Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 7, 1991 TAG: 9103080148
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Your average roundball rooter is usually content to watch a game from the sidelines, cheering on a bunch of strangers in shiny shorts and undershirts who do amazing things with basketballs and hoops and backboards.
Other fans, however, want a more up-close and personal view of the teams. And some get volunteered for it.
Thirteen Roanokers will play hosts to the eight teams competing in the 1991 Metro Conference Tournament this weekend.
Their job, said Jim Settles, one of three co-chairmen of the host committee, is to "be there for [the teams] if they need anything, and to be sure all their needs are met."
The hosts will greet the teams at the airport before they go to their hotels. If they need advice on where to eat or where to go for entertainment, they can contact their hosts.
Settles said he and the other committee members, Lu Merritt and Charlie Moir, recruited the hosts "by word of mouth."
At least four of the hosts work for Dillard Paper Co. of Salem.
"We're trying to really help out," said Dallas Peoples, a company vice president who will be a host for Louisville. "We're trying to be good corporate citizens."
Ellsworth Snyder, the owner of Snyder & Associates, an insurance agency, is co-hosting Tulane.
He already has met the team's coach and managers. "They're really nice people," he said.
Snyder said he hopes to see Tech's games, but otherwise, "I'll be at Tulane's disposal."
Dick Kepley, guidance coordinator at Patrick Henry High School, is a host for South Carolina. He has a personal connection with the team, he said. While he was at the University of North Carolina, he played for one of South Carolina's coaches.
"I think [hosting the tournament] is a good thing. I hope we can make their stay in Roanoke a little better."
Buddy Taylor, a district traffic engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, got involved through the Roanoke Valley Hokie Club.
"I've always been a Hokie fan," Taylor said.
Taylor has the easy job of hosting the Virginia Tech team. Many of the players and coaches are already familiar with the Roanoke area.
Taylor figures he can be useful anyway. If the team is running late, for instance, they can call him, and he will notify tournament officials.
Bob May said he was playing golf when tournament organizers "cornered me."
"I agreed, not knowing what it was about," he said. But he is glad to help Peoples host the Louisville team.
"I'll do anything for Tech," he said.
One of the reasons May thinks he was picked is because of his abilities as a fisherman. He owns a company that acts as a representative for sporting goods manufacturers. "My business is fishing."
May said he heard that Denny Crum, the coach for the Louisville team, also is a fisherman.
"His second love is basketball," May said. "His first love is fishing."
Crum has been invited to come early, May said, but "I don't see how a head coach can sneak away to go fishing right before a big tournament."
The team's free time "is so spoken for," May said, that he expects to help the team's staff members and their spouses.
May will go to all of the games, whether Tech plays or not. He also plans to root for his adopted team as well.
"Win or lose, as a host, I'll be there from start to finish."
Ticket sales have been slow, but tournament officials estimate that the event will bring $7.5 million to $8 million into Roanoke's economy.
The other team hosts are: Ed Cord, who is co-hosting the South Carolina team with Kepley; Ed Sieberking, who will help Peoples and May with the Louisville team; John Gilliam, who will work with Snyder for Tulane; Sam Irvin and Scott Allison, Cincinatti; Joe Stephenson and Chuck Kepley, Memphis State; Dick Oliver and Gene Carter, Southern Mississippi; and Bob Rotanz and Greg O'Brien, Florida State.
by CNB