BUMPED...It is times like these that we need to put the rivalry aside and come together to work for a worthy cause. I asked Derek to post this because I have kept tabs on his family's situation over the last 24 months or so and have always asked if there was anything I could do...now, I can. Please consider this, not just for Tyler, but the many kids that are affected by this terrible disease. - P

This October 26th, in conjunction with the men's basketball team's Cardinal and Gold game, USC will hold it's 4th annual Dribble for the Cure event at the Galen Center. All proceeds will be split evenly between the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The event was founded by the late Al McGuire at Marquette University and later introduced to Southern California in 2006 by then head coach Tim Floyd, who wanted to establish a similar tradition at USC. Since that time, UCLA has followed USC's lead and held their own Dribble for the Cure event at UCLA to benefit PCRF and the Mattel Children's Hospital.

The festivities will include entertainment by the USC band and dance team, game booths, face painting, free throw shooting contests, a silent auction, a drawing for the usage of a 16 person suite, free admission to the intra-squad game, and an autograph session with the men's basketball team and Coach O'Neill. I'd encourage anyone who can make it out to register for the event and spend a Sunday at the Galen Center. Even if you can't make it to campus, there are still ways to support this worthy cause:

I will be participating at the UCLA event this November in honor of my seven year-old son, Tyler. As those who keep an eye over at BN or who used to read my old blog may know, my son has been battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for two and a half years now. This summer has unfortunately been a very difficult one in which Tyler has had to confront many setbacks, including relapses in his central nervous system that required a reservoir to be implanted into his brain, some impairment of motor skills, Bell's palsy, and the migration of cancer cells into his bone marrow. This last event has necessitated a hematopoietic (blood) stem cell transplant. This post is currently being written from his bedside at City of Hope, where Tyler has just completed his conditioning regimen comprised of total body irradiation and high dose chemotherapy. He is scheduled to receive stem cells from an unrelated donor late Tuesday night. At that point, he'll have a whole new battle to deal with.

He will still be in isolation when Dribble for the Cure rolls around, but I (or a relative depending on the circumstances at the time) will be attending to get him an autographed ball from the team. If you would like to show your support for him with a donation, you may do so by visiting his pledge page at:

http://pcrf.kintera.org/ucladribbleforthecure/guttylittlebruin

I know it may seem unusual for an alumnus of UCLA to be soliciting funds at a USC blog. But many of you here have been very supportive of me in the past, and besides, some things supersede rivalries. Also, Tyler received a great deal of his treatment at Children's Hospital Los Angeles under the direction of a physician who is a professor at Keck School of Medicine of USC, and this is an important enough cause that I wanted to get the message out in any way possible.

I should also note that while cancer has ravaged Tyler's body, his spirit is still as strong as ever. He still makes me laugh every day. He still amazes me with something new every day. And he still dreams about playing hoops for the Mighty Bruins.

photo taken 08/30/09