Legislators to hit hoops for kids

State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson demonstrates spinning a basketball for House Speaker Rep. Jeremy Gillam. Together, their hooping (and hollering?) will propel the annual House-Senate game, Hoops for Kids’ Sake.
State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson demonstrates spinning a basketball for House Speaker Rep. Jeremy Gillam. Together, their hooping (and hollering?) will propel the annual House-Senate game, Hoops for Kids’ Sake.

Looking for an upset win, members of the Arkansas Senate will go sneakers to hardwood against the state House of Representatives team on March 4 in Little Rock.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson and Speaker of the House Rep. Jeremy Gillam are team captains for this year’s Senate-House basketball game, Hoops for Kids’ Sake. The charity event proves that legislators can play ball.

The third annual Hoops for Kids' Sake basketball game is a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas.

Played in the Jack Stephens Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, last year's event scored $30,000 (up from $20,000 the year before), also shared with the Boys and Girls Club of Saline County.

The ticket-buying crowd amounted to "a smattering of lobbyists and legislators," the newspaper reported. Sponsors lobbed in the difference. The House beat the Senate 76-64.

New game. Speaker of the House Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, are this year's team captains, more or less.

"We have been labeled that, yes," Hutchinson says.

"It's fun," Gillam says, "and it's a great cause."

This year's prospects are similar to the last game at the same venue. The Senate draws from a talent pool of 35 members, compared to 100 for the generally younger House.

The House vs. the Senate is "like a 7A school playing a 2A school," Hutchinson says. But this isn't just basketball, after all.

It's politics, too -- a game where losers come from behind all the time. Behind-the-scenes strategy can tilt the scoreboard.

Neither side will admit to rigging elections in order to favor the tallest candidates. But why else does the state Capitol stand 213 feet high, if not to give basketball players a place to stretch? Basketball is what's up in the halls of power.

Elevator talk has nothing to do with issues confronting the 90th General Assembly, not with Gillam and Hutchinson on board -- with a basketball.

The question, as posed by the last rider able to wedge into the car, is this:

"Who's going to win?"

NEWS LEAK, DRIBBLE

Here is the game insider's scoop on these classic rivals:

• In the red jerseys, the House: Two-time winner with a secret. Last year's team recruited Green Party Rep. Fred Smith of Crawfordsville, formerly with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. Smith lost his seat last year. But rumor has it, the former legislator might rejoin the team in a different role. Each side is allowed a celebrity player.

"The smart money is on the House," Gillam says.

Hutchinson opposes. Smith doesn't qualify, the senator contends. And with Smith off the court, and his lanky talents gone with him, Hutchinson predicts the House will come up short.

"The Senate will win," he says.

"He said that last year, too," Gillam says.

• In the blue jerseys, the Senate: Silver-streakers led by the state record holder for the all-time fastest foul-out in high school basketball. Hutchinson claims the title. Also, he claims his uncle, newly elected Gov. Asa Hutchinson, might suit up for the game.

"We're in discussions," he says, having just that morning met with the governor to discuss prison financing and, maybe, basketball.

THE SPIN

Private-option Medicaid spending was the day's ball in play for Gillam, but he took a time-out to meet with Sen. Hutchinson. The debate quickly turned to who could spin a basketball the longest. They pretty much tied.

These captains agreed, too, that the game is a win-win for legislators on both sides -- a chance to meet on friendly terms outside the Capitol.

"It's humbling, too," Hutchinson says, "which I think most politicians could use."

Last year's Senate team managed to lose in spite of being coached by Nolan Richardson, who led the national champion University of Arkansas Razorbacks.

This year's game could be a different story, but no matter. Already, the fix is in. Whatever the box score, Gillam says, "it's Big Brothers Big Sisters who win."

The Hoops for Kids' Sake game will tip off at 7 p.m. March 4 at Jack Stephens Center, University of Arkansas at Little Rock. General admission is $10. VIP sponsorship is $1,000 and the VIP reception will be held at 6 p.m. before the game. More information is available at bbbsca.org, or by calling (501) 374-6661.

High Profile on 02/22/2015

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