Bears GM honored with USA Sports Spirit Award
By "Chet Durangley"

Pre-Season 2079 (Philadelphia) - In a surprise announcement, USAFL Founder and Commissioner Andrew Lewis interrupted the league's annual 'Stop Athlete's Foot Now' celebrity luncheon to bestow the Garritt Grandberg USA Sports Spirit Award to Chicago Bears' General Manager, Brad Houska.

Houska was taken back by the thunderous applause with the announcement. 'I had no idea this was coming,' laughed Houska as he walked toward the podium to accept the first Grandberg award handed out since Flip Sides recieved the honor back in 2074.

Commissioner Lewis spoke at length of how well Houska has made an impact in the USAFL community.

'This guy seemingly came from out of nowhere and immediately immersed himself into our league,' said an obviously proud Lewis. 'He humbly stayed in the background, watching all the other GMs and picking up whatever knowledge he could about this marvelous game. And within just a few short years, took his team all the way to a Lorne Sundby Cup. You just gotta respect that.'

Lewis went on to described Houska's great public relations image and his rise to become one of the league's perennial playoff contenders.

Houska's acceptance speech was quite short, due in part to the fact that his private jet was due to take-off within the hour to take the GM to the team's training camp site.

The first Spirit Award was awarded in 2001, to former New York Jets' GM, Chris Kampitsis. The Award took a six year hiatus after the 2002 season.

The Award continued on for another 33 years until Commissioner Lewis decided to only hand out the award whenever a GM acted above and beyond his peers.

All participants involved in the league, whether GMs, AGMs and/or commissioners are eligible. USA Sports Founder and Commissioner Andrew Lewis determines from time to time which member of the USA Sports community exemplifies the true reason why the league exists in the first place.

Many past recipients earned the award by self-sacrificing acts of donating of their time and talents to improve the leagues. Other past recipients have earned the award by simply adding character and personality to our community by creating colorful storylines and maintaining a major online presence.

In the 2062 season, the league re-named the award the 'Garritt Grandberg Spirit Award' in honor of Garritt's 10 Spirit Awards and his years of dedicated contributions to the USA Football League.