BuckeyeGrove.com - Join Gary Housteau At The Ohio All-Star Classic

June 11, 2003

Steve Helwagen
Editor

Buckeye Sports Bulletin will be conducting a contest this week where the winner can join staff member Gary Housteau on the sideline at the Ohio All-Star Classic June 21 at Columbus Crew Stadium.

We are asking OSU fans to e-mail a brief written statement (300 words or less) to Gary at h2hsports@aol.com explaining why they would like to attend the game.

The first prize winner will receive one media pass and two tickets to the game, so he or she can bring two friends as well. The second prize winner will receive two tickets to the game.

All entries must be e-mailed to the address noted above by 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 17. We ask that you include your message board identity, real name, hometown, phone number and e-mail address.

We will contact the winners either June 18 or 19. The winners will receive their tickets prior to the game at Crew Stadium.

Special thanks to the Ohio All-Star Classic and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission for their support of this promotion.

Here are more details on the game and how to obtain tickets:

Sixty-eight of the best high-school football players in Ohio will be on display when the Grange Insurance Ohio All-Star Classic is
played at Columbus Crew Stadium on June 21. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The 58th Annual Ohio All-Star Classic, the longest running high-school football game in the country, will again feature most the top graduating high-school football players in Ohio. Seven members of Ohio State's 2002 recruiting class will compete in the game, including Athlon Sports Top 100 recruits Dareus Hiley (50), David Patterson (51), Brandon Maupin (87) and Tony Gonzalez (94).

Other high-profile players include Michigan recruit Shawn Crable and Notre Dame recruits Brady Quinn and Chinedum Ndukwe. Thirteen of the players in the game have received scholarships from Big Ten schools.

Mike Pavlansky of Canfield High School will coach the South squad and Curt Clifford of Portsmouth High School will coach the North team in this year's Ohio All-Star Classic.

The Ohio News Network (ONN), a 24-hour news, weather and sports network will televise the Grange Insurance Ohio-All Star Classic for the second straight year to a statewide audience. Pre-game coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m.

"We are proud to bring together the best high school football players in Ohio for the Grange Insurance Ohio All-Star Classic," said Gerald Cooke, president of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association. "This is the premier All-Star football game in the United States and the last chance to see these high-school football players compete before many of them go on to play Division I football."

The 58th Annual Ohio All-Star Classic will again be played in Columbus Crew Stadium, where the game was also played in 2001 and 2002. The Ohio High School Football Coaches Association, the Greater Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau sports-marketing division (now the Greater Columbus Sports Commission) and Columbus Crew Stadium worked together to move the Ohio All-Star Classic to Columbus in 2001 after it was held in Northeast Ohio from 1977 to 2000. Columbus-based Grange Insurance signed a title sponsorship agreement in 2002 that will keep the Ohio All-Star Classic in Columbus at least through 2004.

"Grange Insurance is proud to sponsor this classic sports event and we are salute the fine young athletes who are competing. Grange is committed to supporting young people and through the Most Valuable Player scholarship donation we can also recognize their excellence," said Phil Urban, president and CEO of Grange Insurance. "As Chairman of the Greater Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau and a supporter of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, I want to promote bringing events such as the Ohio All-Star Classic to Columbus. This is a wonderful opportunity for Grange and for our independent agents throughout the state to support the game and the student-athletes in their communities."

Proceeds from the Grange Insurance Ohio All-Star Classic benefit the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association's Scholarship Program.

In addition to Grange Insurance, major sponsors for the Grange Insurance Ohio All-Star Classic include the Ohio News Network and The Dispatch Media Group.

OHIO ALL-STAR CLASSIC

WHO: 68 of the top high-school football players in Ohio

WHERE: Columbus Crew Stadium

WHEN: Saturday, June 21. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

TICKETS: Cost is $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Advance tickets available by calling Crew Stadium at 614-447-CREW.

TELEVISION: Ohio News Network

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