Sports Gala lacking some star power

As emcee of the National Sports Gala, Marco Island resident Dave Rice will announce plenty of big names tonight inside the Radisson Suite Beach Resort.

An Olympic medalist.

A former NBA coach.

The most significant three stars on the list, however, might never cross the Jolly bridge, a fact that had Rice more than a little worked up on the eve of the inaugural shindig.

Rice, you see, isn’t only the emcee for the YMCA fundraiser. He also happens to be the event coordinator, responsible for making sure everyone gets their money’s worth.

As of noon Friday, 230 of the 250 tickets for tonight’s celebration were gone. Many of the guests were hoping to kick it with football players Edgerrin James, Mike Vanderjagt and Reggie Wayne, whose names were included as potential honorees throughout the event’s buildup.

What is known for sure is that Vanderjagt, an All-Pro kicker who signed with the Dallas Cowboys in March, won’t be coming, sending word Friday morning that he had other plans. James, too, seems doubtful.

When Pierre Rutledge, the executive director of the Edgerrin James Foundation, was reached Friday afternoon, he knew nothing of the gala. He said the Arizona Cardinals running back was scheduled to attend a Miami Heat function.

Rice hasn’t spoken with James, an Immokalee native, in recent weeks and never had contact with Wayne. He said he’ll know if they are coming once the event kicks off. The festivities begin with a silent auction at 5:30 p.m., to be followed by a cocktail hour, dinner and postgame social.

“The list can always change,” Rice said Friday. “People have things happen. We’re asking these honorees to donate their time. We can’t hold them to it.”

The last week has been hectic for Rice, who spent much of his time on the phone searching for commitments. He got that from 22 of the 26 names on the list — former NFL assistant coach Larry Pasquale, whose daughter recently gave birth to a child, called to back out. But he had little information regarding Vanderjagt, James and Wayne, who share ownership of Vandy’s With An Edge Sports Pub on Marco Island.

The trio’s restaurant, interestingly, will be a visible part of tonight’s celebration. The 200-plus patrons who paid $150 for a ticket to the gala will join event honorees there after dinner.

But something will be missing. Lee Vanderjagt, who also has ownership in the restaurant, spoke with his brother Friday morning, learning that the former Indianapolis Colts star would not make the trip. He was back home in Canada preparing to play in a charity softball game.

“In the offseason Mike is pulled every which way,” Lee Vanderjagt said, seated below one of Mike’s framed jerseys. “We tried to get him in, but it didn’t work out. He’s got the softball tournament in Niagara Falls. He wished he could be here, but that’s the life of a professional athlete.”

Lee Vanderjagt said his brother, who owns a house on Marco Island, will be in town next week, partly for damage control. There is concern that his absence tonight will affect the image of the restaurant, which opened in September on the corner of Elkcam Circle and Bald Eagle Drive.

But Mike’s brother placed some of the blame on Rice, who spoke to the kicker for the first time on Thursday night. The gala coordinator had relied mostly on Vandy’s manager Rich Constante, a mutual friend, to make sure Vanderjagt, James and Wayne were on hand.

Constante said he had gotten confirmation from James — who vowed he’d make the trip only if Vanderjagt showed up — but there was never communication with Wayne.

“I never once told anyone Reggie would come,” Constante said of the Colts receiver, a former teammate of James and Vanderjagt. “I don’t even know why he was on the list.”

Even if the Vandy’s threesome isn’t there, patrons will have much to see. The 22 confirmed honorees cover virtually every boundary of athletics, ranging from Olympic bobsled bronze medalist and Naples native Brian Shimer to former Charlotte Hornets coach Allan Bristow. Rice said his wife, former Ole Miss volleyball coach Jeanne Taylor, would act as a fill-in should one of the stars not show up.

She might be in a football player’s chair. James, Vanderjagt and Wayne have been on the list for weeks, but any agreement with the event was non- binding. That’s why advertisements referred to the sports types as “invitees,” with a disclaimer that the list was subject to change.

What seems concrete, however, is the presence of Immokalee High graduate Javarris James, who will be a running back this fall for the University of Miami, Edgerrin’s alma mater. Edgerrin’s cousin is in line to receive a National Sports Achievement award, joining Jacksonville basketball player Steffi Sorenson, a Florida Gulf Coast University signee, as one of two high-school honorees.

Rice hopes the event will grow into an annual celebration. He doesn’t see the absence of one star athlete — or three — as something that can taint the affair.

“This is a celebration of sports with one-on-one conversation,” Rice said of the gala, which is being sponsored by the Marco Island YMCA, with proceeds benefiting scholarships for needy children. “It’s one athlete sitting with 10 people to a table, no speeches. You might have a million questions to ask these people. That’s the purpose. You get a chance to talk to the athlete for two hours.”

So the show will go on, even without the most accurate kicker in NFL history — and, quite possibly, two of his former Colts teammates.

Three points shy, potentially, of the perfect evening.

“Mike is a great guy and a great family man,” Constante said, adding that the restaurant, in an effort to ease disappointment, will donate a pair of autographed jerseys to the event. “It was a mix-up. He’ll do everything in his power to get things right.”