ABOUT US 

This is the story of how our family came up with the name for our sports show, Challenge It! 

I grew up in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago as a die-hard Chicago sports fan. Like most Chicagoans, my favorite team is the Chicago Bears. The Bears had a ton of rough seasons going all the way back to the 1970’s, which was the era when I first started watching them play. What got me through all those rough years in the seventies and eighties was watching my childhood hero, Walter Payton, play every Sunday. I still remember gettting excited with my brothers everytime Payton scored a touchdown, made an incredible move, or ran over the opposing team. When the Bears won the Super Bowl in 1985 the city of Chicago went football-crazy and even to this day many fans still talk about the 1985 team. 

Since 1985, it's been a rollercoaster ride for Bear’s fans. Through the years I found that arguments in my family would happen while watching the games. Most people who grow up as die-hard sports fans can relate to the passion and emotion they feel while watching their teams. I grew up in a family of seven kids and there were many days we would have heated discussions especially with my father who was a very tough man. He always seemed to win most arguments and my brothers and I were too afraid to disagree with him during those times. Who could blame us because he always came out with the same bold statement when it came to the Chicago sports teams. He would say, “The Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs, and Whitesox--they all stink!” 

Now that I have a family of my own, my three sons and I love watching the Bears play every week with the hope that this may be the Bear’s year. During the years when Lovie Smith was the head coach of the Bears I found myself screaming at the televison to challenge every penalty call against the Bears that I felt was wrong. Coach Lovie didn’t seem to care to challenge any of the calls. Everytime I yelled, “Challenge it, Lovie!”, my boys would laugh and yell, “Challenge it, Lovie!” We would get into heated debates about how we felt about the call and each one of us had to support our argument. My boys would be the first ones to tell you that I can get pretty passionate about the Bears and get intense about my beliefs. However, my sons wouldn’t back down when they felt they were right in their arguments and challenge my statement. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. 

I’m thankful that I have three sons to do the show with and it’s a blessing for us to share our thoughts and feelings talking strongly about something we're all passionate about--sports! The goal for our show and family is to respect each other while having fun challenging each other’s points of view.