'old days" we had total respect for our all our coaches, Coach Geiger also was responsible for the Letterman's club which gave us more time with him and learn even more than sports. Coach was definitely a man you looked up to and was also a father figure for many. We were High School Team of the Week on WLS radio after beating our rival Willowbrook team. A TD run by John Parpet and TD receptions by Gary Zmrhal capped our victory. In one series I threw an 89-yard touchdown to Rich Brom. It was a 10 yd down and out pattern as Rich ran down our sideline. Coach Geiger was screaming at him "Brom, you better score!” I'm still not sure if Rich was that fast in his high-top cleats or if the fear of letting coach Geiger down took him to the end zone. Some of our linemen said Coach always was looking for his 5 blocks of granite. A phrase he repeated throughout his career. I was fortunate to live in the Chicagoland area when Coach arranged for the Bears to practice in the Morton East field house. Coach Geiger called me and offered to put mine and my son’s name on the pass list to watch them. What a thrill for my son! Not only did he get to watch, but Bob Thomas, the kicker, asked my son to catch his practice kicks and pass back the ball to the snapper. By far, this moment made my son a Chicago Bear fan for life! I am truly going to miss coach Geiger. A total class act and legend. I am forever grateful to have had him as a coach.”
 
Ken was the Beloved Husband of Sheryl J. nee Johnson for a loving 67 years. Devoted Father of Gary (Ana Maria), Kevin (Jeane Gentile), Joni (James) Russo, Susan, and Eric (Amy).
 
Family and friends are to gather for the visitation Tuesday, January 26th, 2021 from 3:00 PM until 9:00 PM. Words of Remembrance Service to be celebrated promptly at 7:00 PM at Russo’s Hillside Chapels, 4500 Roosevelt Road, Hillside, IL 60162 (Located between Mannheim and Wolf Road). Funeral to follow Wednesday, January 27, 2021 from Russo’s Hillside Chapels at 8:30 AM proceeding to St. Leonard Parish, 3318 S. Clarence Ave., Berwyn, IL. Mass of Christian Burial celebrated promptly at 10:00 AM. Interment at Queen of Heaven Cemetery. For additional information call (708) 449-5300. Please visit Kenneth’s personal tribute website at www.russohillsidechapels.com and sign his guestbook.
 

​​ 
​The Golden Boy has entered the pearly gates. University of Notre Dame and Green Bay Packer legend Paul Hornung passed away peacefully from dementia related complications last Friday November 13th. The 2012 Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame inductee was 84 years old.
 
Paul Vernon Hornung was born December 23, 1935 in Louisville, KY. Nicknamed the “Golden Boy” for his blonde curly hair and handsome good looks, he attended Flaget High School where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and track. Heavily recruited and coveted by a young Bear Bryant who was a coach with Kentucky at the time, Paul ultimately chose the University of Notre Dame at the urging of his mother Loretta, a devout Roman Catholic and his best friend and high school teammate Sherrill Sipes. Hornung credits the decision as the best he made in life. Sherrill Sipes went on to play for the Fighting Irish with Hornung and to this day they are the only two players from the same high school to ever start in a Notre Dame backfield at the same time.
 
Hornung lived up to the hype at Notre Dame becoming a national sensation and two-time All-American at quarterback and winning the Heisman Trophy in 1956. Often called the most versatile player in Notre Dame and NFL history he played every position in the backfield during his three-year varsity career spanning from 1953-56. As a senior, he led the Irish in passing, rushing, scoring, kickoff and punt returns, punting, field goal extra points, passes broken up, and ranked second in interceptions and tackles. He was without contention the best player in college football, but it was something Hornung did at Notre Dame while not in uniform that would reap his greatest reward. As a student, he gave a tour of the stadium to a guy named John F. Kennedy, who at the time was a U.S. Senator. Years later, as a Green Bay Packer, Hornung got drafted into the military and was going to miss the NFL title game, until Coach Vince Lombardi told Hornung to call now President John F. Kennedy. "He said I'll get back to you. He didn't tell me who he was calling. He got back to me three hours later or maybe the next day and said 'You're gonna be ok to take the second two-week’s vacation for Christmas, which will enable you to play in the championship game and I'm going to have a plane come pick you up,'" said Hornung.
 
The Green Bay Packers drafted Hornung as the number one pick in the 1957 NFL Draft and he blossomed in the NFL as a Packer evolving into an all-pro halfback in the 1960s who could run, pass, catch, block and kick. The pinnacle of his colorful NFL tenure came during three exceptional seasons in 1959, 1960 and 1961 when Hornung led the NFL in scoring two of those years and finished second the other year by one point. In 1960, he capped a stellar season when he scored a record 176 points in 12 games on 15 touchdowns, 15 field goals and 41 extra points – a mark that would stand for nearly 46 years. He was the NFL’s MVP in 1961, and his Packers earned NFL titles in 1961, 1962 and 1965, and won Super Bowl I in 1967. Those years included the 1961 stretch in which Hornung was called to active duty in the Army to fulfill ROTC requirements from Notre Dame. He obtained weekend passes thanks to his friendship with President Kennedy to play in Packers games, including the 37-0 rout of the New York Giants in the 1961 Championship in which he scored a record 19 points. Hornung scored the winning touchdown in the 1965 NFL championship game against the Cleveland Browns, and suited up for Super Bowl I, but did not play because of a neck injury. He was the first player selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 1967 expansion draft, but never played due to injury and subsequently retired from football.
 
Post football, Hornung resumed a successful real estate and investment career with hometown friend and mentor Frank Metts, and launched a career as a sports radio and TV commentator and speaker. He was a college and pro football analyst for CBS, TBS, ABC Radio; a color analyst on radio for the Minnesota Vikings and Notre Dame; and along with Lindsay Nelson, in 1966 did tape delay broadcasts of Notre Dame games that aired Sundays. He authored multiple books, including, “My Private Collection: The Paul Hornung Scrapbook” published in 2014; and “Lombardi and Me: Players, Coaches and Colleagues Talk about the Man and the Myth,” published in 2006.
 
Outside of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame he was inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 1975, National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame in 1985, Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, National High School Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2012, he was inducted in the inaugural class of the Louisville Catholic Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Fellow CSHOF member and former Chicago Bear Dan Hampton had this to say, “There was no one like Paul Hornung. When I first arrived in Chicago as a Bear we had a love hate relationship with the Packers. We loved to hate them. As my career progressed and I became closer with Bears of the generation before me like Dick Butkus and Ed O’Bradovich, I learned that they all actually truly loved and respected their peers from Green Bay. They respected those great Green Bay teams so much and always talked about the greatness of those middle 60s teams with Bart Starr and Hornung. When I first met Paul, I was struck by how gregarious, respectful, adoring and fun he was with all of us Bears. He was class and a lot of fun to party with as well! He will be missed by us.”
 
Hornung is survived by his wife of 41 years, Angela. Due to coronavirus restrictions, there will be a private funeral mass at St. Louis Bertrand Church in Louisville followed by a private burial. The Green Bay Packers have said a public celebration of his life will be held at a later date.