The nation's oldest and largest gay basketball league kicks off Jan. 7—and it's even bigger than last season.
The Windy City Men's Basketball League offers three divisions ( Competitive, Intermediate and Recreation ) with a combined 17 teams. Last season, when there were three divisions for the first time, there were 15 teams.
Games are played every Saturday, starting at noon, at Winnemac Park Gym at Amundsen High School, located on the southwest corner of Foster and Damen Streets.
'We used to play on Thursday nights at Margate ( Fieldhouse ) , but that was when we only had six teams. We've out-grown Margate and now, for the second year, will play at Amundsen, where we can use two gyms,' said Ted Cappas, one of the league's organizers—and the defending MVP of the Competitive Division.
The season ends in early April, with each team playing 10 or 11 games, followed by single-elimination playoffs. All teams make the playoffs. Games are two 20-minute halves. Intermediate and Recreational Division teams can be pre-formed.
Competitive Division teams are formed by a confidential draft. Each team begins with two captains and all players interested in playing on a Competitive team are included in a draft pool. From the draft pool, captains select players until each team has no less than eight players.
'One thing that I think is great about the basketball league as a whole is, we have a lot of straight guys who play. And that includes a lot of family members and close friends,' said Cappas, who has played in the league for eight years and been part of its organizing committee for the past five. 'My brother ( John ) and my two best childhood friends ( Andy Wenk and Chris Barreca ) play in the league, and they're all straight.
'Most of my closest friends are guys who I met through the league. So, from that aspect, it's been a great experience.'
Mike McRaith is the league's commissioner. Greg Walsh, James Simmons and Frank Kisner also help run the league.
Patrick Wojtak and Steven Bickwermert are two of the league's top players, each a former college hoops player. Todd Livergood was last season's Sportsmanship Award-winner, while Karl Vogel claimed the Most Improved Award from the top division.
All three leagues name an MVP, Sportsmanship and Most Improved award winner.
Players in the league range from 18 to early 50s.
'The level of play in the Competitive Division is just that—very competitive,' said Cappas, who played basketball in the mid-1980s at Glenbrook North High School in suburban Northbrook. 'There are some very good basketball players in the Competitive Division, so it just made sense to start the Intermediate and Recreation Divisions because, like in softball, there's a real wide range of talent. There are some recreation players who, well, aren't very good skill-wise, but still want to be part of a team. And in the past, they were very intimidated ( when they were facing Competitive players ) .
'There are guys in the Recreation Division who can barely even dribble a ball and don't know the rules, but they still want to be out there and have fun—and that's what this league is all about.
'We all know each other in the Competitive Division; we're a very close-knit group. That makes the games even more competitive, because no one wants to lose to one another.'
Cappas added, 'Every year, after the Competitive Division draft, people say that one team is loaded, or that another might struggle. But what we see on paper doesn't always equate the same way on the court. Plus, there always are upsets in the playoffs. Last year, for instance, one of the worst Recreation Division teams lost almost every regular-season game, or maybe even all of them, and yet they ended up winning the whole thing.'
Many of the Intermediate and Recreation teams also play together as teams in other sports, such as softball. The Intermediate and Recreation teams have up to 11 players each.
This year's teams will be named for league sponsors, such as Ann Sather's, Hydrate, Spin, Crew, Roscoe's, Shirts Illustrated and Sidetrack. Teams can, and will, adopt a team nickname once the season starts.
Last season, some of the classic team names included Hoosier Daddies, Ballers, Flamers, Cool Cats, Shooters and Hoop Dreams, among others.
The league features one female player: Liz Johnson, who competes in the Competitive Division and also in the women's league that plays on Sundays. 'She's a good player,' Cappas said.
Chicago also has played host to the annual Coady Roundball Classic, a spring fling started 15 years ago by Sam Coady, an event formerly known as the Chicago Hoops Classic and considered the Gay National Championship for the sport. The tournament has been held yearly in April and the 2006 version would have been the 16th annual; however, the Coady instead will be incorporated into next summer's Gay Games. Cappas will be running men's basketball in the Games.
The 2007 Coady will again be held in April.
The Coady—played at the University of Illinois-Chicago, with five courts under one roof—started with six teams and last year featured 31 teams from across America and even one club from London.
Cappas said Chicago would field at least one top-division team in the Gay Games.
There also will be over-35 and 50-plus Divisions in the Gay Games
