Encounter with the Chicago Bears... and their wives

With the news of Tank Johnson marring a memorable season for Chicago Bear fans, including a Super Bowl run, the wives of Bear players pitched in to help special needs children with support from their husbands.

Days after talking with Johnson outside his doorstep in the midst of a season in turmoil, it was an opportunity for me to report on the positives the team is doing within a community.

There was one rule they conveyed to media members covering the event, no discussing the Johnson case.

Face-to-face with their favorite players

Bears, wives reach out to SEDOL students

December 20, 2006

By Jason Arndt

The News-Sun

GAGES LAKE - It isn't every day a child gets to meet his dream athlete, but for special needs students at the Special Education District of Lake County, it became a reality Tuesday as they met three Chicago Bears. John Tait and his wife Jeneva are honorary board members of SEDOL and helped organize the holiday party for the students along with other Bears' wives.

"We are giving out gift cards this year, thanks to Target, and we have goodies for the kids this year to give to their parents as gifts," said Jeneva Tait. "The kids don't have much of an opportunity to give gifts to their parents, and with this they can. On top of that, the kids will be getting autographs from the players."

"It is always fun to interact with the kids and answer any questions they may have," said her husband, offensive lineman John Tait.

The Taits were introduced to SEDOL through the Bears organization when they arrived in Chicago from the Kansas City Chiefs. John Tait was looking for an organization to assist in the Chicago metro region.

"This organization helps a lot of kids in the Lake County region, which is where I live now," he said.

The Bears' Charles Tillman and Rasheid Davis also attended the event with their wives to show support for the children.

In addition to spending time with the children, the players also read them holiday books with Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa themes.

Tillman and his wife Jackie sat next to one of his fans during lunch and talked to the child.

"I was kind of scared because I had never met an NFL player before," said 11-year-old Nate, wearing a No. 87 Muhsin Muhammed Bears' jersey. "It feels good to have them with me today. Charles is my guy on defense."

Tillman read a Hanukkah-themed book to the children in rotations with his two participating teammates.

"I am really looking forward to doing this with the kids and be there for questions," he said.

The defensive back does plenty of community service opportunities in the Chicago area.

"I usually do these community service things in Chicago schools, so this is the first time I have been at SEDOL," Tillman said. "The wives deserve all the credit in putting this together."

The wives helped the children arrange arts and crafts for their families.

"I just want to wish the wives well in this because they are doing this out of the kindness of their hearts," Charles Tillman said.

Jackie Tillman was impressed with the turnout of children with around 100 in attendance.

"They are all excited and this is what it is all about," she said.

Injured defensive back Mike Brown was going to attend, but had a doctor's appointment, according to his wife, Erin.

"All three guys have huge hearts and they are always giving back to the community," said Erin Brown. "They give as much as they can in the amount of time they have during the season. Every child deserves attention, and it does take time but it's worth it."

Wide receiver Rashied Davis supports children and the value of education.

"I will do anything for the kids, you know. I am a big fan of education, especially for the kids who need a little extra help," said Davis, who has done projects with children prior to joining the Bears when he was a member of an Arena Football League team.

Marcus, a 15-year-old with SEDOL, was working an arts activity with Davis' wife, Diana.

"It's shocking (to be face to face with a player)," said Marcus. "It feels good to have them reach out to us."

Story of a million opportunities

As I reported on the Chicago Bears Super Bowl run from Jester's Bar in Waukegan, little did I know there was a new millionaire in the crowd of cheering Bears fans.

Multiple customers pointed me in the direction of a man sitting among his friends telling me he just won a million dollars with a scratch-off lottery ticket.

Upon the game-winning field goal by Bears' kicker Robbie Gould, approached the man and gathered his contact information for an eventual story.

Waukeganite hits paydirt with scratch-off ticket

A million to one

January 17, 2007

By Jason Arndt

The News-Sun

WAUKEGAN - Waukegan High School Counselor Ray Cave is just like any other person. He spends time with his son, hangs out at a local tavern and supports local high school athletics. 

That has all changed since Dec. 21 when he scratched off a game-winning $1 million Instant Lotto ticket, assuring him of $720,000 after state taxes.

"There were only four people in Jesters at the time, including the cook and the bartender," Cave said. "I kept scratching off the winning ticket and the more I scratched it went up from 1,000 to 10,000, and I began shaking the more I scratched it off."

Cave did not believe he won after realizing the ticket was worth a million.

"I had the bartender verify the winnings in a scanning machine and I realized I won. I called my girlfriend, my relatives and they all didn't believe me, which was disappointing," Cave said.

The anxiety crept up on him when he returned to his Waukegan home. He said he was sick to his stomach and "was afraid to go to sleep because he thought he would wake up and realize it was a dream he won a million dollars at Jesters."

His stomach pains over the anxiety caused him to call in sick for the day at Waukegan High.

Despite the winnings, Cave does not anticipate quitting his job as a full-time counselor at Waukegan High.

