Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 1, 1992 TAG: 9201010082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
IT WAS A MEMORABLE YEAR FOR SPORTS NEWS IN VIRGINIA
Are you ready for some football? Eight bowl games will be televised today,
a sobering thought for even the toughest of you all-armchair leanbackers.
So, while you celebrate the new year with a bowlful of bleary-eyedness,
let's recall some of the region's top stories of 1991:
\
Virginia Tech goes Big East - After almost three decades as a football
independent, Tech gets its conference bid to more glamour and needed dollars.
This wasn't only the biggest story of the year, it was also the most crucial
event in Tech sports history. When the Big East gets its bowl and TV
revenue-sharing in place, the Hokies should earn at least $2 million
annually.
\
The ball bounces funny - A young Virginia football team stunningly went 7-0-1
in its last eight games, then just as shockingly stunk up the Gator Bowl.
Virginia Tech's most talented football team in history and the one with the
toughest schedule crashed to a 5-6 season, finishing with a 38-0 embarrassment
at UVa.
\
Dial 1-800-Crank It - NASCAR's newest team owner, Joe Gibbs, coached his other
team, the Washington Redskins to an 11-0 start and the NFC East title. While
Virginia's NFL team - it practices in Chantilly - was poised for a Super Bowl
run, Gibbs' racing team was preparing for its first Daytona 500 try.
\
Salem High on football - The Spartans missed in their bid for a Group AA state
championship, losing the title game to Spotsylvania. A 13-1 season ended with
four playoff games at Salem Stadium that attracted a total of 21,380
spectators.
\
Banking at zero degrees - After several years of trying, Whitey Taylor finally
brought auto racing to Roanoke's Victory Stadium with three holiday events
that drew so-so crowds. The promoter - or pro-motor? - did what he could with
a track that isn't banked and is wide enough for bicycle passing.
\
Hoop-la in Roanoke - The Star City shined in March when it played host to the
Metro Conference basketball tournament at the Roanoke Civic Center. Tech and
the city turned a Metro fraught with lame-duck schools into a good show, even
if the fans were a no-show. It was the worst attendance at a Metro tournament
in a decade. Two months later, Salem Municipal Field was the host of the Metro
baseball tournament.
\
Put up your Dukes - Football fever in Salem didn't diminish the notion that
the city may have been Virginia's boxing capital in '91. Bert Cooper, a new
Salem resident, was stopped in his bid for the heavyweight championship by
Evander Holyfield in November. And who can forget the Salem Civic Center sham
that started Mark Gastineau's boxing career, a fight against Derrick Dukes
that finished in less time than it takes to say the name of civic center
manager Carey Harveycutter.
\
Gone, but not forgotten - Bill Brill, the Roanoke Valley's most prominent and
controversial sports voice, retired as this newspaper's executive sports
editor in June. Brill still writes a weekly column after spending more than
three decades at this paper. He was sometimes right, but never in doubt. What
can you say about a guy who gives up smoking cigars before he moves to Tobacco
Road?
\
That was no lady; that was my coach! - Radford High named a woman to coach its
boys' varsity basketball team. Brenda King, who has guided the Radford girls
to two state titles, is the first female to coach boys' basketball in the
state since World War II. If early games are any indication, she faces a
King-sized job. She still coaches the girls' team, too.
\
An Allen wrench - Long-time area basketball player and coach Frankie Allen was
fired as Virginia Tech's basketball coach and replaced by Bill Foster, the
former UNC Charlotte, Clemson and Miami (Fla.) coach who became intrigued by
the job while he was working Metro telecasts for Raycom.
\
VMI losses mount - VMI won the first court battle over its all-male admissions
policy, but in sports, the story was the loss of 11 football players to
academics just before a 4-7 season. Continuing a perennial trend, VMI lost
basketball personnel, too.
\
March madness - In women's basketball, Virginia got to the NCAA tournament
championship game before losing in overtime to Tennessee, while the Roanoke
College women reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III tourney.
\
Radford revival - The Radford men's team posted the best turnaround in
Division I basketball, from 7-22 to 22-7. Then coach Oliver Purnell left for
Old Dominion, to be replaced by aide Ron Bradley.
There's much more, but I'm saving some words for '92.
Keywords:
YEAR 1991