Nothing Says Valentine's Day Like Dinner for Two at the Old Ball Park

Romance was the main course Tuesday night for one couple -- or at least as much romance as you can conjure up in an empty baseball stadium with dinner served by an 8-foot-tall mascot named Ozzie.

Brian Czupryn was the winner of the Kane County Cougars' "Valentine's Day Dinner with Ozzie" contest in which participants were asked to submit a 400-word essay on "Who is the special sweetheart in your life, and why?"

Fittingly, Brian's sweetheart is wife Kristen, with whom he had his first date at a Cougars' game on April 12, 2002, the day after their high school prom. They married five years later, and now have a 1-year-old daughter.

"It's going to be an interesting experience, to be by ourselves (at the empty Geneva stadium); it's like a date from 'The Bachelor,'" Brian Czupryn said prior to the big evening.

Czupryn, 27, said he learned about the contest from a Cougars newsletter, and said he decided, "Why not?"

The winner was chosen not on the content of their letter but through a random drawing, team spokesman Shawn Touney said.

Despite that, Touney said team staff were happy that Czupryn's letter was selected in part because it was so heartfelt, but also because it was one of only a few written by a man and because the couple had such strong ties to the team. The majority of the 75 entries came from women, who have an easier time putting their sentiments into words, he said.

"It's a very nice story. You can tell he put in a lot effort," Touney said. "It was kind of meant to be that they were the winners."

Part of Czupryn's letter read: "Kristen has provided so much to me and is the reason behind everything thing I do; I would do anything for her and plan on that for the rest of my life."

Czupryn said they used to celebrate the anniversary of their first date every year at the ballpark, but now that life has gotten busier, they try to go a game at least once a year.

Team chef Jon Williams prepared a special dinner for two featuring salad, chicken Parmesan, wine and chocolate cake. It was served in a glassed-in upper-deck suite, with Ozzie T. Cougar, the team's cougar mascot, acting as host and waiter.