Second Annual Bobby Engram Celebrity Softball Game
As I mentioned a couple weeks back, I bought tickets to the Second Annual Bobby Engram Celebrity Softball Game, which took place last Saturday. The tickets I bought got us early entry into the event, so that we could mingle with the players and other celebrities. However, we didn't even make it into Cheney Stadium before we ran into one of our favorite Seahawks, Darryl Tapp. Strangely enough, we were the only fans with guts enough to walk up to him and his fiancée outside of the park (or maybe everyone was just scared to lose their place in line), but it worked out well since we got to talk to them for a bit (they were very nice), and my wife and daughter got to take a picture with Darryl.
Once inside the stadium gates, we made our way over to some lines of fans waiting for autographs. There was an extremely short line for who we later found out were Kansas City Chiefs players, and then a very long line for Lofa Tatupu and rookie wide receiver Deon Butler. We waited in the latter, and eventually got autographs from both, and then a photo with Lofa holding my daughter (while she was wearing her Lofa Tatupu jersey!).
We later ended up getting to meet, talk to and get autographs from Nate Burleson and Bobby Engram as well. Better still, once we finally made our way to our reserved box seats along the third base line, Bobby made his way along the edge of the field to shake hands with people in the front row, so we got to shake his hand again and he personally thanked us for coming out and supporting his cause.
Shortly after that, the home run derby started, of which I took plenty of pictures. One of my favorites ended up being this one of Nate Burleson, which I think caught the spirit of the event despite the fact that the hit quite obviously wasn't a home run:
The fact that Nate didn't hit a home run at that at bat may have been irrelevant anyway, since I think Lofa Tatupu's, Darryl Tapp's and Leonard Weaver's derby win was a foregone conclusion at that point.
Once the game got underway, it ended up being an explosive offensive battle. Case in point: Bobby Engram's home run very early in the game. There wasn't as much shenanigans (e.g. tackles to the ground and extra players in the outfield) as last year's game, but it was still very entertaining. It was good to see Marcus Trufant on the field, too, though he spent the majority if not all of his time signing autographs rather than actually playing in the game.
When all was said and done, we had a great time, our daughter Heidi had a great time, we got lots of sun, and I'd say everyone who participated had a lot of fun, too, including the losing "home team" (Bobby Engram's team of "non-Seahawks" ended up winning with a late-game surge).
I'm kind of thinking that he will, but I'm really hoping that Bobby Engram decides to bring the event back for a third consecutive year next year. I'd love to go back and experience such a great family event for a great cause next summer.