Spanky sought help in locating relatives of the late Charles K. McNeil, a former University of Chicago professor who hatched football’s point spread.
In 1981, at the age of 77, the Chicago native died in Florida. He was buried in Virginia. We profiled him here June 25, 2022, but all lineage leads evaporated, I informed Spanky several months ago.
In the gambling industry, Gadoon Kyrollos is universally known as Spanky. Creating the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame, to be housed inside Circa’s sportsbook, led him to McNeil’s near-branchless family tree.
Spanky aims to honor each inaugural inductee by inviting that person — or, if deceased, a relative or two — to a special dinner.
He found a McNeil granddaughter and a distant cousin. Both will attend the festivities at BetBash 3 at Circa in August.
