Other topics of discussion in this week’s HubCast include potential required neutral host for all of league play during the next pro league, grifball drama, game of the week and more.

Sidenote: Make sure you keep listening after everyone says goodbye.

How did you hear about the auction?
I first noticed it in the GrifballHub forum on Rooster Teeth, which then lead me to the Grifball Gives Back article on Grifballhub.com.

Did you think you’d win?
To be honest, at first I thought I would for sure win. Then the bids hit $100 so fast, I thought I wouldn’t even have a chance!

What was your max bid?
At first, I was moving my max bid up $50 at a time. But once it hit $200, I took a breather, then moved it up to $350!

What was the driving force behind bidding on the bomb?
A little bit of everything. I love the fact that it’s a donation, it’s one of a kind, it’s signed by so many and the story behind it.

Where are you going to put the bomb?
Probably put up a shelf above my LCD so I can see it while I play Grifball…lol. It’s a good spot, my son can’t get at it there. lol

Will you send in a picture of you and the bomb for the Hub?
Definitely. I’ll probably take a bunch of pics with it. I’ll be sure to post a bunch on my Rooster Teeth profile and send some into the Hub!

The bomb traveled to Seattle for PAX 2009 where it was signed by members of the Rooster Teeth, Bungie, and Grifball.com staff. It was put up for auction on ebay with the starting bid of $24; the same amount as the suggested individual donation for Sarcastic Gamer’s Extra Life charity gaming marathon. The final bid for the bomb was $290.

RedB3ard – “I was hoping for maybe $50, may $100, something like that. I never, never thought it would get to $290 like it is right now. It’s just crazy.”

This truly was a community effort and we are thankful for every repost, journal entry and bid that was made in promoting and supporting this event. Our sincerest gratitude to CaptainRedB3ard for creating and donating the bomb and to Mr Loots for placing the winning bid of $290, and special thanks to everyone who made this event possible:

It’s a Lemon PM
PP MooCow PP
RvB Leo
Griffon Ramsey
Burnie Burns
Puptastrophe
HighlndHellrazr
GreenTeamTex
Mikinater
Sarcastic Gamer
Bungie.net
Anubis
Dragon of Exile
Halo.Bungie.org
I CITI I
Sp0ny
armyman09
Seanzie253
Hawty McBloggy

If you contributed to the auction or will be participating in Extra Life and are not on this list, let us know and we’ll make sure that you are recognized.

The Extra Life 24-hour gaming marathon is this Saturday, starting at 8 a.m. in your local time zone. Remember that any kind of gaming works, from solitaire on your cell phone to Grifball. Donations will be accepted up until a week after the event, and can be made here.

In May of 2009, Grifball Gives Back was contacted by Grifball.com community member Bobby Birdseed about Extra Life, a charity event benefiting pediatric cancer research.

Grifball Gives Back began to work on raising awareness for this event, establishing a donation page and posting articles on the Hub.

Around the same time CaptainR3dbeard, another community member and GrifballHub editor, had the idea to create a replica of the assault bomb. He documented the creation process in his Rooster Teeth journal and after an overwhelming positive response from community, suggested that the Hub auction off the bomb and donate the proceeds to charity.

These two projects fused together in August, just in time for the Penny Arcade Expo. The bomb traveled to Seattle where it was signed by Rooster Teeth, Bungie, and Grifball.com staff members. For pictures of the bomb at PAX, click here.

The bomb went up for auction October 2, 2009 and will end Friday, October 12th at 9:42 p.m. EST and can be viewed here. All proceeds go directly to Extra Life and benefit the Texas Children’s Cancer Center at Texas Children’s Hospital. If you would like to make a donation to Extra Life, please visit our donation page or for more information, you can visit the Extra Life homepage and FAQ.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact Goose, Bobby or any member of the GrifballHub staff.

Thank you for your support!

First and foremost, the Extra Life charity gaming marathon hosted by Sarcastic Gamer and the Hub’s very own BobbyBirdseed, is now less than a month away.

The money raised from this event goes to aid the fight against pediatric cancer and directly benefits the Texas Children’s Hospital. For more information about Extra Life, you can check out the official website.

Players are encouraged to donate (or be sponsored for) $1 per hour of play and to get their friends and families involved. Donations can be submitted here. So get together with your buddies, stock up on the Mountain Dew and oatmeal creme pies and put your game face on. This is a great cause and an even greater opportunity to give back to the community doing something we all love.

The next event Grifball Gives Back is happy to announce is a concert to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network. HighlndHellrazr has been working to bring together local Baltimore bands to headline this event as well as assistance from local sponsors. Although many of the details remain tentative, the band Of Broken and Second Impulse are booked to play at The Quarter on Bourbon Street in Baltimore in November (tentative). Both bands have been featured in recent editions of Pup and Friends. Radio station 98 Rock has agreed to MC the event. Please show your support by attending the First Annual – GrifballHub – Rocking for Recovery Tour and help the children at Johns Hopkins get the specialized medical care they need.

