Lions / CMU raise money for Olympians
A good time was had by all as the CMU All-Stars played some charity hoops against a team of Detroit Lions at Rose Arena Friday.
Although the Lions pulled out a 61-49 victory, the real winners were Special Olympics, who along with CMU athletics, received the proceeds from this event.
Pam Hyde, fundraiser/coordinator for Michigan Area 7 Special Olympics, considered the game a success.
"I'm very pleased and I think everyone had a good time," Hyde said. "It was definitely exciting."
The Lions team consisted of Matt Russell, Pete Chryplewicz, Tony Ramirez, Tony Semple, Luther Elliss, Scott Kowalkowski and Scott Conover.
The Lions were coached by former Lions tight end Rob Rubick, who along with his wife, are organizers of the event.
"This was a real success and I was excited about the crowd," Rubick said. "The Special Olympics is a great cause."
The CMU All-Stars were coached by Fran Voll and included Jay Smith, Mark Montgomery, Sally Sedlar, Stan Shingles and Z93's Joe and the Poorboy among others.
Smith was happy to be a part of the event even if his jump shot was missing at times.
"It was a great thrill to be a part of this and it is great for the community," Smith said. "I was a little rusty and can't get up as high as I use to.
The crowd was approximately 2,000 strong and a great majority of them were kids. This did not escape the Lions All-Stars who took every opportunity to incorporate the kids into the event.
"It was a lot of fun. It's good to do stuff like this," Sedlar said. "It's good to see this many people come out."
Kowalkowski said the idea was to help out the kids.
"The entire point is to make sure the kids have a good time," Kowalkowski said." "You just love to see the smiles on their faces."
One way in which the kids were incorporated was that one was picked to shoot free throws whenever a Lion was fouled. The shooting usually ended up with one of the Lions lifting up the child for a slam dunk.
"It was fun to sit back and see the kids eyes light up," Smith said. "You could tell it was a great thrill for them to come close to the Lions."
Other festivities of the event included an autograph session by the Lions at halftime and a special raffle which included such items as autographed footballs, basketballs and jackets by the Lions.
"We nearly sold out the raffle," Hyde said.
The Detroit Lions perform about 31 of these games a year. The games take place all over the state and it has a pool of about 20 players that it pulls from for each game.
"You want someone the entire crowd can recognize like Luther or Charlie Batch," Rubick said. "There are a lot of demands on the players, but they really like giving back."
Those same sentiments were echoed by Lions starting defensive lineman Elliss.
"It is important to participate in events like this," Elliss said. "God gave us a gift to play in the NFL and we all should be very thankful."
The only goal that Hyde had coming into the event was to fill up Rose Arena.
"It looked like we had a lot of sales at the door," Hyde said.
While the figures of how much money the event raised will not be known until late next week, judging by the number of people and the reactions from those at the event, it was a success.
"Many parents came up to me after the game to tell me how good the event was," Hyde said.
