Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Bowl for Beef
12/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 14, 2010
BOISE, IDAHO - The Fresno State football team began its bowl week in good humanitarian spirit Tuesday afternoon at Westy's Lanes in Boise and stepped up to help fight hunger by bowling for beef donated by Certified Angus for two charities.
22 Bulldogs, 11 from offense and defense, faced off against their Saturday game day matchup Northern Illinois University in a bowl-off to donate pounds of beef for every pin knocked down for a local hometown charity and a Boise organization. The Bulldog offense went against the NIU defense for 12 frames, and then switched to a defense vs. offense battle to close the friendly competition. All together, both teams donated over 2,000 pounds of beef to four charities.
"This specific event today started out as a beef eating contest and it was how much beef you could eat," Kevin McDonald, Executive Bowl Director explained. "I think that coaches and players realized that isn't the best way to prepare for a game, so then we thought, what do we do know? This bowl is one of the first bowls to have a bowling event. So what started as just a competition in bowling became a charitable event. Each team bowls for a charity in their hometown and for a charity here in Boise. Doing this on the first day being here gives the teams a chance to eyeball each other and kind of see who each other are off the field. This is a really great event and everyone gets a chance to bowl not just the starters. Fresno State is bowling for a charity here in Boise and so is NIU, and so we give the same amount of beef to each charity the team's bowl for here and their charity back home, and so we take the number of pins they knock down and double it."
Assistant coaches, players and head coach Pat Hill laced up their bowling shoes and put out their best efforts to strike against hunger and surpassed the Huskies total score of 361 with 367, and donated a total of 634 pounds of beef to the Fresno Poverello House and the Boise Rescue Mission, respectively.
"We are extremely grateful to Fresno State Athletics and the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl staff for choosing Poverello House to receive this precious gift of beef, " said Poverello House Executive Director Jim Connell. " It can be a difficult task to provide over 1,300 meals daily at Poverello House, but we continue to be blessed with generous donations and partnerships like these which are truly vital to our mission of serving the poor with dignity."
"One of the great things about this event is that we are giving back to the community and to people in need," said Fresno State head coach Pat Hill. "All the points turn into pounds and that relays to more food which people need this time of year, which I think is great."
Fresno State wide receivers coach Keith Williams and defensive back Isaiah Green were amongst the top bowlers at today's event scoring strikes. Members of the Boise Rescue Mission decked out in Fresno State football shirts and hats cheered with Red Wave signs as Williams bowled a strike in the last frame of the FS offense vs. NIU defense while Green hit his in the defensive lineup.
"It's for a good cause and in athletics you always want to be a good closer in athletics," said Williams. "I am just competitive and this is for a good cause."
And although the spectrum of talent for bowling ranged from student-athlete to student-athlete, it is safe to say that everyone had a great time not just bowling with their teammates, but bowling for a very important cause.
"It is exciting," said Bulldog center Joe Bernardi. "People here in Boise have been very good to us. And we have been here for the bowl here before and it is great to help out the community that has been very good to us."
The event concluded with a giant check writing ceremony to each Boise charity, each equipped with pounds of beef and each school's logo and contribution.
"We just feel like we are named the Humanitarian Bowl so this is what we have an obligation to do, and the guys just have a great time doing it and they are bowling for a purpose," said McDonald. "The idea is to take care of people who are in need."
"We Are Your Team!" -- Fans are encouraged to check www.gobulldogs.com for information regarding the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl, including ticket, travel and hotel accommodations.
