The Bulls claimed Andres Nocioni from Argentina, but now Chicago can give back — in a way. The varsity Grizzlies of Walter Payton College Prep are taking on a group of local celebrity basketball players — pols, school honchos, and media bigwigs — in a hoops fund-raiser to benefit the Payton team’s trip to Argentina this summer. The Grizzlies will face a team that includes congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Cook County commissioner Forrest Claypool, Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, and Chicago public schools chief Arne Duncan, the dude with the long arms and skinny legs in the photo. (He played for Harvard and as a pro in Australia.) If you want to see any of those public figures have their asses handed to them by teenagers — and who doesn’t? — here’s your chance. Then again, Jesse Jackson Sr. may show up to referee, so be careful wagering on the game. “Nets for Jets” is at 7 PM Saturday at Moody Bible’s Solheim Center, 930 N. Wells. Tickets are $5 for students, $20 for adults, but keep in mind parking is free for the first 100 cars at Lot C at the corner of Walton and Wells, and the money goes to send the Grizzlies to Argentina to play five games in a tournament organized by the Federacion de Basquetbol de Capital Federal.
Argentine exchange
