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NLL Rochester Knighthawks

K-Hawks/Ohsweken Owners Curt & Glenn Styres Address Sylvester Stallone

February 29, 2012 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Rochester Knighthawks News Release


For Curt and Glenn Styres, the gig was even better than a ringside seat for another televised 'Rocky' title bout. (Pictured - left to right: Tina Styres, Vera Styres, Sylvester Stallone and Glenn Styres)

The Rochester Knighthawks owner and younger brother not only reveled in the chance to meet up with legendary action star Sylvester Stallone, 65, Glenn took center stage to introduce 'Sly' to over 900 people in attendance for the gala dinner engagement Thursday (Feb. 23) at Carmen's Banquet Centre in Hamilton, Ont.

"Back when this event was first announced, we were the first ones to come on board in support and the first to reserve a table," remarked Glenn, general manager of the family-owned and operated Ohsweken (Ont.) Speedway, a co-title sponsor of the event that serves as a major fundraiser with proceeds benefiting the Canadian Diabetes Association. "The CDA found it a lot easier to sell tickets after that so they showed their appreciation by letting me present (Stallone) to the head table."

"Curt wanted to be there but he's really dedicated and a prior commitment at a local food reserve kept him closer to home. So I was given a two-page essay to read that covered Stallone's career highlights and it was just like the movie, a rags-to-riches story. He talked about all the movies and how he struggled, nothing came easy. In the public's eye we just see the final result and only his success. He said he could've sold every script he wrote for $300-$400,000 but kept them instead so he could play the lead role. He felt only he knew how he wanted the characters to be portrayed. Ironically, Stallone said he never envisioned 'Rocky' as a boxing or sports film, but more a coming of age movie combined with a love story," Styres noted.

Stallone headlined the star-studded, one-night only event that also featured CBC Dragons' Den star and co-title sponsor for the evening, Robert Herjavec (The Herjavec Group), famed Canadian hockey dad and Order of Canada recipient, Walter Gretzky, NHL Hall-Of-Famer Johnny Bower and ET Canada's Rick Campanelli.

In addition, Canadian Idol winner Brian Melo performed an acoustic rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" ---theme song of Rocky III---during dinner while both a silent and live auction took place accompanied by a candid interview with Stallone allowing the audience a rare opportunity to ask questions about his career, on-stage and off.

"I was always a big Rocky fan," Styres divulged, "so as soon as I found out he was the headliner I went out and bought all his movies. I also installed a new surround-sound system and have been watching them non-stop for the past two months. Getting the chance to sit right next to him at the head table was an even bigger thrill, there's that celebrity aura you can feel as soon as he starts to talk."

Stallone's rare appearance was his first-ever fundraiser in Canada and Carmen's president P.J. Mercanti said he is new on the speaking-fundraising circuit yet the Hollywood icon was encouraged to get involved by fellow action figure and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The event ---$250 five-course meal/open bar or $1,500-2,000 VIP meet-n-greet/photo shoot--- raised $100,000 for CDA, which the Styres have quickly become staunch supporters.

"I didn't really realize the magnitude of this event until it was all over," added Glenn, who closed out the week's whirlwind tour in Florida by scoring a thrilling upset victory in Saturday (Feb. 25) night's 40-lap Ronald Laney Memorial to conclude the 14th Annual "King of the 360's" Nationals at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa.

Styres' first-ever A-Main win in the Sunshine State (28th overall) came in a most fitting movie-like fashion as he charged past Ohio's Darren Long in the final corner to take the checkered flag and collect $10,000 after starting 18th aboard the potent no. 0 Arrow Express/Rochester Knighthhawks sprinter on the final night of East Bay's 36th Annual Winter Nationals. The biggest victory of Glenn's career was over a star-studded field that included former World of Outlaws standouts Terry McCarl and Jason Sides, sprint car star Shane Carson, and defending Empire Super Sprints champion Chuck Hebing from Ontario, N.Y.

"Our first fundraiser with the CDA was last autumn and that's when we found out they were looking for a primary sponsor and in search of a guest speaker. This project turned out to be a very good fit for us. And getting a closer look of all the work going on, there's certainly a lot of good that can come from this," Styres said.

Diabetes ---a chronic, often debilitating and sometimes fatal disease affecting a body's insulin production--- is considered a global pandemic and it is anticipated that over 400 million people worldwide will live with the disease by 2030. Today, more than nine million Canadians live with diabetes or prediabetes, including close to 50 percentof the First Nations people spread across the northern territories.

While Stallone's recent arrival north of the border was one of the biggest events staged in conjunction with the Canadian Diabetes Association, the latest in a series of starlight affairs at Carmen's further showcased fundraising efforts made by actors Al Pacino and James Woods during the past two years along with those of Academy Award winners Sophia Loren and Michael Douglas, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and U.S. President Bill Clinton.

"Having a star like Mr. Stallone shine the spotlight on diabetes while helping us raise funds in Canada to help find a cure for diabetes really does make people more aware of living a healthier lifestyle and supporting these types of wonderful events," said CDA official Bill Gregory.

Stallone jumped to prominence with the 1976 release of Rocky, a movie about a troubled boxer who gets a shot at the championship title. The film went on to conquer the box office and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards. It won three Oscars and led to the Rocky franchise which produced five other films.

Up next was creation of another indelible character in Rambo, which led to a second film franchise. Stallone has also starred in films such as F.I.S.T., Cliffhanger, Tango and Cash, Demolition Man, Cop Land, The Expendables and Driven (filmed at the Molson Indy in Toronto in 2001).

In the past starring with such actors as Robert De Niro, Stallone turned down a handful of potential career-changing roles such as "American Gigolo," "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Coming Home," which eventually starred Jon Voight, Jane Fonda and Bruce Dern. Sly divulged that he did not set out to become an action star and was in fact the 11th actor offered the role of Rambo in First Blood.

Among the items up for auction throughout the night was Las Vegas artist Bill Patterson's recreation of a movie poster from Rocky IV. Patterson completed the poster by the evening's end and it was auctioned off with Stallone's signature.

Also put on the auction block were plenty of Stallone memorabilia, including everything from a Stallone litho - he is a painter - to signed movie posters and boxing gloves. The Styres family contributed a wide-assortment of speedway apparel along with some special digitally-prepared DVDs of personal friend and reigning NASCAR Cup points king Tony Stewart.

For more information or to make a donation to the Canadian Diabetes Association, please log into http://www.diabetes.ca and help the fight against diabetes and the discovery of a cure.

News and notes can always be found during the race season at www.OhswekenSpeedway.com as well as the latest updates on the success of the #0 Knighthawks/Arrow Express. Be in the know online and through text messages by registering with www.twitter.com/OhswekenSpdway and check out www.facebook.com/OhswekenSpeedway for more interaction. E-mail is also received at glenn.styres@sympatico.ca .

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