Photos: Fanster.com



Maybe you remember the scene in the 1986 film “About Last Night…” (no, not the Demi Moore bathtub scene–get your mind out of the gutter). The scene where Rob Lowe’s character, Danny and Jim Belushi’s character, Bernie, played softball in a Chicago park with a gigantic mushball, while wearing no gloves.

The game they were playing is 16″ softball. Many people in Arizona aren’t familiar with this type of softball, but Chicagoans are. And one Valley man, Al Maag of Avnet, is doing his best to spread its popularity in the desert.

This past weekend, the 6th Annual Avnet 16″ B2B (Business to Business) Softball Desert Classic took place at Tempe Sports Complex. More than 25 Valley companies fielded teams for this year’s event, which raised money for the Valley YMCA and Phoenix Sports Commission youth sports charities.

So, how did the tournament get started? Maag says his love of 16″ softball started at an early age. “I had a 16″ softball in my bassinet”, says Maag, a Chicago native who proudly sported his Cubs cap at the tournament. He played on some very competitive teams in the 1970’s in the Chicago area, got involved with a softball magazine, worked on a documentary about the history of the sport, and even helped organize the sport’s Hall of Fame, which is located in, you guessed it, Chicago. Maag says that six years ago, after living in the Valley for 10 years, the fact that he missed the game so much inspired him to look into starting the tournament. “I actually went to (former Phoenix Mayor) Rimsza at the time, and said ‘what if we put together a business to business corporate tournament?’ He said he’d be glad to support it, and got me involved with the Phoenix Sports Commission, and they’ve been helpful ever since,” Maag said.

Maag says the goal is to get companies to come out, network, have a good time, and raise some money for charity. “It’s a grand slam if we can do all those things,” Maag said.

This year’s tournament featured a Celebrity Game which featured a team from local sports radio station Xtra Sports 910 (KGME) against a team comprised of prominent Valley CEOs, including Doug Parker of U.S. Airways, and Andy McCain, the Chief Financial Officer of Hensley and Co., and the son of Republican Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain. The CEOs, known as the Big Kahunas, defeated the squad from Xtra, 11-7.

Dirk’s Moving defeated Taylor Morrison in the men’s division, and a team from tournament sponsor Avnet defeated SCF Arizona in the co-ed division. Both Dirk’s and Avnet defended their championships from 2007, and both teams won a suite to an upcoming Phoenix Coyotes’ game at Jobing.com Arena.

The CEOs vs. Xtra Sports 910, along with the championship games in the men’s and co-ed divisions, can be seen on Channel 3, December 6th at 11:00 am.

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