Jay Gonnam sprinted from right field to the infield at one of the Clarendon Fields on Sunday, Aug. 18, to celebrate with his teammates on the Sidetrack Squirrels C3-Division softball team, which had just won the league championship.
Gonnam's championship smile was even wider since the win was over the Halsted Hustlersand that team's first baseman is Gonnam's partner of 12 years, Mark Sakalares.
"I've always enjoyed sports, but I'll admit I'm definitely not one of the best athletes out there. I was always either too self-conscious or scared that I wouldn't be good enough to make the teams in grade school and high school, so I didn't try out," Gonnam said. "[The Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association] gives me the opportunity to play the sports I love, with other people who love the sports too, regardless of being 'good enough.' There are players of all different skill levels, and everybody has a place on a team. I've also met some of my favorite people and best friends through the CMSA leagues, and my circle of friends continues to grow with every season I play."
Gonnam also annually plays in the annual Coady Roundball Classic, a prestigious, predominantly gay basketball tournament held in Chicago.
"For many years, my younger brother has played in the tournament as well, since he has played basketball most of his life and it is a great opportunity for us to spend time together," Gonnam said. "During several of those years, my brother's team played against the San Francisco Rockdogs, the reigning champions of the tournament for several years in a row at the time. They were all very aware of my brother's basketball talents.
"One year my team went to a basketball tournament in Washington D.C. and the Rockdogs also were attending the tournament in a different division, and my partner went as our coach. One of the Rockdogs coaches saw me shooting around, probably missing half of my shots and not looking quite as graceful as my brother. He went over to Mark and asked, 'What happened to him?' thinking that he was watching my brother warm up, and some tragic, catastrophic event must have happened for him to be playing with such little skill.
"Mark laughed and explained that he must have been thinking I was my brother. My team thought it was funny too, and to this day, every once in a while one of my teammates from that time will look at me and say 'What happened to him?!?!'"
When asked his dream job, Gonnam smiled and said the answer sits his grade-school notebook drawings. "I would have loved to have been an athletic-shoe designer," he said.
THE STATS
Age
33
Neighborhood
Rogers Park
Favorite pro sports teams
Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls, Bears, and Cubs
Job
Account Manager at CDW, doorman/security at Sidetrack
Hobbies
Sports, music, biking, travel, new technology, and camping
Favorite movie
Love Actually and Empire Records
Favorite TV show
The Newsroom
Four people (living or dead) who you'd like to have dinner with
"My [late] older brother, Jeff; Andy Warhol; Teddy Roosevelt; and Barack Obama"
Little-known fact
"My final theatrical role in high school was that of Jarvis, the cross-dressing butler in 'The Pink Panther Strikes Again,' complete with a drag performance of 'It's Raining Men' while wearing a sequined evening gown and a feather boa."