Casino Bowl VIII was a success again because there was so much expectation for success. The Casino Bowl begins to happen several months before the actual weekend of the game with Jim Nugent, Cheryl and Estelle Kardas, Sean McNamara and all of their contacts around the country planning to come to Las Vegas to put together an All-Star Game, promote semi-pro football and create a venue for people of common interest to meet and share experiences.

The elements of the weekend include registration, players meeting, team meetings, practice sessions, a banquet, and the game itself. This year one of the East coaches, Guy “Tiny” Lee and his fiancee Heather were married at poolside at the San Remo. They met at Casino Bowl VI. In all, this happened to be a busy and productive weekend. Most of the action was video recorded by Jeff Hansard and Charlie Slaymon of Atlanta.

Helping with the registration were Daria “Dee” Ray and Kathy Jensen of Indianapolis and Paul Evoy of Chicago. Tony Piekos of Las Vegas always helps with many details. In fact most of those involved in the Casino Bowl do double and even triple duty to make the event a success.

John Grech from Cleveland put together a truly national crew to officiate the game. Craig Ochoa an official from Illinois was available at practice to answer any questions. Greg Skowronski helped watch over the practices, work with the coaches and officials to see that the rules of the game were followed. He was also Master of Ceremonies at the annual banquet. Terry Sullivan from MN provided statistics along with Dee Ray.

As Pat Sharpe of Illinois announced the game, Donnie Puggini and Joey Josephs provided a play by play color commentary of the game for the video. They were very professional and did an excellent job.

Dr. David Goldberg, who also said grace at the banquet, led the medical staff. Dona Smith, Certified Trainer, and Julie Lessor, Licensed Massage Therapist, assisted him. The UNLV Athletic Training Staff was also available on game day.

The banquet at Casino Bowl VIII was an event designed to honor Robert “Pudgie” Walsh as National Football Events, Man of the year 2003. Pudgie and his wife Catherine were there for Pudgie to be honored for a lifetime for dedication to semi-pro football. Anthony Pecorella of the Brooklyn Mariners spoke of Pudgie’s accomplishments and was followed by Greg Skowronski and Jim Nugent who commented on Coach Walsh’s many contributions to semi-pro football. It was a pleasure to hear Pudgie Walsh speak and motivate everyone in the audience.

All of this activity was going on as Coaches Greg Moore of St. Louis MO and Bill Hunstock of MN and their coaching staffs were preparing the most important people of Casino Bowl VIII, the football players, for the game itself. So before Virginia Yellowbird sang our National Anthem, the seeds of success of Casino Bowl VIII were sowed by a host of highly dedicated individuals.