Raiders spread holiday cheer to kids in hospital

Jan. 2, 2006

By: Marc Katz
Dayton Daily News

DAYTON- Wright State's men's basketball players were willing to play some games. They just weren't very good at any of them.

"Don't look at your cards; you're cheating," 13-year-old Javana Burns said in a chiding fashion as Reinaldo Smith glanced at his UNO cards. The rest of the team gathered around Burns' bed at Children's Medical Center had a good laugh at that.

Then William Graham entered the game and Burns was just as sharp with him.

"You're cheating, too," she said with a big smile.

It's tough to smile when you've just gone through an operation to correct a leaky stent. Her grandmother, who was nearby, said the past week has been tough, but Javana has pulled through.

"It was lots of fun," said Smith, who didn't win his game. "She had so much energy. She made us competitive, not to mention she was funny, too."

Wednesday morning, for nearly an hour and a half, the WSU team visited CMC, trooping into rooms to visit kids with respiratory problems, pneumonia, broken arms and legs. They dropped off ballcaps and posters and media guides about the team.

Only this wasn't about Wright State basketball.

"Everything isn't basketball at the end of the day," junior guard DaShaun Wood said. "Any one of us can be in this situation.

"It makes you realize how fortunate you are," freshman Robert Eldridge said. "I really didn't know what to expect. It makes you feel good you're doing something for someone else and not thinking of yourself all the time."

In another room, sophomore forward Jordan Pleiman also tried his luck at a game, playing Candyland with Cody Brenner, recovering from pneumonia.

Brenner was too good for him.

"He was making moves I've never seen," Pleiman said.

"You were cheating, too, and you still lost," junior teammate Drew Burleson said.

It was the second straight year the Raiders have visited CMC.

"We try to have groups come and visit; it breaks up the day," said Karen Muller, manager of the Child Life department. "We've had some UD players come, and high school teams and last week the Miamisburg cheerleaders.

"During the summer, the (baseball) Dragons come by, usually 2-3 at a time."

WSU coach Paul Biancardi said the visits mean a lot to the players as well. "They get to see these kids and interact with people who aren't players and coaches and media," Biancardi said. "You come here to lift their spirits. When we leave, our spirits are lifted."