Fergie & Butthead at Antioch Menard's

For the grand opening of the new Menard's in nearby Antioch, Illinois, the store had three race car drivers (I'm originally from NC but do not follow NASCAR at all) and they two of my all-time favorite Chicago sports figures: Fergie Jenkins of the Cubs and Kevin Butler of the Bears.

For those of you who are southern, a Menard's is similar to Lowe's and Home Depot.

FERGIE JENKINS- born in 1943 in Canada. He compiled quite a major league pitching record while playing mostly for the Cubs. He is the 29th winningest pitcher of all time with 284 between 1965 and 1983. He is also the only Canadian ever elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

He led the league in wins twice, complete games 9 times, and won 20 or more six straight seasons 1967-1972. He was also the NL Cy Young Award winner in 1971.

In his first full-year of pitching, he compiled quite a record: 20 wins, 280 strikeouts, and a 2.80 ERA. During his career, he pitched 49 shutouts.

He was one dominating pitcher. I used to really love it when he'd pitch against Bob Gibson of the Cardinals, Juan Marichal of the Giants, or Don Drysdale of the Dodgers. That was some matchup. Whenever the Cubs played the Dodgers, you'd have a Sandy Koufax-Jerome Holtzman leftie battle and then a Fergie Jenkins-Don Drysdale rightie game.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see him Monday.

KEVIN BUTLER- A clubhouse goof off who often wore a headband with "Butt-head" marked on it for the popular MTV show of the time and his first three letters of his last name. This was a guy who knew how to kick the ball, both in college and the pros.

He was born in Savannah, Georgia, where certain members of my family live and attended the University of Georgia, where I also went for a year and again, some relatives have gone, and one is there right now.

From 1981-1984 while a Bulldog, he kicked 77 field goals and 122 extra points. During that time, UGA was 38-8-2, went to two Sugar Bowls, one Cotton Bowl, and one Citrus Bowl. He completed 52.4% of field goals from 50 plus yards out. His longest was a 60 yarder that won the game against Clemson in 1984.

The, he joined my favorite NFL team in time for that magical 1985 season, the Super Bowl Shuffle, and Super Bowl XX. Ah, those were great times to be a Bear fan. In 11 seasons as a Bear, he became the all-time scoring leader, surpassing Walter Payton's record of 750 points with 1,116.

He'll be there tonight from 6 to 8, and I'm hoping to make it out to see him.

Who are Those Guys? --RoadDog