By DAVID McGINTY
The Courier-Journal
Despite overcast skies and air heavy with rain, organizers of Louisville's first River City Celebrity Softball Challenge swallowed hard and
decided to go ahead with the game yesterday. It worked.
Although light rain fell persistently through most of the VIP-studded event, no one in a small but enthusiastic crowd at Louisville Slugger Field
seemed to mind.
Actually, once Lexington native and Backstreet Boys member Brian Littrell took the field, the teen-age girls in the stadium seemed not even to
notice it was raining. It's hard to focus on the weather when you're shrieking "BRI-YUNN!"
Littrell was easy to spot; in a lineup that included serious softball players, professional wrestlers, soap-opera stars and local celebs such as
University of Louisville coach Denny Crum, he was the one who looked like a slight, teen-age kid.
The game was held to raise money for several charities, including the Brian Littrell Healthy Heart Club for Kids, Dare to Care, the Child Assault
Prevention Program and the WAVE-3 Leadership Scholar Program. Organizers hope to make it an annual event.
The teams were the Louisville-based TPS Lawmen, champions in their division of World Law Enforcement Softball play; and Team TPS, the
nation's top-ranked super-level softball team.
As game time approached yesterday, Kelly Jones, manager of the TPS Lawmen and one of the organizers, looked somber. The rain showed no
sign of letting up, and he had a serious decision to make.
He made it. "Let's get 'em out on the field," he barked. "That's what those people out there came to see."
Just under 3,000 people, according to organizer Robin Ray, showed up. Adults paid $10; children under 12 were charged $8.
Organizers had hoped for an audience of 5,000.
The game that ensued was a little light on crisp play, perhaps, but it had plenty of entertainment value. No particular athletic prowess was
expected of the celebrities (and just as well), but a few exhibited surprising dexterity.
Russ McCullough, a World Wrestling Federation star who is approximately the size of Paul Bunyan, turned in perhaps the outstanding
celebrity highlight of the day, a slide into third base that just beat the throw.
"That was stupid," McCullough observed after the inning, as he brushed a pound or so of the Slugger Field base path off his legs.
Complimented on his sliding form, he shrugged modestly.
"Well heck, if I hit one better, I wouldn't have to do that," he said. "I gotta win people over with my hustle. I'm not gonna win 'em over with my
softball."
McCullough said he was invited to the event through friendships he has formed with police officers, some of whom he knows from the gym
where he works out. Fellow pro wrestler Mark Henry also received his invitation through friendships with police.
"This is the first time I've played softball since high school," Henry said as he munched on popcorn in the dugout. "I'm just comic relief."
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