(photo courtesy of Eric Tom/Redlands Daily Facts)
**The stadium is footsteps away from where I went to school and grew up. It's good to see Snoop organizing an event like this for the kids.**
REDLANDS, CA - A hip-hop star and a Super Bowl-winning quarterback brought youth football teams to play at Dodge Stadium Saturday and Sunday (January 9 & 10).
Twenty-eight youth football teams competed for trophies at the stadium for the 2010 Big Dog Bowl. Rapper Snoop Dogg and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger brought teams to play in the event.
"I wanted to do something for the kids that I never got to do," said Dion Thompson, the event's organizer.
Thompson is using the annual Big Dog Bowl to bring teams from across the nation to play big postseason games in Southern California. He has brought in celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Roethlisberger and others to help give the events another element of excitement.
"The main thing is that these kids get to come out and play on something that's a different magnitude," he said.
Michael Kohler, a 13-year-old defensive lineman for the Chula Vista Aztecs, sat on the sidelines watching the Snoop Dogg Steelers with his teammates as they waited for their chance to take the field Saturday.
The Aztecs had a 13-2 record during their regular season. The high level of competition was the most exciting part of Saturday's event for Kohler.
"Playing against other teams that are pretty competitive against us - we're pretty matched up," he said.
Snoop Dogg sponsored Kohler said he also enjoyed the chance to travel with his team out of Pomona and Roethlisberger sponsored a team that came all the way from Pittsburgh, Pa., to play at Dodge Stadium. Thompson said Roethlisberger paid $20,000 for his team to make the trip west.
Greg Bell, who won the Super Bowl as a running back with the Green Bay Packers in 1997, also sponsored a team out of Santa Barbara for the event.
"My main man (Thompson), this is what he's doing and I'm supporting him," Snoop Dogg said Saturday. "I'm a fan of what he does. Bringing all these great teams together and play in the big game."
Snoop Dogg sponsors and coaches the team his son - Cordell, 12 - plays on. The team has now played in the Big Dog Bowl for two consecutive years.
"We look forward to being here every year," Snoop Dogg said. "This is a showcase of great teams and Super Bowl champions.
"To be able to say that you are the Big Dog, that means a lot. So we're here to do it."
Snoop Dogg said he had a casual conversation with Roethlisberger about the competition he might face at Saturday's event.
"I talked to (Ben) about a week and a half ago in the club in New York and he was telling me about his team that was coming out here," he said. "He kind of laid out a challenge and I was like, `Man, you really don't want to do that because then our friendship would go downhill.' "
"I love Ben too much and I love the Steelers too much to have to do him like that."
Thompson, a San Bernardino (CA) native, graduated from San Gorgonio High School. He said he wanted to keep his event in the Inland Empire.
A year ago, San Gorgonio High School hosted the Big Dog Bowl. Thompson said he wants to keep the event in Redlands in the future.
"Hopefully Redlands (High School) will keep us here," he said. "I'm very glad that the community is backing this up because this is not about any bad issues with kids. This is a positive thing for these kids out here."
--Jesse B. Gill (source)
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