Look To The Stars News: Hockey Fights Cancer

Charles Barkley and Buddies Tee Off For Charity

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:38:00 -0000

Legendary athlebrities from football, baseball, basketball and hockey, gathered under the hot desert sun on June 7 and 8 to raise money and awareness for several very worthwhile causes. The Pro Sports Team Challenge Golf Tournament at the Eagle Falls Golf Club at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino (near Palm Springs, California) settled the debate as to which sport has the best golfers, while competing for a total purse of $250,000 for chairty.

Team Basketball hit the greens for the USO. Led by NBA great Charles Barkley and featuring his buddies Clyde Drexler, Jason Kidd, George Gervin and Kenny Smith, the team made every swing count in efforts to help comfort our hardworking military. While Barkley was psyched for the event, he didn’t have high expectations for his team.

“One of the highlights of my life was [when] the USO took me to Iraq, Kuwait, Dubai,” said Barkley during the event. “I got to visit with some of the troops. So it’s a great organization and, um, unfortunately we’re not going to win a lot of money for them because my team [Basketball] sucks!”

But the event wasn’t marred by the lack of golf talent, as inspiration was the forerunner of the competition.

“Many athletes, like Charles Barkley and [”John Elway":http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/445-john-elway], have spent their holidays, vacations and precious free time to thank our nation’s heroes for their daily sacrifices," said Kathy Mejasich, the Vice President of Corporate Alliances for the USO. “The difference they make in the morale of the troops is more than just palpable, but energizing and inspiring.”

Team Basketball also spent some time with 20 year-old Brandon Akey, who was flown out from Ohio to play with the big boys after winning an online competition.

“I’m only 20 years old and this is only the second time I’ve been out of Ohio – the last time I took a trip was to Florida when I was a kid, and suddenly I’m here playing golf with these guys.” Brandon played in the Pro-Am with basketball legend, George Gervin. “He was such a good guy. Whenever we hit bad shots he was really cool and supportive, he said ’that’s all right, we’re a team, it’s like basketball.’”

Also inspiring was Team Football, who didn’t stop grinning all weekend as they polished their putters in the hope of earning a hefty donation for Operation Kids. Led by Team Captain Drew Brees and including LaDainian Tomlinson, John Elway and Michael Strahan, the team brought style, smiles, class and sass to the event.

“I just love helping kids,” said NFL good guy Michael Strahan. “When they see any player come to spend some time with them, their faces light up and they share their hopes and ambitions and dreams with us. I can’t even begin to tell you how good it made me feel.”

Rest assured, Strahan was speaking from the heart. There wasn’t one child in attendance that the big guy didn’t stop for. In fact, all the players involved were constantly chatting with young starry-eyed kids as they tousled their hair before signing footballs, programs, posters, and even jerseys being worn by ‘soccer moms’.

Team Hockey, led by cancer survivor Mario Lemieux, chose Hockey Fights Cancer as their beneficiary. Lemieux, Brett Hull, Grant Fuhr and Pierre Larouche went into the competition with an edge, seeing as they all have notorious golf skills.

During Friday’s Pro-Am event, one lucky sweepstakes winner enjoyed a round with the big boys. Matt Lesage, who has little golf experience, was a bit nervous going into the competition when he learned he was playing with Team Hockey. “I played with Pierre Larouche in the Pro-Am,” he said, “Mario Lemieux, Pierre, Grant, all those guys were so nice. Pierre is a great guy and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him. At first, I was a bit skeptical on how the athletes were going to act towards someone like me, not being a big golfer, but they were all class acts and they couldn’t have been nicer.”

While Lesage was hyped to play golf, he was also keen on the fact that this was for charity, “I heard Team Hockey talking about Hockey Fights Cancer, and a lot of people in my family had cancer so it made me really happy to be part of it. All these guys inspired me.”

Team Baseball captain Ozzie Smith led George Brett, Vince Coleman and Bret Saberhagen around the greens as they swung away for the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.) in efforts to help the families of players who have fallen on tough times.

“B.A.T. provides assistance to members of the ‘baseball family’ who are in need…We help take care of health care, medical, housing, burial, utilities, household expenses and prescriptions,” wrote Erik Nilsen of B.A.T. “It’s an honor to be nominated by Ozzie Smith, a Hall of Famer who truly understands the history of our organization.”

The big question remains though – which team brought home the first place $100,000 prize for their charity and which teams split the remaining purse? You’ll have to watch the Fox Sports Net broadcast on Saturday 6/28 and Sunday 6/29 to find out. It was a great competition, filled with lots of trash talking and love coming from the participants, but in the end all of the charities came out winners thanks to the dedication of these mighty mighty fine men.

Special celebrities lending their time to the event included Hercules star Kevin Sorbo, actor Dennis Haysbert (The Unit_), Actor/producer Matthew Hatchette (_The Take), and comedian Martin Short provided some comical poolside entertainment during the VIP party.

If you’d like to make a donation to any of the ProTeam charities named, you can still visit the Team Challenge website and sign up as a ProCoach – $1.00 from each participant will go to the charity of your choice.

Look To The Stars Asks Kevin Sorbo

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:38:00 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

Kevin Sorbo shot to fame in 1994 for his starring role in the popular TV series Hercules, the Legendary Journeys. Since then, he’s guest starred on such hit shows as Just Shoot Me, According to Jim, Hope and Faith, Two and a Half Men, USA Network’s Psych, and had recurring appearances on Dharma and Greg and Fox’s The OC in 2006-2007.

In 2005, when Sorbo was named as the spokesperson for the Afterschool Alliance, he said, “I am proud to do whatever I can to promote the afterschool programs that children and families need.”

