26 CHALDEAN NEWS
26 CHALDEAN NEWS OCTOBER 2007
sports Melvin Babi’s team shows off their trophies. from one court to another CABA lawyers suit up for charity BY STEVE STEIN Lawyers know their way around a courtroom. Some even know their way around a basketball court. That’s one reason why the Chaldean American Bar Association has launched a 3-on-3 summer basketball tournament that raises funds for college scholarships for Chaldean students offered by the Chaldean Federation of America. The inaugural tournament, thrown together in about two weeks by CABA board members Jim Acho and Joel Yono, generated about ,000 from the per player entry fees from the 14 teams. “We organized the tournament off the cuff and got players by word-of-mouth and e-mail,” Acho said. “It’s difficult to hold a tournament like this during the winter because guys are already playing basketball in leagues, so we thought we’d give it a try during the summer.” Acho and Yono plan to turn the tournament into an annual event. With more time for preparation and especially more help organizing it, they’re convinced the tournament will become a slamdunk success. “I bet we could get from 32 to 64 teams. And it would be great to hold it at a big facility like the Matthaei Building at Wayne State University,” said Acho, a former collegiate basketball player and coach. “Chaldeans love to play basketball, and are always willing to support a good cause.” “I’m sure we could increase the number of teams astronomically,” Yono said. “The competition was pretty fierce in the first tournament, at the level of a Gus Macker event.” Melvin Babi’s team won the inaugural CABA tournament championship, winning all four of its games in the one-day, single-elimination competition at Shenandoah Country Club. Also on Babi’s team were Mike and Lamar Babi, Melvin’s brothers, and Joe Cassis. Tom Jabero was supposed to be on the team, but he was injured playing softball two days before the tournament and was relegated to non-playing captain’s duties. Cassis replaced him as a player. The first team to make 15 baskets and be ahead by at least two baskets won the championship game. The Babi-Cassis bunch was down 14-9 before rallying for a 22-20 victory. “It was a hard-fought, physical game,” Melvin Babi said. “It got real physical and tense toward the end because there were no free throws taken after fouls. That’s a change in the tournament rules I’d recommend for next year. It would be better to award free throws on shooting fouls.” Each team in the tournament was required to have one CABA attorney on its roster, even as a non-playing captain. Lawyers Melvin and Mike Babi and Tom Jabero each fulfilled the legal requirement for the champs. Thanks to Acho’s connections, four University of Michigan football players acted as referees for the tournament. One of the refs was Heisman Trophy candidate Mike Hart, who worked in Acho’s law office this summer. “Mike had a great time refereeing,” Acho said. “He said he’d fly in from whatever city he’s living in next summer so he can be a referee again.” OCTOBER 2007 CHALDEAN NEWS 27
