Clubhouse Chatter: Your favorite piece of sports memorabilia

What our Sports staff has to say while waiting for the games to resume.

I had a friend at the 2005 Final Four take the sign outside the Illinois locker room at the end of the night long after the championship game ended. I have that sign hanging in our house, though my wife does continue finding a less prominent place for it. I love looking at it, not only to remember Deron Williams, Dee Brown and that incredible season, but thinking of my friend going through the trouble of taking it.

- John Lemon

Jim Thome hit his 500th career home run Sept. 16, 2007, his second season with the White Sox. Not only did I get to see the historic blast, I also got an autographed photo of the homer, as did the other Sox beat writers. That is an unheard of gesture from a player, but Thome's giving nature was always off the charts. An additional note on his character. I didn't initially get a signed photo, which was fine. Turns out, the first photo Thome signed for me had a bent corner, so he waited for a fresh batch of pictures because he wanted it to be flawless.

- Scot Gregor

I had a WLUP Lorelei poster that Steve Dahl signed on Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, but it's probably lost.

- Mike McGraw

My favorite piece of sports memorabilia is an autographed football signed by the entire 1984 Chicago Bears team. It was given to me for my birthday by Emery Moorehead, who was a tight end on the team. He was a family friend back when I was 14 years old. He liked my mom's spaghetti ... or maybe he was just being polite.

- Kevin Schmit