On Sunday afternoon, some of the biggest stars in the sports world, and some of the lesser stars who cover them for a living all got together and played in a charity soccer match hosted by Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciapparra. It benefited the Mia Hamm Foundation, and also serves the purpose of registering as many people to become bone marrow donors as possible.
The game itself featured plenty of big names on both sides of the ball, and by all accounts, was a big success. Some highlights below the jump.
The biggest star that came out to the game was Kobe Bryant of the Lakers. He also provided the game's best highlight, a nifty move with the right foot that put Washington Post columnist Mike Wise on the ground, via Dan Steinberg.
It's time like these that remind everyone why the athletes are playing and guys like Mike Wise and I are forced to just cover them. Yikes. There's another video up at CSN, however, that shows Kobe scoring an own goal against his teammate Ivan Carter, so it wasn't all good for the Black Mamba. Kobe just loves to shoot so much that he couldn't help himself.
The Washington area athletes in attendance were DeAngelo Hall of the Redskins, John Carlson of the Capitals, Jeff Green of the Boston Celtics (originally from PG County_ and former D.C. United player Eddie Pope. There were also members of the U.S. Women's National Team, including Alex Morgan who scored the first goal of the final against Japan.
But on all accounts the event was a big success both on and off the pitch. Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner caught up with Mia Hamm, who seemed to be very satisfied with how the event played out.
"How it all came together was just fantastic," Hamm said. "They've always been so progressive in giving back. They were on board and supporting this being a part of the weekend."