Full Text of HR0709 94th General Assembly
HR0709 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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 |
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| team in 46 years to reach the World Series; and be it further
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| 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
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| 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.
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