Fantasy Football

Sports stars turn out for Fantasy Football Draft Night, but brothers steal the show

Seth Livingston
Marcy de Luna
Sep 29, 2017, 8:18 am

Hurricane Harvey may have caused a delay, but couldn't put a damper on the fifth annual Boys and Girls Harbor Houston's Fantasy Football Draft Night. Although the event had been postponed due to the storm and the NFL season has already started, the sold-out crowd of 450 sports fans, clad in their favorite sports team jerseys, turned out in force in support of the nonprofit. 

“It’s been a rough month or so since Harvey landed … it’s an important event and we were a little unsure about how it would all turn out, but we thank you all for being here,” said event chair Bill Lehner, who addressed guests onstage along with co-chairs, his wife Vicki Lehner, and Diane Englet.

The fun-filled night, held at the club level at NRG Stadium, featured a fantasy football competition, especially thrilling thanks to the roster of veteran athletes on-hand, offering tips.

Famous faces advising were Boys and Girls Harbor board member and Olympic gold medalist sprinter Fred Newhouse; former Houston Oilers head coach Ed Biles; former Olympian and current track and field head coach at the University of Houston Leroy Burrell; former offensive lineman for the St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Oilers, and Cleveland Browns Doug Dawson; and former wide receiver for the Houston Oilers and Boston Patriots Charlie Frazier.

Also in the lineup were former cornerback for the Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, and Detroit Lions Donovan Greer, Hall of Famer and former safety for the Houston Oilers and Washington Redskins Kenny Houston, former wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns and Houston Oilers Gerald McNeil, former Houston Texans offensive lineman Chester Pitts, and sports radio talk show host Vince Rachal.

When the final whistle blows at the end of the season, the winner of the contest will receive two tickets to Super Bowl Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis.

Stealing the spotlight from the moment they hit the stage were brothers Tony Winrow and Kente Winrow, alums of the Boys and Girls Harbor Houston program. Their heartfelt words and appreciation for the nonprofit, about how it not only changed their lives for the better, but also those of their children by breaking the cycle of abuse, touched those in the audience and received a standing ovation. 

KPRC Channel 2 sports director Randy McIlvoy emceed the evening’s draft activities, sponsored by H-E-B, Houston businessman Gary Peterson, SB Nation 1560 AM (soon to be SportsMap 94.1 FM), and ESPN 97.5 FM.

Including money raised from a wine pull and silent and live auctions, the evening raised more than $250,000, bringing the grand total to $1,000,000 raised since its inception in 2012. Proceeds go to help Boys and Girls Harbor Houston reach their goal to provide healthy, comprehensive residential care for children who are victims of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or family hardship.

Seen in the crowd: Karen De Geurin, DeeDee and Clay Rawlings, Arthur Mooradian, Gretchen and John Hodge, Melinda and Keith Landsness, Suzanne Skie-Azizi and Mir Azizi, Laura and Wayne Kinningham, Rhonda Newhouse, Don Sweat and his wife Diane Sweat, Claudia Pardivala, Ken Sellars, Monica and Joe Casiano, Ashley and Chris Petersen, and Bill King.

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Originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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THE LEFT TURN

NASCAR: Toyota Owners 400 preview, predictions

Martin Truex Jr. won his 2nd race of the season last week. Photo via: Wiki Commons.

NASCAR returns to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. This is the first of two races here at this track as they will race on Sunday afternoon. This will be different from the normal night race they usually have here as this will definitely affect the racing surface considering how much the sun could make the track slick. It should be a fun race come Sunday.

Last week, Martin Truex Jr. passed Denny Hamlin to capture his second win of the season after rain moved the race to Sunday. He became the first driver to win multiple races after a fierce battle with his teammate Denny Hamlin. The race was filled with tons of wrecks including a fifteen car pileup including Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch. It was one of the better races of the season as there was lots of beating and banging.

The race was not without controversy but not the kind you would expect. Early in the race Rick Ware Racing teammates Cody Ware and James Davison were involved in an altercation. The two were battling towards the back of the pack when Ware decided to drive through his teammate in turn four. The race got much worse for Cody Ware as he was involved in three more cautions all throughout the race. Many people around the sport were quite perturbed by his antics including broadcaster Mike Joy as he was audibly annoyed after Ware spun out later in the race. Many have questioned if the fifth-year driver should even be in the car and overall I can understand why some of those people think that. In his five years of driving, he has finished on the lead lap one time. I hope that he is able to figure it out and find success in the future, but this was not a good look.

The slump continues for two-time champion Kyle Busch

Throughout the race, Busch was running okay for the most part but towards the closing laps of the race he and Chris Buescher got together triggering a fifteen car pileup. Despite all this, he was able to rebound to a respectable tenth place finish. This has been more than likely the toughest stretch of his career since his championship in 2019. Many would say that the omission of Practice and Qualifying has really affected his performance. Whatever the issue is, this team really needs to find some speed, or he could be in danger of missing the playoffs. I look for this team to bounce back considering how talented he is.

Prediction

The driver that I have winning this week is Kyle Larson. This has been an incredible rebound season for Larson as he currently sits fourth in points. He is also second in laps led only to Denny Hamlin. Richmond has been a great track for him as it fits his driving style perfectly as he can run the outside line and find grip where others can't. This track is also rather sentimental to him considering he won his first pole award here during his rookie season in 2014. While he may not have the results he would want he has always been extremely fast here and even won back in 2017. I look for him to capture his second victory of 2021 come Sunday.

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