LIHU‘E — The stars were quite visible in the sunshine, Wednesday afternoon at Kaua‘i Lagoons, where the Ace Shootout again brought elite athletes from the sports landscape to Kaua‘i’s tranquil setting in the name of charity. Hall of Fame quarterback
LIHU‘E — The stars were quite visible in the sunshine, Wednesday afternoon at Kaua‘i Lagoons, where the Ace Shootout again brought elite athletes from the sports landscape to Kaua‘i’s tranquil setting in the name of charity.
Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young was back to host the event, which is presented annually by Ace Hardware and Marriott to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Helping local kids is the main initiative of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, which raises funds for 170 children’s hospitals across North America. Money donated stays in the community and goes to local hospitals for local children, according the organization.
Over $4 billion has been donated since 1983, with the funds going towards research and training, equipment and uncompensated care.
Wednesday’s event brought in $750,000, the largest single total the Ace Shootout has raised.
Four two-somes compete, split into partners by their respective sport.
Team Baseball was made up of four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux and 12-year Major Leaguer and current MLB Network analyst Kevin Millar.
Maddux, an eight-time All-Star and 1995 World Series champion with the Atlanta Braves, displayed his obvious skills on the tee box as a potential ringer, replacing Millar’s teammate from last year, outfielder Johnny Damon.
Team Basketball was represented by Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, participating for the second straight year, and fellow Hall of Famer Julius “Dr. J” Erving.
Both players are among the NBA’s “50 Greatest Players in History” and each owns an NBA Championship ring.
Team Football brought back Bo Jackson, the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner, with first-year partner Willie Gault, a wide receiver who spent 11 seasons with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Raiders.
Jackson really could also be a Team Baseball member, having been an MLB All-Star in addition to a Pro Bowl running back. He was the MVP of the 1989 MLB All-Star game.
Gault won a Super Bowl with the legendary 1985 Bears and was one of the greatest pure athletes of his era, making the 1980 US Olympic team as a sprinter and hurdler, but could not attend when America boycotted the Games in Moscow.
Team Hockey was comprised of 13-year veteran and seven-time All-Star Eric Lindros, along with 13-year pro and Olympian Rob Zamuner.
Lindros, also a gold medalist for the 2002 Canadian team, won the Hart Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as MVP of the 1994-95 NHL season.
Zamuner has 139 goals in NHL play and spent the bulk of his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
While all eight players showed considerable skill in competition, they all had the opportunity to pull a different club out of the bag in the form of PGA tour golf professional Rich Beem, dubbed the “Mulligan Player.”
Beem, who won the 2002 PGA Championship win a one-stroke victory over Tiger Woods, could be used by each team once during the event to replace the duo’s low score.
Though he makes his living on the links, Beem said the circumstances Wednesday were actually a bit nerve-racking.
“I must say, it’s a little intimidating,” he said after the final event. “I’ve got some credibility to my résumé, but when you’re playing with sports icons like Bo Jackson, Willie Gault, Dr. J, everybody, you look at all these players and just think to yourself ‘Oh my gosh.’ These guys have had amazing careers, what they’ve been able to achieve and they’re counting on me to come in and help them out with golf.
“I’m sitting there looking at them and it’s a little unnerving at times, I must say. But it was a fantastic experience.”
Having a memorable day was the Honorary “Miracle” Caddie, Hipa Seto. When he was 12 years old, Hipa was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a cancerous bone tumor in his right leg. Living in American Samoa, Hipa and his mother traveled 2,300 miles to Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu.
As the only pediatric specialty hospital in the Pacific Region, Kapi‘olani began treating Hipa with aggressive chemotherapy and removed 50 cancerous nodules from his lungs, where the cancer had spread.
Surgeons also removed his cancerous thigh and rotated the remaining leg and foot below, which was reattached to his leg.
Now wearing a prosthetic, Hipa has beaten cancer and focuses on his next goal, which is to run and dunk a basketball.
“You look at Hipa and you don’t need any other reason,” said Jackson, talking about why he continues to come out to the Ace Shootout. “If you do anything to put a smile on his face after everything he’s been through, that’s the reason. It’s not to come here to vacation, not to be away from shoveling snow, this is more important.
“Not only myself, but all the players feel this way,” he said. “We travel around the world to make a kid smile one time and that’s all that matters. That’s what this is about.”
His Team Football partner agreed with Jackson’s sentiments, though Gault was also sure to take in his surroundings, stopping his golf cart at one point to snap a photo of the mauka view from the fairway.
“I think it’s amazing,” Gault said. “Any time you can come to Hawai‘i, play golf with such amazing athletes, Hall of Fame guys you look up to for years, meet new guys that you’ve seen on the ice rink or the baseball diamond — and then also to be able to give money to such an amazing cause like the Children’s Miracle Network, it’s unmatched. Hawai‘i is one of the most beautiful places in the world and to be here to be able to do that is pretty special.”
Beem, a fellow first-timer in the event, is not a newcomer to Kaua‘i and plans to take advantage of his stay.
“We got here on Monday and we’ll head back to the Mainland on the red eye Saturday night,” he said. “So we’ve got some free time now to sit on the beach and hang out and get out of the cold weather… I came to Kaua‘i in 2002 for the Grand Slam at Po‘ipu Bay and that was beautiful, but I just love the mountains that are right here. It’s just so pretty and I hope we’re going to take another helicopter ride around the island. I did that in 2002 and it was just absolutely stunning.”
He is hoping to become a regular with the Shootout.
“I am just begging and begging to find a way to get invited back,” he said. “As far in advance as they’ll take me.”
Eight competitions make up the skills challenge with teams getting points for their efforts.
Young interviewed the athletes during the session, but also showed the work ethic that made him a seven-time Pro Bowl quarterback, constantly getting golf tips and chatting about his swing while off-camera.
KGMB-9 weather anchor Malika Dudley co-hosted the event, which will be televised on The Golf Channel in August.
For more information on Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, visit CMNHospitals.org.
