While each professional sports team has legions of fans, from time to time, the most passionate fans become celebrities themselves. Who can forget John Adams, banging his drum in the left field bleachers at Cleveland Indians games for more than three decades? Or Fireman Ed, wearing his New York Jets fire helmet and leading the "J-E-T-S" cheer each Sunday in New Jersey? Superfans have been a part of sports dating back as far as 'Nuf Ced McGreevy's Royal Rooters at turn of the century Red Sox games.

In Chicago, "Blackhawk Bob" Gertenrich was such a fan, a Blackhawks hockey fan who began attending home hockey games in 1966 and attended every home game afterward, more than 2,200 in total.  His fandom extended beyond hockey as well, as he attended plenty of other local sporting events, most notably the Chicago Bulls. Gertenrich became a celebrity himself, meeting players and coaches, even garnering a Sports Illustrated feature article.  Sadly, Gertenrich passed away this spring, leaving behind an impressive legacy of passion and devotion to his sports teams.

Gertenrich saved every ticket stub from every game he attended, writing the score and attendance on each.  And although his Blackhawks ticket stubs were certainly impressive (the stub from Wayne Gretzky's NHL debut was featured in our Summer, 2024 auction), the group that caught our eye was the early Chicago Bulls stubs. Included in a large assortment of rookie era stubs (all of which are featured elsewhere in this auction) was this outstanding stub from the NBA debut of Michael Jordan.

Little can be said about Jordan that hasn't already been said. This box-office stub is a stunner, graded VG 3 (MK) by PSA, the qualifier speaking to Gertenrich's writing of the game score (109-93) and crowd size (13,913) on the face of the stub. Some edge and corner wear is visible, with some light creasing around the edges and an irregular tear at the perforation.  The game information is complete and legible on the stub, the date of October 26, 1984 marking the beginning of the most important career in the history of the NBA.  A tremendous piece.