While each professional sports team has legions of fans, from time to time, the most passionate fans become celebrities themselves. 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. We have used Gertenrich's outstanding collection to reconstruct Michael Jordan's legendary rookie season, presented here ticket by ticket, game by game, representing the majority of the Chicago home games.

Just two days after scoring 40 for the first time, the Boston Celtics rolled into Chicago, with Larry Bird ready to face Jordan for the first time. The Celtics, 8-1 at the time, demolished the Bulls, 125-105, with Bird pulling down 17 rebounds. Jordan scored 27 points in the effort, but Cedric Maxwell's 30 points for Boston topped all teams. The stub has been graded 2 (MK) by PSA, with overall wear not detracting from the eye appeal.