Remarkably, Sorbo has remained true to his words, spending countless hours helping children in need. He has solidified himself as a true giver, acting as the spokesman and chair of A World Fit For Kids! (WFFK!), a non-profit organization that offers gang, drug and dropout prevention programming to at-risk kids by providing mentoring training for teens and using them as positive role models for youngsters.

Look to the Stars caught up with Kevin Sorbo when he made an appearance at the Pro Team Sports Challenge held in Indio, California, June 6-8. The event raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the USO, Baseball Assistance Team, Operation Kids, and Hockey Fights Cancer.

Tell us a little bit about your charity, Kevin.

Well, it’s called A World Fit for Kids – readers can go online to www.worldfitforkids.org, and see what we’ve been up to. We just got the Gold Star from Governor Schwarzenegger for having the best after-school program in the State of California. We’ve got 100% graduation rate in Los Angeles County, which has about a 40% drop out rate. So I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished.

We’ve seen you at quite a few charity events, what’s been your inspiration?

I really wanted to work with kids. It started about the third year of ‘Hercules’ when we actually passed ‘Baywatch’ as the most watched TV show in the world, and with that sort of notoriety, I started getting inundated with all kinds of causes – Pediatric, AIDS, everything – and while those kinds of things are wonderful, l really wanted to work with kids that were healthy but living in an unhealthy environment.

You’re obviously doing something right!

Yeah, and we’re [WFFK!] actually going to go nationwide with it because we’ve got a lot people from out of state asking us why we’re so good. So, I’m having my own celebrity-golf tournement – on October 10/11, in Las Vegas. Planet Hollywood is hosting, Darius Rucker [from Hootie and the Blowfish] will be performing. It’s going to be a great event and golf tournement and I’m very excited about it.

What’s your opinion as to whether or not celebrities are ‘obligated’ to give back to the community?

I don’t think people are obligated. You know, some people have different personalities. I like helping people. I’ve been doing this for 11 years now and I love it.

Is there any celebrity that you would ‘call-out’ for lack of charity work?

I got to be honest with you – I don’t know who I’d call out because most of the people I know are giving back to the world in some way. I don’t know what celebrities aren’t doing these days to give back.

Look to the Stars and Delinda would like to thank Kevin Sorbo for taking the time to speak with us. We applaud his good work and hopefully he inspires you as much as he’s inspired us.

Charles Barkley’s Pro Team Sports Challenge for Charity

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:40:40 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

Four Teams, four captains, and four charities! On June 7-8th, in Palm Springs California, the Pro Team Sports Challenge will finally settle the debate as to which athletes are the best golfers. Led by Team Challenge Commissioner and NBA legend Charles Barkley, the two-day golf event will pit some of the best athletes from four sports – baseball, basketball, hockey, and football – against each other on the greens. The event will raise money for four different charities while introducing a cool new feature: fan interaction.

During the course of the event, fan interaction will influence the outcome of the game; think ‘American Idol’ meets sports. Fans can sign up at Team Challenge to become one of the ‘ProCoaches.’ ProCoaches will act as ‘virtual’ coaches from their computers or mobile devices, where they can make strategic decisions that will have a real impact on the outcome of the match. Do you think Team Hockey has a more competitive edge with their roster of established pros? Then get online, vote, blog, debate and trash talk with those who think Team Football has better golfers. You could actually win a spot on the greens and walk with your favorite Team inside the ropes as a ProCoach.

The $250,000 prize will be split among the designated charities for each team, as selected by the Team Captain. First place earns $100,000 for their selected charity; second place $75k; third place $50k; fourth place $25k. Additionally, the purse will increase for a charity by $1 for each fan that registers as a paid ProCoach for the sponsoring team. But you must register before May 19 in order to cast your votes, decide which players are playing better or worse than their stated handicaps, and help raise money for the selected charities.

You’ve got, of course, Sir Charles in charge of Team Basketball, Drew Brees leading Team Football, Ozzie Smith taking the reins of Team Baseball, and hockey great Mario Lemieux keeping his Team Hockey in check.

The team captains spoke about the event last week and revealed which charities they selected.

“This is one of the most unique events I’ve ever played in.” said Drew Brees. “To find four guys from major sports and bring them together in a fun atmosphere – it’s incredible. I’m gonna have a chance to meet and play with guys I’ve watched growing up – Hall of Famers, world champions.”

Brees also spoke sincerely about playing for charity: “Our charity is [”Operation Kids":http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/1014-operation-kids]. Its an international charity whose mission is to care for the total wellbeing of the child. They focus on education and healthcare for kids, and they’ve done some phenomenal things."

Baseball team Captain Ozzie Smith was equally as enthusiastic about participating and raising money at the same time: “To have all these guys at the same place at the same time makes it a great event. My charity is [”Baseball Assistance Team":http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/1012-baseball-assistance-team] (BAT), they assist families and players that have fallen on hard times, older players who didn’t reap the benefits of long contracts."

Hockey team Captain, Mario Lemieux, spoke about his participation: “Just having the fans involved at the same time and, most importantly, to raise money for some great charities.” His charity? Hockey Fights Cancer. “Its been going on for a few years, and helps those who’ve had cancer – I’m one of them. in 1993 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, so it’s very dear to my heart.”

Commissioner Barkley, whose charity is the United Service Organization, was not available for the press-call, and Drew Brees opined as to why: “I’m sure he’s strategizing as we speak.” Brees has his own strategy: “Everybody has their own little ritual, I just grip it and rip it!” he said.

The Pro Team Sports Challenge will be held on June 7-8th in Palm Springs, California, at the Eagle Falls Golf Course.

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