Coaches go shoeless for a cause

Last year, IUPUI's Ron Hunter was the only basketball coach to go barefoot on the sideline in an effort to collect shoes for needy children around the world. This year, hundreds of foot soldiers have joined the cause.

Samaritan's Feet, the Charlotte, N.C.-based nonprofit organization that distributes the shoes, said more than 300 youth, high school and college coaches have pledged to coach one game barefoot and collect shoes around the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Butler's Brad Stevens, South Dakota State's Scott Nagy, Missouri-Kansas City's Matt Brown, Indiana State's Kevin McKenna and Detroit Mercy's Ray McCallum are among the Division I coaches who will go shoeless, the organization said.

"I truly appreciate that, and I wish I could thank every one of them," said Hunter, who will go shoeless Jan. 17 when Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis plays Centenary.

Samaritan's Feet called him last season to ask him to go barefoot for one game to help collect 40,000 pairs of shoes. By tip-off of that January home game against Oakland, Mich., the tally stood at 140,000 pairs. This year, the goal of Samaritan's Feet is to collect 1 million pairs.

The mission hit home for Hunter in July, when he delivered some of the shoes to children in Peru.

"When I left Peru, I knew that I had to continue to do this," he said. "The tears on the kids' faces that I saw that we couldn't help were enough to say that I will do this for the rest of my lifetime."

• TONY'S OTHER TEAM -- Inside Tony La Russa's Northern California home are more dogs and cats than positions on the baseball field.

The St. Louis Cardinals manager counted a dozen -- half of them permanent residents and the other half benefiting from loving foster care while awaiting adoption. A rabbit, he remembered, made it 13.

The number always changes, depending on the need, and La Russa always has room for one more. All are ready to give him a royal welcome whenever he's home. Well, maybe not the rabbit.

"It's hard to keep track of it," La Russa said. "I'm not there very much, but they know me. They're wonderful."

In 1991, La Russa and his wife, Elaine, founded the Animal Rescue Foundation to find homes for abandoned animals and to promote spay and neutering programs.

La Russa's celebrity helps generate donations and corporate sponsorships, not to mention show business types serving the cause. Twin "Stars to the Rescue" events are being held Saturday near ARF headquarters in Walnut Creek, Calif., and Jan. 18 in St. Louis, with each expected to raise funds in excess of six figures.

"Anything that raises money for ARF is close to my heart," La Russa said. "We've got a lot of great programs, but the only way you can make them work is to raise money."

• MOTOR CITY INK -- In the wake of the Detroit Lions' 0-16 season, one fan decided to get a tattoo to honor his team's accomplishment.

The fan, identified only as "Dan," had a Lions logo with the phrase "0-16 2008" tattooed on his chest.

Loyalty or stupidity? You decide.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL