How to Be a Good Sport

How do you stop thinking about all the negative things that
have recently happened to sports in Seattle? The Sonics left. Our professional
and collegiate teams have seen better years. Professional and amateur sports
personnel keep speaking out of turn on Twitter and Facebook. NFL players are
reprimanded for advertising brands after they score touchdowns. The list goes
on.

There is one thing that continues to be undeniably magical
about sports and sports personalities in this city: They cant seem to get
Seattle out of their systems.

In 2000, Karen and Jamie Moyer started The Moyer Foundation.
Jamie Moyer was traded to the Phillies in 2006, but the Seattle-based
foundation has grown by leaps and bounds, and continues to fund many local
programs helping children in distress. The foundation also funds Camp Erin, the
largest nationwide network of bereavement camps for children and teens.

Throughout 2010, the Moyer Foundation will celebrate its
10th anniversary. It co-hosted a fundraiser during Super Bowl weekend with the
Mario Batali Foundation (Iron Chef/Food
Network). The foundation will sponsor other events during the year such as its
Annual Giving Luncheon, the Celebrity Golf Classic at Suncadia and, of course,
a big 10th anniversary celebration, tentatively planned for the fall of 2010.
Each month in 2010, The Moyer Foundation will have local businesses participate
by offering special promotions and products, the proceeds from which will
benefit the foundation.

Basketball star Jamal Crawford played at Rainier Beach High
School and now plays with the Atlanta Hawks. The Jamal Crawford Foundation
continues to be run out of Seattle. The foundation provides opportunities and
assistance to inner city youth, and also focuses on health and wellness issues
for young athletes. In November 2007, Crawford received the NBA Community
Assist Award for his achievements with his foundation.

This past summer, the foundation hosted the Healthy Hearts
and Helping Hands event at Interbay Golf Center to benefit Seattle Public
Schools. His foundation has already raised enough money to provide athletic
trainers on site at public school athletic events. This year, he wants to raise
enough funds to provide defibrillators for each school. Other upcoming projects
include his perennial basketball camp in July at the South Bellevue Community
Center, a citywide barbecue next summer and his pro/amateur summer league
event. The foundation continues to partner with Seattle Childrens Hospital and
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound.

The Seattle Sports Commission (SSC) is another organization
that got busy in 2009. As an
affiliate of the Convention and Visitors Bureau in Seattle, it managed the
Subway Washington Games II, hosted the Fourth Annual T-Mobile Links and
assisted in bringing the inaugural Rock n Roll Marathon to the region. At the
top of its current agenda is playing a leading role in Seattles bid for the
2018/2022 FIFA World Cup.

In the coming year, SSC will continue the Sports Star of the
Year Awards at Benaroya Hall (January 2010), bring the AVP Tour to Redmond,
Washington (July 2010), work on attracting the Red Bull Air Races for 2011/12,
and host the 2012 Olympic Diving Trials and the 2011 NCAA Mens Swimming &
Diving Championships.

Of course, there are many other well-known and
not-so-well-known Seattleites in sports who are doing great things for our
community. These are just some of the local folks who keep showing us what it
means to be a good sport.

This is a sponsored legal report from Lane Powell PC. Steven B. Winters is a shareholder at Lane Powell and leads the
intellectual property contracting and licensing practice for the Seattle
office. He can be reached at 206.223.7740 or at [email protected].