This month, Grifball Gives Back is highlighting two fantastic community service events in the gaming community. First up is GrifballHub’s very own BobbyBirdseed and his charity, Extra Life.

“Hello there fellow Grifball community members.

I am writing this article on behalf of an event I plan on participating in, and I hope as many of us as possible will do so as well. This event is called Extra Life. Extra Life is a SarcasticGamer.com community event that takes place in the form of a 24 hour gaming marathon. It’s sole purpose is to raise money that is donated directly to the Texas Children’s Hospital to help fight pediatric cancer. It takes place on one day, October 17th (with a make-up day the following Saturday), starting at 8:00 am in whatever time zone you happen to be in. Last year, it’s very first year, was a great success, as it raised over $120,000! This year, they’re trying to make it even bigger, which is why I’m coming to you guys.

Participation: To participate in Extra Life, all you need to do is seek out donations, donate yourself, or even just play in this event. What they are asking each gamer to find, is at least 4 people in their lives to sponsor them at 1 dollar per hour, to raise a minimum of 96 dollars. (So 1 sponsor at 4 dollars per hour works too!) But the more the merrier!

Committment Issues?: The idea and spirit of this is that everyone pulls together at the same time, but we know that’s not going to be possible. Don’t let a commitment on the 18th stop you from joining Extra Life. Just do what you can and make up the game time later on or in pieces. What matters most is the time you put in BEFORE the event to raise money for these kids. If you won’t be able to finish the whole thing, you can make up the hours you are missing anytime afterward. It’s all on the honor system, and what really matters is that we’re all raising money for a great cause. Your sponsors should know that they are supporting the cause whether you crash on hour 18 or not. It’s for the kids.

Games that qualify to play: ANYTHING! Want to play Hexic on Xbox Arcade? Go for it! Want to play that free Blackjack demo on your cellphone over and over again? Go right ahead! All that they ask for is that you play games! (Perhaps we could run a whole day of Grifball matches as well? Wouldn’t it be sweet if Double XP happened on the same weekend?)

Miscellaneous Odds and Ends: Anyone from any part of the world is encouraged to take place in this event. Cancer effects everyone, so anyone can join in the cause. It is also tax deductible too. Texas Children’s is 503(c) so donations are tax deductible in the U.S. If you live outside of the U.S., send an email to giving@texaschildrens.org and they should be able to help you figure out if the donation is tax deductible in your country. I also plan on getting a couple of local organizations to help out as well, such as the North Star Roller Girls. If you can collaborate with other communities in your area, that would be encouraged as well!

So go out there, get people psyched up to donate and play, because we’re going to raise some money to help the kids and anyone ever effected by cancer. I know we have it in us. Let’s make it happen.

If you’d like to make a donation to the Texas Children’s Hospital supporting GrifballHub’s inolvement, you can do so here.

Please, spread the word with that site. AIM, Phone calls, E-Mails, Twitter, Facebook, everything. Get as many donations as you can. We can and will make a difference. Whether it be $5 or $5,000,000 donations, it does not matter. It all makes a difference.

Thank you,

Bob “BobbyBirdseed” Mattila

(NOTE: Questions and answers were variations of the FAQ located on the Extra Life website.)“

Our second featured Grifballer is Cyanlink and his work with Frag for the Cure. Cyanlink was kind enough to sit down with me and answer some questions about this charity event.

What is Frag for the Cure?

Frag for the Cure is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society that will focus it’s effort on raising money for children with cancer. It takes place in the video game Halo 3 and works very much like a walk-a-thon. Sponsors will put money towards a gamer and for every game won within the time limit, the sponsor gives the pledged amount. The project is brand new and is very narrow, with only 2 people working on it right now. However, I hope that in the future, the project will be able to expand.

How did you hear about it?

I made Frag for the Cure. I run it, it is my project.

Who/what does it benefit?

Frag for the Cure will benefit a place called Camp Sunshine. You can find the website for Camp Sunshine here. It is a camp designed to be a retreat for children with life threatening illnesses.

When is Frag for the Cure?

August 17th 2009, 7 – 9pm EST, 4 – 6pm PDT. I will base the games on what is said on Bungie.net game history, said site runs on PDT, so any game who’s time is between 4 – 6 on Bungie.net will be counted. Only games won will count, I’m looking for a 1st in the place marker, therefore I recommend against any Free-for-all game type unless you are very good at Halo 3.

Why did you get involved with FftC?

(I’ll answer this by saying why I started it.) I got the idea for Frag for the Cure as a way to allow the Halo Clan I’m a part of to have a way to really make a difference. I then quickly realized that I would be able to market this idea to the entire Halo Community.

Why should others get involved?

Frag for the Cure joins a plethora of similarly minded organizations that all work towards the same goal, raising money for Cancer Research. But Frag for the Cure, while not the first video game based fundraiser, is still in a medium that has not yet been recognized as a way to effectively set up fundraisers.

How can others get involved?

If they want to donate money, they can sign up to be a sponsor on our website. If they want to be one of the people to play games, they can sign up as a gamer on our website. However, for this year, there is a limit of 100 gamers, so sign up soon if you want to get involved.

