THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290227
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
They leaped into our laps and begged us to love them. These men and their little dogeared football team that needs a warm home, a good meal and, in the worst way, a clean slate.
They bolted out of Shreveport, a dingy Louisiana town where they shouldn't have been in the first place, and left a trail of broken hearts, bungled moves and unpaid bills. And among all the burgs on this wide, wonderful continent, they picked ours as their salvation.
For this we should be happy? Suspicious? Perplexed? Beyond that, what do we do with them now? Feed 'em? Avoid eye contact? Call the authorities?
These questions and others have had Hampton Roads buzzing for the last two months. Since the day Michigan construction boss Bernie Glieberman sent his son Lonie to Norfolk to stick a flag in the dirt. One with Canada's maple leaf on it.
Out of nowhere, a gasping Canadian Football League outfit called the Pirates swears it wants to adopt us, and all sorts of conversation begins as to what it would mean, where they would play, which city would pay how much and where it all could lead.
Quickly thereafter and just as suddenly, two other CFL parties, a local group vying for an expansion franchise and eventual champion Baltimore, try to muscle the Pirates out of this heretofore anonymous but now ``sleeping giant'' market. (If we never hear that patronizing phrase again, it'll be too soon.)
Wow. It's easy to see why The Virginian-Pilot sports staff considers the Pirates, baggage and all, the biggest sports story in Hampton Roads in 1995. They have yet to play a game, but more than any other bit of news, the Pirates got people thinking. And acting. And talking.
The discourse has been good and needed. Also timely, as a new century approaches and the push for regional cooperation growsstronger than ever.
We're told that something, someday, is going to unify these cities in spirit and economic effort. Sports, a universal topic, has as good a shot to do that as anything.
The Pirates, assuming they actually get a lease and play here, won't do it alone. But they could be a baby step in that process, more than the other minor league teams - the Tides, Admirals and Mariners - because of their timing and specific need.
If they thrive at Foreman Field, they'll require a better place to play. What then? Join up to build a minor league facility, satisfied with that level, or go in for a NFL-caliber stadium and enter the fray to lure away the Bengals or somebody?
Or let the Pirates go to other pastures for a better stadium, at a hurtful public relations risk to those who want to see major league sports in Hampton Roads?
The Gliebermans surely had no idea of the furor they would create when they chose to cast their lot in Hampton Roads. Interestingly, they arrive on the rebound, just two years after they dismissed this area as too small because their market research looked only at Norfolk's demographics.
You have to wonder about an operation that lets something like that happen. In 1995, you couldn't help but talk about it, too.
At times, Hampton Roads also talked at length about these stories:
The ascension: Running back Mike Majette of Princess Anne finished his career with 4,500 yards to become South Hampton Roads' all-time leading rusher. It was the third time in five years that the record was broken.
The connection: The All-American duo of quarterback Aaron Sparrow and receiver James Roe finished their careers at Norfolk State in record-setting fashion. Roe, a first-team All-American, set career Division II records with 4,468 receiving yards, one touchdown pass in 15 consecutive games and 27 career games with a touchdown pass. Sparrow, a third-team All-American, tied a school record with 57 pass attempts in his final game. He led Division II with an average of 330 yards total offense per game.
The coronation: Led by Kim Miller's run at national goal-scoring records, Cox won its seventh consecutive state field hockey championship. Great Bridge wrestling, Green Run baseball and Indian River football also were the state's finest in '95, though Indian River was third-best just in Chesapeake. The regular season didn't matter to Cox golfer Troy Cummings, either. He won only one match all season. The state final.
The elation: Old Dominion, the Colonial Athletic Association champion, shocked Big East champ Villanova in a triple-overtime, 89-81 thriller in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
The fruition: Norfolk State's men reached the Division II basketball Final Four for the first time in their last year of eligibility. The school's subsequent application for Division I status beginning in 1997 bars the Spartans from any more Division II playoffs. They fell to eventual national champion Southern Indiana.
The resolution: Showing admirable resolve despite the absence of its best hitter and pitcher and a fifth-place conference finish, Old Dominion's baseball team stormed to the CAA tournament title to reach the NCAA tournament. There, the Monarchs beat second-seeded Mississippi and third-seeded Central Florida before losing to No. 1 Florida State. It was ODU's finest showing ever in the NCAA playoffs.
The sensation: The Norfolk Tides, in tying their all-time record for victories in a season with 86, sent more than a dozen players to the New York Mets, including Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher, swept the International League's postseason individual awards and registered a club-record paid attendance of 560,211.
The suspension: Linebacker Tony Morrison, formerly of Indian River, was suspended twice at Virginia Tech, where his future is in jeopardy.
The violation: Longtime Wilson High track coach John Crute was arrested and charged with secretly videotaping girls showering and dressing in their locker room. ILLUSTRATION: Color Staff illustration by John Corbitt\The Virginian-Pilot
by CNB