| One
Last Tournament for Wiffle Ball Lover |
By Anthony Paradise
Observer Staff Writer |
| Brian Bedell and his friends didn't spend much time on the
beach when they rented a house in Dewey Beach, Del., during
summer vacations. Instead, they played countless wiffle ball
games in the yard, eventually organizing their games into
the Northern Virginia Wiffle Ball World Series. |
| Bedell, of Arlington, attended but couldn't play at the
2005 tournament at Word of Grace Athletic Fields in Herndon
on Saturday, May 21. He'd been diagnosed in September 2003
with glioblastoma, a grade 4 malignant brain tumor. |
| Bedell died on Monday, May 23 at the age of 35. |
| His affinity for wiffle ball and his commitment to helping
others afflicted by brain cancer will continue through the
Brian Bedell 2-Young Foundation, which he started after his
tumor was diagnosed. |
| Michelle McCann, public relations director for the tournament,
said Bedell died with his family by his side after falling
into a two-hour coma. "It's a blessing he was surrounded
by his friends and family," she said. "It's an overwhelming
sadness that someone was taken so young." |
| Tournament director Mike Ryan and Bedell were friends for
25 years. Ryan remembers seeing Bedell four days before the
tournament and expecting him to be bedridden and unable to
attend the tournament. |
| Bedell had lost most of his sight and his face was paralyzed.
Despite his condition, he made an appearance when his father,
Bob Bedell, pushed his wheelchair on the field. |
| "It was wonderful for our family to see it staged as
a tribute to Brian and raise money for his foundation,"
Bob Bedell said. "It was an unbelievable experience.
The event to him is how important his friends and family were.
He willed himself to be there because of his friends and family." |
| His presence will make this year's tournament the most cherished,
Ryan said. The tournament raised about $40,000 and will remain
an annual event. |
| "It made the event that much more special," he
said. "Unselfishly he showed up for us. On Tuesday, he
couldn't get up, let alone sit in a wheelchair for six hours." |
| Ryan said it hurts knowing that he can't see his friend
anymore. "His soul is in a much better place," he
said. "It hurts that I can't call my buddy but if you
look at the big picture, he's going to do bigger things." |
| The tournament included 48 teams not only from Virginia,
but from northeastern states, California and Illinois. |
| "It started out in high school and in college we played,"
said Chris Goodwin, an organizer for the tournament who was
also once a roommate with Bedell. "After college, we
got a beach house in Dewey Beach and played wiffle ball religiously.
We started drawing names and paired up teams on the weekend.
Then we came back to Northern Virginia at the end of the year
and we'd have the Northern Virginia Wiffle Ball World Series." |
| The tournament, which initially raised money for arthritis
research and then the Special Olympics, began in 1993 and
continued through 2001 before going on hiatus from 2002-04.
Many of the players were getting married and starting families,
Goodwin said. |
| Following Bedell's diagnosis, Goodwin said he and other
friends wanted to help raise money for his medical bills.
They held an event called "Bedellapalooza" last
year and raised $60,000. That event gave Bedell an idea. |
| "That was the start of Brian wanting to start a foundation
for other families going through this to help with cancer
research," Goodwin said. |
| The organization was named the Brian Bedell 2-Young Foundation
and began in the fall last year, with proceeds gained going
to the Brain Tumor Center at Duke University. |
| Bedell's funeral Mass will be held on Friday, May 27 at
St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church, 3304 N. Washington
Blvd. in Arlington at 11 a.m. |
| For more information on his foundation, visit www.brianbedell.org. |