"Absolutely not. There are too many great kids there. I have been there for 16 years from being everything from a teacher to wrestling coach and now I am a counselor," he said. "I plan on staying there to set an example for my son, Michael."

Cave said he is looking forward to using the winnings to take care of his son's short- and long-term future.

His number one priority after he receives the winnings is to set up a trust fund for his son so he can attend any college of his choice.

"I want him to know that his college tuition is taken care of," Cave said.

The newfound winnings will allow the two Caves to do more extra activities his son would have never dreamed.

"We do a lot of things together, such as going to professional baseball games, fishing. We love to fish. We go fishing around the area here," Cave said. "In the summer we go to the beach. I try to be active with him as much as I can. What I am really looking forward is to is professional events such as football and basketball."

With the expensive prices of football and basketball games, he was unable to take his son to the games prior to his winning ticket.

"He loves football just as much as I do. He is a huge Bear fan and what I am really excited about is instead of saying, 'We will watch the Bears on TV, we will see the Bears,'" Cave said. "Those are the memories my son will remember for life."

The 48-year-old is hoping the wealth will not change peoples' perspective of him.

"I want to stay the person I am. I love the people around me, I love the people here at Jesters and I love the people at Waukegan High School. I want to be the same person," Cave said. "I want to still be able to walk into Jesters and people still greet me as 'Rey' and just be known as someone more financially comfortable."

In addition to being part of Waukegan High, he is a part-time teacher at the College of Lake County's Lakeshore Campus.

"I plan on completing my one-year contract with them and then resigning," Cave said. "I spent every Monday night doing paperwork until 10 and now I look forward to watching "Monday Night Football" here at Jesters."

Cave has a sense of sentimentality toward what he does for a living and stresses the importance of children and the impact it has had in his life.

"I could have made much more money working for a corporation but I felt that my calling was to be in education and work with teenagers and helping them," Cave said. "Instead of receiving financial gain in this, I received what people perceive as priceless, working with kids and watching kids I have seen since grade school mature and grow into a successful young people. For me, that is priceless over any amounts of money."

As he receives his $720,000 lump sum from the Illinois Lottery Commission, he will be working with Great Lakes Financial, his bank, to set up a financial plan.

The newest millionaire was struck twice with lottery fever, winning $10,000 in a previous scratch off at the same place, Jesters at 1500 N. Lewis Ave.

"I had to claim the winnings at the lottery center in Des Plaines and I held onto it and feared it wouldn't be legit when I deposited it into the bank," Cave said.

Jesters will receive $10,000 of the winnings for being the location which issued the ticket.

Jesters' owner Ken Mathis will use the $10,000 for cost of bar operations and due to the slow activity since the holiday rush, will be used to help offset costs.

Breaking out to news reporting

Lake County News-Sun

After gathering observations and information directly from the sidelines in Rock County in cold and rainy weather, the News-Sun gave me the opportunity to convert to the news side of reporting.

It led to many big breaks and highlights within my career including continuing coverage of former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson.

Recall the day the story hit the newsroom in Waukegan when the News Editor came out and asked what was on my agenda for the day.

Prior to my arrival to the newsroom, was at the Lake County Courthouse reporting on an arraignment of a homicide suspect and immediately went to work on the story.

It all changed that moment when I suddenly was en route to Gurnee alongside a News-Sun photographer, only thing I was told is it involved Tank Johnson. Nothing further than that. Did not know Johnson resided in Lake County until I was near his doorstep as the SWAT team was raiding his home.

The defensive tackle was at practice in Lake Forest with the Bears at the time. Police had no comment and the neighborhood was blocked off. Curious neighbors were wondering what was going on next door as I approached them. All knew who lived there and most did not feel comfortable enough to comment.

After receiving no information from the police on scene, the photographer and I made the decision to camp out at the Gurnee Police Station for up to two hours. No word from the Public Information Officer at the station so we returned to the newsroom.

Then news choppers and news vans from all major Chicago media markets began to arrive near the scene. After gathering my thoughts, made the startling discovery:

I was the first regional media member to be on the scene of what became a national sports story.

With assistance from full-time reporters and contributing reports from the Sun-Times Bears' beat writer, received all details and the press conference time later in the evening.

It was not over yet on this story. A night later after Johnson was released, him and another man involved in the raid were at a trendy Chicago nightstop.

The nightstop became the last time Johnson's friend would ever be alive. A gunman shot and killed Willie B. Posey and further added to Johnson's turmoil.

As the beleaguered and downtrodden Johnson was declared inactive the following Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I was the sole reporter in the newsroom and was called upon by the News Editor to do something with the story.

It was then I made the decision to check out the Johnson house on a quiet Sunday afternoon and received an answer. The answer came from Johnson's father, arriving from Arizona. No sign of Johnson at the moment but after getting some information from the older Johnson, nearly gave up pursuing the subject of the story.

Then a black BMW pulled up through the driveway and out came Johnson along with his mother. Hesitant for a split second, made the decision to approach him for a comment or two.

It became an exclusive. 

No other Chicago media member was able to secure a comment from Johnson.