There is a family story that surrounds ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich and the Cubs. On July 29th, 1992, the Cubs were hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates in Wrigley Field. The odds didn’t seem to be in the Cubs favor as the pitching matchup was Bob Walk versus Frank Castillo. Watching the game from the comfort of a skybox was The Mother, a guest of a law firm that had rented the box for the day.

As she chatted up some of the other guests in the box, a young man approached her. "What do you do?" he asked.

"I sell advertising specialties," she replied.

"You mean buttons and bumper stickers?" the young man queried. "I could use some for my state senate campaign. My name is Rod Blagojevich."

Three weeks later, The Mother had a sale for about $500 in campaign swag. Two weeks after that, Rod received his swag.

The Mother now waited for payment.

And waited, and waited, and waited.

Repeated letters, faxes, calls and various other demands for payment went ignored for years. Rod moved on from the Statehouse to Congress. Still no payment.

Then, on the 4th of July, 2002, The Mother was at the Evanston 4th of July parade. Guess who was walking the parade and shaking hands? Candidate for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Mother pushed the edge of the sidewalk to shake his hand. When he approached and stuck out his hand, she grabbed it and said up close to his face, "YOU OWE ME $500 FOR SOME BUTTONS SINCE 1992!"

Rod was taken aback and shouted for an aide to come over. The aide ran up and asked The Mother for the story. He listened for a second and jammed a business card in her hand with the name ALONZO MONK on it. "Call me!" screamed the aide and ran away.

The next day, she called.

Three weeks later, she had a check.

End of story.

P.S., the Cubs won the 1992 game on a homer in the 11th by Sammy Sosa.