Lastly, the website is not yet up, I know that the website’s URL will be fragforthecure.com, but for right now we are still looking for a web host. If you want to know the exact time the website goes up, when it does, I will post that information on both my Rooster Teeth homepage and my twitter account.

As always, Grifballers are encouraged to submit their community service experiences to and include pictures from the event and the name of the benefiting organization.

During the SL09 playoffs, Pro League admin Adam Pisani took a day off to walk in the Relay for Life, a 12 hour walk and all day event to raise money for cancer research. Adam, as we all have, has been affected by cancer. When he was 8 years old his best friend’s father died of brain cancer, two years ago one of his good friends died of a rare gene-linked cancer, and within the past year and a half no less than 3 of his family members have been diagnosed with cancer.

Adam walked in the Relay with two of those three. His uncle Kelly O’Neill and his daughter Meagan O’Neill were diagnosed with prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma respectively within 6 months of each other. Another of his uncles is currently being treated for an orbital cancer, residing immediately behind his right eye.

Last February Adam shaved his head to match Meagan’s chemo-therapy-induced hairless scalp in another event that raised money for cancer research, but missed the Relay that year. He attempted to make up for it this year by raising several hundred dollars pre-relay, and helping the team’s total (made up of family members) rise to several thousand dollars raised.

The 12 hour walk itself was plenty of fun, as whether or not you’re actually walking is fairly loosely enforced. Each team is meant to have at least one person on the track at all times, but with as many massages, live musical performances, movie screenings, and late lunches planned as there were, there were times that breaks were taken. The breaks, however, turned out to be some of the most inspiring sections of the relay, as it gave the walkers a chance to talk to the hundreds of survivors in attendance, including Meagan’s best “cancer friend,” a girl diagnosed with the same rare form of lymphoma within a week of her own diagnosis, and treated only a few rooms away.

She lost her leg and her hair during her long stay in the hospital, but last year was on the track with one leg, two crutches, and no hair keeping not only her own, but everyone else’s spirits high. She was back again this year, leading the opening ceremonial Survivor’s Lap with her new prosthetic leg and full head of hair.

The run itself lasted from 7 PM to 7 AM, and unsurprisingly Adam was among the few who never slept. Late night Grifball was all the training he needed for this Relay.

The Relay for Life is a continent-wide event, held all over Canada and the United States. Adam strongly encourages you to look into it and aid the effort to properly treat and potentially cure cancer.

Submissions will be written up on a monthly basis and posted on GrifballHub. This month’s article reflects on community service enacted during the month of May.

In addition to the Grifball Gives Back feature, there is a Grifball Gives Back event planned for this fall (possible dates include the last Saturday in September or the first Saturday in October). The goal of this event is to organize a day of community service where Grifball players across the U.S. and Canada go out and make a difference. The following Sunday, a celebratory bum rush tournament will be held to thank all the participants.

For the first edition of Grifball Gives Back, I am highlighting Grifball’s commissioner PP MooCow PP, Pro League Administrator LBCountry and the gentleman who initially inspired this project, Amateur League Administrator HighlndHellrazr.

PP MooCow PP participated in Beautiful Day, a community project coordinated by his church to revitalize and beautify a local elementary school. He spent his day hauling wheelbarrows full of dirt, unloading furniture and digging holes for new trees and flowers to be planted.

The day took a lot of energy and I have some massive blisters on my hands, but it was worth it. ~ Moocow

Pro League Administrator Adam Pisani participated in Relay for Life, a 12 hour walk and all day event to raise money for cancer research. The run itself lasted from 7 PM to 7 AM, and unsurprisingly Adam was among the few who never slept. Late night Grifball was all the training he needed for this Relay. One of the most rewarding experiences for Adam occurred during a break in the relay when walkers had the opportunity to meet and speak with the hundreds of cancer survivors present. One survivor had lost her leg and her hair during her treatment, but had returned to the Relay in 2008 on one leg, two crutches and was back again this year to lead the opening ceremonial Survivor’s Lap with her new prosthetic leg and full head of hair. Adam highly encourages participation in Relay for life and supporting other cancer research organizations so that inspiration stories such as this can continue to come true.

HighlndHellrazr and 15 of his coworkers volunteered for the Special Olympics in Washinton, DC. His time was dedicated to refereeing dozens of 5 vs 5 youth soccer games. Despite the overbearing heat and the painful sunburn he received, Highlnd had nothing but positive things to say about his experience.

This day turned out to be one of the most rewarding of my life! When people think of sports they think of competing, money, endorsements, etc. There isn’t a professional sport out there that seems to be for anything but the money. Boy, we couldn’t have been further from that yesterday! – HighlndHellrazr

As mentioned, Highlnd was the inspiration for Grifball Gives Back and I enthusiastically support his belief that, “If I can get even one person interested in volunteering for such an event I’ll have done myself proud!”

Volunteer information in your area can be found at:

• www.onebrick.org
• www.idealist.org
• www.volunteermatch.org

Be sure to check out your local newspaper, animal shelter and other non-profit organizations in your area for volunteer opportunities.