Lawyers prepared to take 'em to court

The Doctors vs. Lawyers Basketball Showdown does not elicit many happy memories for local attorneys.

In fact, it brings up some bad ones. Like 2002. The attorneys still haven't recovered from that one.

"We lost on a horrendous call with no time left that was a gift," said Daniel Rau, a member of the lawyers team. "It put Todd Lumsden on the line shooting free throws to win. Todd's a good player. We knew he'd make them."

Those referees won't get much help in a courtroom. "I just like to give them the business," Rau said. "It's all in good fun. They volunteer their time as well."

The lawyers are getting serious for this year's game, set for 8 p.m. Friday at the Notre Dame Regional High School gymnasium. The event benefits the Community Counseling Center Foundation. In addition to the game, festivities include a tailgate party, including a silent auction, at 5:30 p.m. at Dalhousie Downtown.

The lawyers head into this year's game trailing the series 8-2. They last won in 2001. Then came 2002's close loss and a 62-49 defeat last year in which Lumsden led the doctors with a game-high 23 points.

The attorneys have been practicing on weekends for about 10 weeks, according to Rau, just to make sure members of the team could fit a session in at some point.

The practices have been a bit more spirited with recent hires in the county prosecutor's office and the state public defenders office ready to contribute.

"We've got to thank Morley Swingle and the public defender's office for hiring young, big, talented basketball players in their offices," Rau said. "We're really pleased that when they hire people they're keeping the doctors-lawyers game in mind."

Among the newcomers this year is Brandon Sanchez from the state's public defenders office. He played basketball in high school in Texas, then attended the University of Texas-San Antonio and went to law school at Southern Illinois University. He passed the bar last July and joined the public defenders office in October.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Sanchez may be able to get some room on the court. He has studied Brazilian jujitsu and won Southern Illinois University's tap-out submission grappling tournament.

"I'm rusty but I've played so much growing up, I don't think it will be a problem," Sanchez said. "Every year in law school, I played in an intramural league.

"Jokingly, the other attorneys said I was hired because of my height. We're the underdog, but our team has gotten a lot better, I'm told."

Rau approves of the new talent. "I wouldn't call them ringers," he said. "I'd call them dedicated public servants who want to help charity."

The game, after all, is about raising money for charity. The Community Counseling Center is a non-profit mental health care center providing services to children, adults and families.

And on Friday, raising money becomes serious business ... and a matter of pride.

"They take it pretty seriously," said Larry Essner, executive director of the Community Counseling Center Foundation. "It's fun, but they go at it pretty hard."

Said Rau: "I think the interest has grown because they're competitive games. If it wasn't competitive, probably the only people that would come would be our families. Because it is competitive, that brings more people out. I'm glad the event keeps getting bigger and bigger because it raises money for charity."