FAN’S FANTASY : There’s a Place in Arizona That Has Everything a Good Sport Could Want

In this blue collar Phoenix suburb is an incredible mecca for sports fans called Max’s.

Seven satellite dishes sweep the sky and corral the major baseball, basketball, football and hockey games, the golf and tennis matches and show them live on Max’s 23 television sets, five boasting 8-foot screens.

On any given day during the major league baseball season it’s possible to see at least eight different games at Max’s.

Saturday during college football it’s possible to see as many as 39 different games, from the East Coast in the morning, the Midwest in the early afternoon, the West Coast in late afternoon and at night.

Max’s is many things. It’s a sports museum. It’s a restaurant that features prime rib dinners. It’s a huge saloon with bleacher and box seats facing seven large TV screens and each often showing a different live sporting event.

Lining the walls of five large dining rooms--capable of seeing a total of 700 at any given time--are 855 authentic college and pro football helmets from every state in the nation displayed in lighted glass showcases.

In addition to the largest collection of football helmets in existence this sports emporium is full of boxing gloves from major fights, uniforms that belonged to some of the top baseball, basketball and football players, trophies, fragments of goal posts from famous football games.

“Look, I’m a life long sports nut. I wanted to create a place where sports fans like myself can go bananas. Ten years ago I opened Max’s,” explains 5-11, 290-pound “Big Max” Beyer, 56, proprietor, curator, collector, walking sports encyclopedia, chief cook and bottle washer.

Beyer, was born and grew up on a farm in Chester, S.D., population 170. There were 18 students in his high school graduating class. He picked up a degree in education at the University of South Dakota where he was a linebacker on the football team.

Before moving to Glendale 10 years ago, he was a beer and liquor distributor in Omaha and Lincoln, Neb. Beyer has been married 35 years, has three children and two grandchildren. His wife, Peggy, is head of administration at Max’s, his son, Randy, is manager. Max’s has 50 employees.

“Big Max” has been collecting football helmets and sporting artifacts since his college days. “I talked coaches, athletic directors, college presidents and equipment managers out of the helmets. I tell them if they ever get down this way to stop by dinner and drinks are on me,” Beyer said. “And they all come.”

Football helmets average about $120. His collection is valued at more than $100,000.

“I have more college football helmets from California (62) than from any other state. I have a want list. I am missing more helmets from California (34) than from any other state,” he laughs.

Helmets he has on display from California range from American River Community College to Yosemite Community College. He has all of the major schools--UCLA, USC, Cal, Stanford.

Max has helmets from the leading college football schools across the nation--Iowa, Grambling, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Notre Dame, Harvard, Yale, Texas, Ohio State and Kutztown, Muhlenberg, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, Hofstra, Otterbein, St. Olaf and Gallaudet University.

Helmets representing all the pro football teams are here including the new Arena indoor football league helmets from the Bruisers, Drive, Cobras, Steamrollers, Knights and Gladiators. Helmets, too, from short-lived teams such as the Phoenix Blazers, who lasted two games in 1972 before going broke.

On one wall is an Army Signal Corp helmet worn by “Big Max’s” father in World War I and Max’s helmet from his air force days in the 1950s when he was a radar observer.

“Our largest draw of the year is the Lakers. Don’t ask me why. I guess it’s because they win. When the Lakers play the Celtics or the Suns we fill the place.”

His rooms boast sporting names such as North End Zone, South End Zone, Back Court, Pennant Room. Max’s also has a 142-seat dinner theater.

Quiet times are no problem. Max claims he has the largest sports video tape library in the West, more than 600 hours worth. When there are no baseball, basketball, football, tennis matches, golf or hockey games scheduled, Max plays tapes.

Twice during the year he features 14 hours of continuous boxing, highlights of all the famous boxing matches going back to the days of John L. Sullivan up to present time.

Max’s jumps seven days a week. It’s always full of roaring crowds, a sports fan’s dream.