Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 25, 1992 TAG: 9201250129
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
STATE GAMES OBJECT OF BIDDING CONFLICT
ROANOKE COULD END UP with the Commonwealth Games of Virginia for three more years by default if expected bids by Richmond and Tidewater are not submitted. The source of contention for both localities is the Roanoke-based Virginia Amateur Sports, which has run the Games since 1990.\ One of the two localities expected to bid against Roanoke for the Commonwealth Games of Virginia may not pursue the event if the state approves a recommendation allowing the Roanoke-based Virginia Amateur Sports to continue to operate the Games, regardless of site.
Amateur sports organizations in Richmond and the Tidewater area are preparing bids for the Games from 1993-96. Richmond wants no part of VAS - which has run Virginia's state- and national-sanctioned games in Roanoke since 1990 - if the state capital is awarded the event. The Tidewater group says it has questions about VAS' potential role, and the answers it gets will determine whether it submits a bid.
The two groups' decisions could influence whether the Games return to Roanoke for another three years. The Roanoke games have been a financial bonanza - VAS executive director Doug Fonder said the 1991 edition brought in $4.5 million to the Roanoke Valley.
Bids are due to the Governor's Commission on Physical Fitness and Sports on Feb. 1.
Sports Virginia of Richmond is lobbying Gov. Douglas Wilder to reject a vote by the Governor's Commission to have VAS run the Games, no matter where they're held. Sports Virginia marketing director Frank Maloney said Wilder's decision will affect whether the Richmond group submits a bid and/or whether it would accept the event if chosen as the site.
Sports Virginia has run its own state games since 1989, even though the Roanoke event was sanctioned in 1990 by the governor's office and the National Congress of State Games, Inc., which approves only one organization per state.
"We certainly would not allow VAS and their people to come into our community and tell us how to run the Games," Maloney said, drawing a parallel to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. "Atlanta runs the games, not somebody from Istanbul."
Tom Osborne, president of the National Congress, said 44 states are expected to hold games this summer. Of those, he said, about half rotate sites - and almost all have one group that runs the games no matter where they're held. Osborne said he has found few problems with that setup.
The Colorado games are run by the Colorado Amateur Sports Corporation, which creates its own local organizing committee on site.
"That's how it can work," Osborne said. "If you have a new group each year, it's almost impossible to run a quality state games."
The Hampton Roads Sports Promotion Task Force is the Tidewater group and is chaired by Cox Cable executive Frank Bowers. Bowers said his group is worried about how much it would have to pay VAS to administer the event, and unsure how much input it would have in running the event.
The Governor's Commission is expected to address Hampton Roads' questions soon. Bowers was asked under what conditions his group would not bid on the Games.
"If it came back that the cost of doing it would be prohibitive, that would be the key factor," he said.
Maloney said he expects Wilder's office to reject the commission's advice and award operation of the Games to the host site's organizing committee. Fonder and Governor's Commission vice-chairman Millie West disagree with Maloney's assessment, although Fonder said he would not contact Wilder's office to argue his case.
"As far as playing what you might call politics, I'm just not that kind of person," Fonder said. "I don't feel that's my position."
Governor's Commission members voted 8-2 last November to make VAS the operating body of the Games. Sports Virginia members Gloria Thompson and Ron Davis voted against VAS; Fonder voted for his group.
"That is the route we have chosen because we think it would give the most continuity and ensure quality at this point," West said. "We've seen both groups work."
Members of the Governor's Commission scouted the 1990 Virginia CorEast State Games - put on by VAS in Roanoke - and that summer's Virginia State Games produced by Sports Virginia in Richmond. It then sanctioned the Roanoke event.
Maloney claims the vote to have VAS run the Games was unfair because commission members were not notified the vote was to take place. Eight of the commission's 18 members did not attend.
He said VAS would have a conflict of interest if it administered the Games in another community, stressing that VAS would "not have the same interest [in producing a quality event] that a local group would have."
Fonder disagrees.
"When VAS was formed, it was formed to be a statewide agency," Fonder said. "[To me], the quality of the event is primary; the location of the event is secondary."
West said the Governor's Commission feels it would be "ideal" for the Games to switch sites every three years and added it is important to have one organization running the show.
West said she does not think there is a conflict of interest in VAS running the games. Nobody working with any group bidding for the Games will be involved in deciding which location gets the Games.