Up & Coming Weekly

Tournament to Benefit St. Jude Children’s Hospital by STEPHANIE CRIDER “When you think of a catfi sh tournament you think of a couple of guys and some stinky bait — you know what I am saying? But we have taken this tournament stuff to a different level.” These are the words of the 6th Annual Catfi sh Tournament Director Robert Kitchen. In the past fi ve years the event has raised more than $20,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This year they are hoping to add signifi cantly to that fi gure. “We started with 19 boats paying $250 to win,” said Kitchen. “Now we are at more than 100 boats which makes us the biggest catfi sh tournament in North Carolina. We are paying $3,000 to win, and there is a chance to win a pick-up truck.” There is a captain’s meeting on Saturday, May 8 at the Hope Mills Shriner’s Club from 6-11 p.m. Dinner and entertainment will be provided. This year the tournament will be held on May 15 and 16. Registration will open at 6 a.m. and run until 9 a.m. at J.P. Riddle Stadium. The boats will blast off from the stadium at 8 a.m., but if you miss it there is still another hour of registration time. “After blast off they can go anywhere on the Cape Fear river they want to ... from Buckhorn to Wilmington ...they can fi sh the whole span of the Cape Fear River,” said Kitchen. Weigh-in starts at 9 a.m. on Sunday. All boats have to be in by 10 a.m. There will be a polygraph examiner at weigh-in. The top three winning team captains must take a polygraph before any winnings will be declared. While the fi shermen are certainly expected to have a good time, the tournament is fi sh friendly. “We do catch and release. We put all the fi sh back in the river because we are tournament fi shermen and that might be the one we need for next time that will win,” said Kitchen. “Plus we don’t want to deplete the river population of fi sh due to the fact that this is such a great river to fi sh in, and the more you take out the less there is gonna be. Last year we put back 1,866 pounds of fi sh — all alive” Before the fi sh are put back in the river they are put into revive tanks and soaked in rejuvinade so that they are not put back into the river in a weak state. In order to maintain the health of the fi sh, the tournament has also changed the number of fi sh that can be weighed-in to three. It used to be fi ve fi sh. While tournament participants enjoy a good time on the Cape Fear River catching catfi sh and competing for one of the many prizes that will be handed out, Kitchen and the event organizers are very focused on running a successful tournament because they support the cause ... the children and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “In our organization everybody is gung ho about it — we all know that we are blessed that our children don’t have cancer,” said Kitchen. “These kids didn’t ask for it, but they won’t get to run and play and stuff like that. So if we can give them a chance to that is all that matters in the world to us. There is just something so precious and special about children ... one of our philosophies is that the person’s life that you save could be the person that saves your life someday.” For more information, check out myspace.com/FishingtoFightCancer or call 237-1343. STEPHANIE CRIDER, Staff Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Sparks Will Fly as the MMA Comes to the Crown by JOY KIRKPATRICK Former boxing world champion Ricardo Mayorga will compete in his fi rst Mixed Martial Arts fi ght at the Crown Coliseum on May 15. The Shine Fights’ World’s Collide MMA fi ght will pit Mayorga against MMA star Din Thomas. Ricardo Mayorga is a Nicaraguan born mixed martial artist and former professional boxer. He is the former WBA/WBC Welterweight champion and the former WBC Junior Middleweight champion. His record of 28-7 includes 22 knockouts. His debut into MMA fi ghting is sure to draw a crowd at the Crown as he goes up against MMA veteran Din Thomas. Thomas is an American mixed martial arts fi ghter who was featured on the popular series The Ultimate Fighter 4. He runs two successful Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA academies in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Thomas made his UFC debut at UFC 32, in a fi ght against future UFC lightweight & welterweight champion B.J. Penn. His most recent UFC fi ght was a unanimous-decision loss to Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 13. After that fi ght, he dropped to Featherweight class. Thomas has also recently began an acting career in independent fi lms. Mayorga and Thomas brought fi reworks to their recent press conference in New York. They were brought together to announce Worlds Collide, and sparks fl ew immediately as the two fi ghters began to taunt each other. Mayorga lit a cigarette and blew smoke in Thomas’ face, inciting a shove from Thomas. Shortly afterwards the two went toe-to-toe, yelling at each other, and neither showing any respect for his opponent. The press conference, culminated with Mayorga landing a backhanded left jab to Thomas’ chin. Tickets for Mayorga vs. Thomas at the Crown Coliseum are on sale now. Reserved seat tickets are available at the Crown Center Coliseum Box Offi ce, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster. com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. Prices range from $25 to $150. The event is being promoted by Shine Fight Promotions in conjunction with the Crown Center. For more information visit Shine Fight Promotions Web site:www. shinefi ghts.com or the Crown Center site at www.atthecrown.com, or call (910)438-4100. JOY KIRKPATRICK, Associate Publisher, COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM MAY 5-11, 2010 UCW 13

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