Nearly 400 people are expected to cram into the Club Room today at Autzen Stadium.
But today, it’s for a much larger cause than football.
The 13th annual Mike Bellotti Ultimate Tailgate Party is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. tonight to benefit the more than 2,000 Oregonians suffering from one of the 43 different neuromuscular diseases represented by the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
The event includes a dinner, a silent auction, a super-silent auction, a live auction and is in conjunction with a Golf Classic held Friday at the Springfield Country Club.
Last year, the two-day event raised $144,000. Organizers hope to reach the $150,000 mark this year, said Nell Higginbotham, the Eugene district director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
“This is my third year doing this particular event, and each year I’m awestruck because of the sheer number of people who turn out and the generosity of the community and the people who are giving of their time and money,” Higginbotham said. “It’s always very impressive to me. And I’m always just a little more humbled after the event just to realize how giving people really are.”
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a “voluntary health agency – a dedicated partnership between scientists and concerned citizens aimed at conquering neuromuscular diseases that affect more than a million Americans,” according to the MDA’s mission statement.
The Oregon football team has one of those affected people close to home in running backs coach Gary Campbell’s son Bryan. Bryan’s condition initially inspired the program to hold events such as today’s Ultimate Tailgate Party, which began under former head coach Rich Brooks and has continued with Bellotti.
“Each year it’s something that I try to do, and it’s been one received by the people in the community,” Bellotti said. “You feel like you give something back to the people.”
Bidders at the event, which mostly include sponsors and local businesses, have opportunities to bid on various things including a seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise or a dinner with Bellotti at the 50-yard line of Autzen Stadium.
Higginbotham said there are a few changes to this year’s Ultimate Tailgate Party. One is the inclusion of players from Oregon’s 1995 Rose Bowl team including Dino Philyaw, Danny O’Neil, Chad Cota, Josh Bidwell, Reggie Jordan and five others.
Each of the 10 players, after being auctioned off, will then compete on the winning bidder’s golf team during the Golf Classic Friday.
Bidders also have an opportunity at the tailgate party win an opportunity to team with football players for the Golf Classic.
Jeff Hawkins, the director of football operations at the University, is creating autographed caricature portraits of the players to be auctioned off during the silent auction.
Winning bidders for the portraits will then have the opportunity to team with that player on Friday.
“Some of them play golf and some of them have never swung a golf club in their life. So it may be a little interesting,” Bellotti said.
Last year, Hawkins had players attempt to draw the portraits either of themselves or of teammates, which made for some interesting sketches and some displeasure from the artistically challenged, Hawkins said.
This year, he decided to head up the drawing portion of the project himself. Still, Hawkins recognizes the importance of including the players in the events. This year is the second time current players will participate.
“The reason why we’ve got our players involved is that we want them to appreciate the small things in life,” Hawkins said. “A lot of these athletes will play on Sundays.
Sometimes you have got to bring some reality home to them … I think it’s good for their ego.”
Some players already have volunteered their time to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Last month, J.D. Nelson, Brady Leaf, Jonathan Stewart and Brent Haberly became “football buddies” with four children suffering from neuromuscular diseases.
The four players met with their buddies prior to a spring practice and had dinner together following the workout.
During today’s event, the players will honor their buddies with a Courage Award.
“The fantasy these kids go through does wonders for their welfare,” Hawkins said of the children in the buddy program. “But I know that the benefit goes both ways.”
One of the highlights of the evening, Higginbotham said, is a video on the MDA’s summer camp for children affected by neuromuscular diseases.
Because of the high costs of sending a child to the camp, a portion of the auction will allow bidders to pay for children to attend one of two camps this summer.
“I’ve seen videos of (the camp), and you talk to the kids that have been there, and it’s an amazing experience for them to be able to play, swim and compete,” Bellotti said. “It’s something they have told me they look forward to every year – one of the most unbelievably fun things they get to do. So just to be a part of something that gives them the opportunity to share that fun time in their life, it’s pretty amazing.”