Is the celebrity golf tournament destined to join the walkathon as a fundraising dinosaur?
You'd never get John Ryan, the energetic former fighter-bomber pilot behind the 11th annual Lupus and Sports Celebrity Classic, to admit it. But he will concede it's not getting easier, particularly with the uncertainty of a National Hockey League season next year.
Same with the folks running the Brad Marsh tournament in aid of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Charity's a demanding proposition nowadays.
"You have to keep the price (to participate) as low as you can," said Ryan, whose tournament helps fund research on the chronic auto-immune disease. "It's not easy."
Still, he has managed to fill the tournament.
Ryan, who had a tryout with the Boston Bruins after flying a Mosquito during the Second World War, obviously leans on hockey connections to assemble the celebs for his July 2 tournament at Westminster Trails.
Boston Bruins star Joe Thornton, honorary chairperson, heads a cast including Jason Spezza (Ottawa), Mike Van Ryn (Florida), Brian Willsie (Washington), Jason Williams (Detroit), Charlie Stephens (Colorado) among active players.
The field also includes former players Danny Lewicki, Leo Labine, Jerry Toppazzini, Bill Gadsby, Joe Klukay, Jim Morrison and Kent Douglas along with referee John Willsie and Tom Burgess (baseball), Mike Kilkenny (baseball, golf) and Glen Weir (football).
The June 30 Marsh CNIB tournament will be held at the Oaks and along with Marsh the field will include Terry Crisp, Dale Hunter, Dave Hutchison, Williams, Kilkenny, Walter Gretzky, Steve Pugh and Leo Reise.
Interesting how these tournaments get started. Ryan, 79, was employed in the pharmaceutical industry and dealt regularly with medical doctors.
"We happened to be talking about Lupus one day with three doctors in Toronto and we decided to get something going," Ryan recalled. "Before you knew it, it was underway. We've raised more than $200,000."
Ryan, moreover, became director of the Ontario Lupus Association.
The Marsh tournament evolved in London for reasons that were closer to home to former Knight and NHLer Brad Marsh and his brother, Paul. Their father, John, encountered an eye problem and they were approached to help stage the tournament.
There are still some openings, says Nicole at CNIB, urging those planning to participate to get their registrations in soon. She can be reached at 685-8420.
Both tournaments also run auctions. For some folks, that overshadows golfing with the celebrities.
Ryan and Bruce Huff of London's Sports Hall Of Fame have such items as sweaters worn by Raymond Bourque, Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux, along with a helmet once worn by Wayne Gretzky.
Speaking of Gretzky, his presence has given another tourney a monster boost. He'll participate in the July 27 Mike Weir All-Star Challenge at Huron Oaks in Bright's Grove.
It's actually a two-day affair that in the context of Weir's and Gretzky's presence, is like big-box competition to many other fund-raisers. Fortunately, there are golfers out there who'll hit as many celeb tournaments as come up.
The Bright's Grove event is designed to raise money via a $30 admission charge and will run the day after the Mike Weir-Dino Ciccarelli Charity Classic, in which regular golfers pay to join the stars in foursomes in normal fund-raising format. Proceeds go to youth causes.
Kernels: When are Vancouver prosecutors going to lay charges against Todd Bertuzzi for one of the most infamous hockey incidents since Marty McSorley clubbed Donald Brashear on the helmet with his stick? It's not as though they have to gather much evidence. There were about 20,000 live witnesses and millions more on television to the ambush that broke Steve Moore's neck is on videotape and Vancouver police completed their investigation two months ago.