"So I had a couple of beers in me," the Naperville Central graduate recently told King, "and I start thinking, 'I make enough money. We really need this guy. I'm going to offer some of my own money to try to make this happen.' So the next day, I walk into (general manager) Mickey Loomis' office and say, 'Mickey, take $250,000 of my salary, add it onto our offer for Gregg and let's get this thing done right now.' Mickey called (owner) Tom Benson, they discussed it, and they agreed. So we upped the offer."