(to benefit The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale)

This year's Mark Grace Celebrity Invitational was held to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale. This gave the KidStar staff reporters, Brittany, Tyiana, Emily and Amari, a great opportunity to interview some of the top sports professionals. For 16 seasons, Mark Grace brought enthusiasm, humor and amazing talent to the game of baseball. As a Chicago Cub, Mark led his team on the field and in the hearts of its fans from his rookie season in 1988 through the end of the 2000 season. His thirteen seasons playing for the Cubs established him as one of the game's "good guys" with a throwback style of getting his uniform dirty and having fun on and off the field. He led the major leagues in hits during the decade of the 1990s. With the Arizona Diamondbacks, Mark won a World Series ring in 2001 and played three season before retiring after the 2003 season. today, Mark is a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks TV broadcast team. Since 2004, Grace has provided color commentary and plenty of laughs for Diamondbacks games.

The following is a list of the celebrities that were interviewed by our great KidStar Reporters of KLUB 91.7. The schedule of these taped interviews will be posted on this site as soon as they are available. Be sure to check out the new KidStar Gallery where you can see more images of this great event and our KidStar Reporters at work.

Celebrities interview -

KWAMIE LASSITER: Defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals from 1995 - 2002. Also played for the San Diego Chargers in 2003 and also the St. Louis Rams in 2004.

BILL LEWIS: Center, selected by the Los Angeles Raiders 7th Round of the 1986 NFL Draft. Played for the Raiders 1986 through 1988. Joined the Phoenix Cardinals 1990 through 1992. Finished his playing career with the New England Patriots in 1993 and his now currently working with the Arizona Cardinals.





FRANK KUSH: Frank Kush was 29 when he first called the shots for Arizona State football in the Territorial Cup game half a century ago. He had already been at Arizona State College for three years as an assistant coach under Dan Devine before being promoted to a job he would hold for 22 seasons before his resignation midway through the 1979 college football season. Kush was inducted into the College Hall of Fame in 1995 and at Sun Devil Stadium the field was named Frank Kush Field in 1996 on the same night that ASU upset number one ranked Nebraska 19 to 0.

ANN MEYERS: Hall of Famer Ann Meyers was the first player to be part of the US national team while still in high school. She was the first woman to be signed to a four year athletic scholarship for college, at UCLA. She was also the only woman to sign a contract with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers in 1979. Ann Meyers serves as the General Manager for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and Vice President of the NBA's Phoenix Suns. For over 26 years, she served as a network television sports analyst for ESPN, CBS and NBC.




MARK GRACE: Major League Baseball debut as first baseman for the Chicago Cubs May 2nd, 1988 through 2000. Mark joined the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 through 2003. His career highlights include three time All Star Selection (1993, 1995, 1997.) World Series Champion with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. He was also a four time Gold Glove Award winner (1992, 1993, 1995, 1996) He is currently a broadcast announcer for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

SEAN BURKE: Two time Olympic Canadian goalie. 19 years in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and finished his career with the Phoenix Coyotes. He currently is in the front office with the Coyotes and after the KIDSTAR interview, he compared our broadcasters to Sports Illustrated interviewers.