Danny Tag got his start in sports back in 1988 at age 21, when he was interested in playing softball and found the names of Windy City Athletic Association ( WCAA ) and the Metropolitan Sports Association ( MSA ) in the directory of Gay Chicago Magazine.
He called their hotlines and got a call back from a manager of a team in the Windy City league. His first team was sponsored by Buddies, a then-new restaurant and bar. Tag also went to his first Gay Softball World Series that summer, as a pickup player for Christopher Street.
The following season, Tag joined Christopher Street and the team moved to the MSA.
"I have been to about 10 [ Gay Softball ] World Series and in 2003 was lucky enough to bring a team to Washington, D.C., that won it all in the C-Division," Tag said. "Four other teams I've been on have finished in the top five. I also was fortunate enough to be selected for the Brodie Award in 2008, which is the softball league's sportsmanship honor."
Tag turned to the organizational end of local gay sports in the mid-1990s by helping coordinate softball skills clinics and managing a team of rookies. In 1997, he was a team manager for the first time and also around that time joined the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association's ( CMSA's ) board of directors. He served as secretary and also is a past CMSA president.
"During my time on the board, I was involved in the start up of the beach volleyball and men's flag football leagues," Tag said. "I think the years I served on the board were some of the most growth-oriented years in the organization. I tried to focus on outreach and cross-promotion. Adding new members and getting members who were in one sport to try others really helped build and strengthen the leagues. While I was president, we had some of the best sports directors running the leagues. Many of them were very close friends, so I always knew what issues they faced. The sports directors are the real heroes of CMSA. The work they do is far more challenging."
CMSA's roots in flag football date back to a summer Sunday conversation—at a bar, naturally, Tag confirmed. Others contributing to that post-softball, at-a-bar talk about flag football were Rob Scaffidi, Vinnie Arroyo who also was a former CMSA board member, Bill Enright and Chris Zarek.
Scaffidi became the first commissioner. Enright and Arroyo handled the rules, fields and officiating. And there were five or six teams playing at Margate Park.
"The first year of flag football was a blast," Tag said. "Most of us had no football experience and were just goofing around out there. The team I was on came dressed in drag for a Halloween game. One of the funniest moments ever in flag football was when my teammate Les donned in a white wedding dress, caught a pass and the guy grabbing for his flag got a bit of the garment instead. The dress unraveled for 40 yards as Les strolled in for a touchdown. I think Bill Enright threw a flag on the play.
"CMSA's flag football league today … wow! The league has grown and gotten serious. The first few years of flag football, teams did not have the same competitive ambitions that they do now. I suppose the formation of the Gay Super Bowl has something to do with that."
Tag's gay sporting resume also includes playing indoor volleyball since 1993, beach volleyball, dodgeball, winter doubles tennis, Friday night bowling, badminton and kickball.
In 2010, he played softball for the C-Division Green Team/Gotcha Cover Blinds G-Force, flag football for Urban Eyecare, indoor and beach volleyball for Hot Wangs, and dodgeball for Glenwood Peckers.
Not a bad sporting resume for someone who, as a high school freshman, was cut during tryouts for the school's baseball team—and played no other sports.
Now 44, Tag lives in Uptown and is a writer/producer/editor for ABC-7 Chicago. He is single and a 1984 graduate of Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, the same alma mater as fellow local gay athletes Ted Cappas and Chris Vernald.
"It's funny to think about my local gay sports resume as if I have an athletic 'career,'" Tag said, laughing. "Softball is my favorite, because it's the only sport where I kind of know what I'm doing. I love watching baseball. I love the strategy and the drama. You never know when the action is going to take place… and when it does, it can be crushing or exhilarating."
Tag's local gay athletic career has landed him in the CMSA Hall of Fame. He is one of four to be inducted Saturday night, March 26. Tag is joined in the Class of 2011 by three others:
—David Bartnick: Open Softball member for more than 30 years … Recipient of the James R. Brodie Sportsmanship Award … Sponsor of the Howard Brown Elephant Softball team and chairperson of the Sidetrack Blues annual fundraiser.
—Johnny Cieplak: From the Sidetrack men's softball teams … Inducted into the NAGAAA Hall of Fame in 2001 … Manager of the Sidetrack team who won the 16-inch softball league championship in 1985, 1986 and 1987 … Was active in both the men's 12- and 16-inch softball leagues.
—Robbie Marshall: Longtime manager of the Big Red 12- and 16-inch softball teams … Was a mainstay of the 16-inch softball league, the founding sport of CMSA … Served as commissioner of the softball leagues during the late 1980s … Worked the concession stand at the fields and oversaw the all-star BBQ event … Captained or managed the Big Red's softball, bowling, volleyball, basketball and autumn co-ed 12-inch softball teams.
"I am very thankful and honored to be inducted," Tag said. "I have always been more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guys, so this kind of attention is awkward for me. I don't really feel worthy.
"I wasn't involved in any sports [ in high school. ] I never played an organized sport in my life until I joined WCAA & CMSA.
"The people I have met through CMSA are my family. I am so grateful for the sense of camaraderie and community this organization has brought to my life. I'm really kind of embarrassed by the attention."
Also please see
Marcia Hill on this year's inductees
by Ross Forman, Windy City Times
2011-03-16
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php
