Here Are the Biggest Bears Fans in Chicago Real Estate
After the Bears’ 48-23 loss to Arizona at Soldier Field Sunday, we wouldn’t blame some of you for burning your jerseys and turning your attention to basketball and hockey season. The biggest Bears fans, however, show their pride regardless of the team’s fortunes. We put out a call for the biggest Bears fans in Chicago real estate, and you delivered. Here are six fans whose loyalty goes above and beyond.
When JLL EVP Chris Cassata (second from left) isn’t busy attracting tenants to 980 N Michigan, 515 N State, 303 W Madison, 300 W Adams and 125 S Wacker, he’s tailgating at Bears games with a custom-made bus.
“Speedy Willie,” named after former Bears receiver Willie Gault, is a regular presence at Bears games. Chris, a longtime Bears season ticket holder, and his family can be found serving food from the bus for up to 50 people at a time. Now that's tailgating done right!
Sperry Van Ness Chicago Commercial managing director Michael Thanasouras (with daughter Alexis) has been a Bears fan all his life, and a season ticket holder for 28 years thanks to his mom, who sent in an application for tickets during his junior year in college. Michael grew up in a football home, with Christmases loaded with Bears paraphernalia and family Bears viewing parties. He and his wife, Elise, even celebrated their first two wedding anniversaries at Bears games. Five days after the birth of his first daughter, he was at the rebuilt Soldier Field’s opening game. On game days, there’s a Bears flag flying outside the Thanasouras house, and when Michael tailgates, it’s all about homemade breakfast burritos. That said, for Michael, tailgating fun must end early so that he can be firmly in his seat before the national anthem.
Die-hard Bears fan john greene Commercial's Shamus Conneely (shown with son and budding Bears fan Michael) has a knack for identifying great matchups and bringing teams together that would make Coach John Fox envious. Shamus recently repped Melrose Holdings in the $405k sale of 532 W Lake St in Elmhurst, a 10k SF vacant commercial building acquired by Swilly Inc. He also recently brokered the $2M sale of 33 acres in South Elgin, and the $1.9M sale of five acres in Naperville, both to K. Hovnanian T & C Homes at Illinois. Shamus is hoping the Bears actively acquire as much ground this season!
Friends of Fifield Cos' Bill Riebe know not to call him on Sundays until after the Bears have played. Bill religiously sports a Bears T-shirt and Zubaz pants every week on game day, and even took his seven-months-pregnant wife to Tampa Bay in 1995 to see a Bears game before their daughter was born. His fantasy football team will always have Bears players on it, and his bleary-eyed, caffeine-filled Monday mornings are the result of late nights watching Bears post-game highlights after the 10 o’clock news. As a child, Bill, a Bears fan since 1970, made yearly trips to training camp with his father. Over the years, he’s amassed quite a collection of Bears memorabilia that includes items autographed by Walter Payton, Dan Hampton, George Halas, Ron Rydalch and Brian Baschnagel. And if you’re ever looking for a vinyl copy of "The Super Bowl Shuffle," Bill’s your guy.
Proper Title's Kim O’Donnell is busy with construction escrow work on Wilder Crossing, a new 32-unit mixed-use condo development in downtown Elmhurst that's kicking off this fall. Although Kim's a die-hard Bears fan, because Wilder Crossing is within walking distance to Elmhurst College, we might see her wearing Elmhurst Bluejays gear in the next update.
