When examining the life work of
Leyden (Franklin Park, Ill.) scorekeeper John "Jack" Gregg, adjectives like "Ripkenesque" or "Tolstoyesque" come to mind. However, it quickly becomes apparent that even the prodigious works of Cal Ripken Jr. and Leo Tolstoy might pale in comparison to those of Gregg.
Gregg, 89, is the scorekeeper for the football team and the boys basketball team at Leyden, which is located west of Chicago. But he's much more than that.
A familiar face to basketball fans spanning generations in the Franklin Park area, Gregg is a reliable presence at the head table whenever the Eagles take the court. He's an affable, detail-conscious writer who has dedicated his life to chronicling the events that have shaped Leyden athletics for nearly 75 years.
Gregg is no ordinary scorekeeper. He started keeping score at Leyden basketball games while he was still in high school and has been doing it ever since, without fail. Ripken may have played in 2,632 consecutive Major League Baseball games but his streak only lasted 16 years. Gregg has not missed a Leyden boys basketball game in
72 years – 1,882 straight games and counting.
Don't expect John Gregg's streak to end any time soon. "I've had some more-or-less serious medical issues the past 10 years," Gregg said. "But I tell the doctors, ‘Just fix it up, I've got a game to get to.'" (PHOTO: Courtesy of John "Jack" Gregg)
But there was that one time he almost missed a game.
In 1977, Leyden (then known as East Leyden) was playing in the state football championship at Illinois State University while the basketball team was playing two games in a tournament at LaSalle-Peru on the same day. Gregg, also the scorekeeper for the football team, had a dilemma on his hands.
"I had a streak of 608 straight basketball games at the time so I didn't want to end that," Gregg said. "But how could you miss the state championship football game?"
So Gregg kept score at the early basketball game against St. Rita on Saturday, drove with friend and fellow scorekeeper Steve Shaw the 61 miles to Hancock Stadium to watch the football game in 8 degree weather at 5:30 p.m. After East Leyden won the state title over Deerfield 8-0, Gregg and Shaw drove back to the basketball tournament, 80 miles per hour in the snow, and made it in time for the second half of the championship basketball game, which East Leyden also won over LaSalle-Peru.
"Two championship trophies in less than three hours," Gregg recounted. "That 1977 football team is one of my favorite memories."
Gregg notes that he has been covering football games even longer than he has manned the scorebook for Leyden basketball games, starting back in his freshman year at Leyden in 1950. However he has missed six of those games during that stretch of 75 years.
On top of attending all of those games consecutively, Gregg also compiles a written record of every game for the football and basketball season. While Tolstoy's "War and Peace" comes in at a tidy 1,200 pages, Gregg has the Russian writer beat by nearly 400 percent. Gregg's "Complete Leyden Encyclopedia of Football and Basketball" is now at 5,040 pages. And counting. That's roughly 1.25 million words. A life's work.
Gregg got started in his long journey behind the scorer's table innocently enough as a member of the school's journalism program. The teacher assigned Gregg to cover the basketball team and George Cox, the basketball coach, tabbed Gregg to be the team's scorekeeper. He held that job throughout his high school career, a modest total of 49 games.
And that might have been the end of it for Gregg, except that he attended the first high school game following his graduation from Leyden in 1954.
"Athletic director Sam England spotted me coming through the door and asked me to keep score. I came back the next game and I've been here ever since," Gregg said.
Current Leyden athletic director Rick Mason points out that Gregg has become a part of the fabric of the school community.
"Jack is a fixture at Leyden football and basketball games. The kids and coaches love and appreciate the work he does for our programs," said Mason in an e-mail to MaxPreps. "Jack is passionate about Leyden and Leyden athletics. No one will ever come close to volunteering the amount of time Jack has in support of Leyden."
Originally, Gregg did not think that scorekeeping would become a lifelong passion. He had his sights set on becoming a basketball official and baseball umpire.
"I was a baseball umpire for 45 years and did four state tournaments," said Gregg. "I retired about 10 years ago. I was also a floor official in basketball. While I can still get up and down the football field to keep stats (at the age of 89), I can no longer do any basketball floor work."
Gregg spent the better part of his working career at the Nelsen Steel and Wire Company (located just four blocks from the Leyden High School fieldhouse), putting in 37 years and rising to the position of Corporate Director of Information Systems. He even spent some time dabbling in politics as the Village Clerk for Franklin Park (where he lived for 65 years), elected four times and serving 16 years.
Married twice, Gregg has eight children from his first marriage of 28 years. He has been married to his current wife, Joan, for 30 years. In retirement, Gregg has opened his own publishing company, G&W Publishing, which promotes small time authors/book creators and it allows him to sell his own books, including a new basketball scorebook called
"The Electronic Basketball Scorebook."
Gregg has seen many changes over the years but he feels the players and coaches are still fundamentally the same since he first started keeping score. He's seen a number of rule changes as well, which has taken some getting used to.
"Generally the new rules improve the game," Gregg said. "Except for the 3-point shot in 1987. It's painting of half circles on every court in the country has surely ruined the game I've loved for decades."
Gregg says that he treasures the years working with 29-year coach Norm Goodman (1961 to 1990) and getting to know Leyden star Glen Grunwald (the only four-time all-state player in Illinois history). Gregg has been inducted into the IHSA Hall of Fame (in 1985) with both of them. Coach Bruce Buhrandt along with other Leyden coaches and teachers from long ago like Lynn Watson, Sam England, Dale St. John, George Cox and Lou Granzin, all have a special place in his heart.
He also has enjoyed working with the referees, including 43-year IHSA veteran Stan Mitchell.
"He just worked our game Thursday night," Gregg said.
Gregg also enjoys the friends he's made over the years in every town where Leyden has played along the way.
"I've made lifelong friends," he said. "I get to see and visit them every year because when they come back to visit their school, I'm still here."
Getting to the games isn't as easy as it used to be. With his wife Joan retired, the Greggs have moved to a home they built in Morris, which is 64 miles from Leyden home games. It hasn't stopped Gregg or his streak.
"My Honda Auto doctor in Joliet is keeping my 2004 Honda Accord sedan alive," Gregg said. "It already has 230,000 miles on it."
Gregg also doesn't see himself retiring any time soon, however. His family on his father's side had nine aunts and uncles live to be over 90 years old, including great aunt Hannah Bensen, who lived to be 104.
"I've had some more-or-less serious medical issues the past 10 years," Gregg said. "But I tell the doctors, ‘Just fix it up, I've got a game to get to.'"
