Bulls Game – McGladrey Style

Written by Tim Thorp
Chicago, IL
Tax Intern

Patrick Schwappach (new Assurance Associate) and I shared one class together at Illinois State University and barely knew each other before Wednesday, January 25, 2012.  Now, we will always share this very special night.  Zack Fortsch (Tax Partner and ISU graduate) invited the two of us and Sunny Park (ISU’s campus recruiter) to the Bulls game against the Indiana Pacers as has been his custom every year for new hires from Illinois State University.  Patrick and I were both ecstatic about the opportunity and we had no idea what Zack had in store for us. 

As Zack drove us to the game and bought us a pre-game meal, he informed us we needed to eat quickly because we were going to go down on the floor.  After bypassing much security giving us strange looks as to who we were and why we were headed down to the floor, the four of us were being escorted by Keith, the director of ticket sales (Zack’s good friend and fellow ISU graduate) to courtside seats for a few minutes.  Later Zack informed us those seats sell for $1000 a piece!  After a few minutes, Keith had us go out to center court and took a group photo.  Moments later, Sunny dashed off to talk to her future husband (Derrick Rose).  He actually answered her questions!  After we got a chance to take a few more pictures of the players up close, we found our seats and watched a great game and sat in awe at what we had just witnessed.  Standing next to these NBA players makes you realize just how big and tall they are.  These guys are massive human beings with incredible quickness that cannot be captured on television.  Patrick and I just kind of looked at each other as to make sure we both recognized how awesome this experience really was.  We knew there were perks to the job, but this was truly amazing! 

Patrick and I tell this story because not only because we enjoy working for this firm but it’s moments like these that make us realize how invested the firm is in their people.  That night is definitely something the two of us will never forget and an opportunity we would have only been able to experience because we chose McGladrey.