FINAL MONTH LEAVES RAMPAGE PLAYERS WITH STORIES TO TELL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993                   TAG: 9303180241
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
FINAL MONTH LEAVES RAMPAGE PLAYERS WITH STORIES TO TELL
Their season of infamy at last complete, many of the Roanoke Valley Rampage players took one, final, disbelieving look at the mangled Vinton LancerLot on Wednesday, then put Vinton in their rear-view mirrors forever.
"I'm sure going to have plenty of stories about this place for my grandkids one day," forward Joe Dragon said before hopping into his Chevrolet pickup for the long drive home to his native New England.
"To say the least, it was quite an experience," he said. "It was unreal, really."
It sure was.
The team won 14 of 64 games. The roof caved in on its arena after the final home game last Saturday. In its regular-season finale at Norfolk's Scope, the Rampage lost 9-4 to the Hampton Roads Admirals with a lineup that included a worker from a Tidewater car dealership. Then the team got a standing ovation - on the road - from 8,297 fans.
"That was a classy move by the Hampton fans," Rampage owner Larry Revo said. "I'm sure the guys appreciated that. Boy, have they been through a lot this season."
Forward Roger Larche, one of 56 players to wear a Rampage uniform in 1993-94, said he never will forget his monthlong stay in the Roanoke Valley.
"I'm going to get my skates bronzed," said Larche, who rescued his favorite blades from the LancerLot rubbish before the club went to Norfolk on Tuesday.
"These skates have been through a lot," he said. "Two years ago, they went though a fire. Now, they've survived a roof collapse."
\ REVO RIPS CULLEN: While Revo was appreciative of the sendoff ovation the Admirals fans gave his club, he was not amused by earlier published comments made by Blake Cullen, the Hampton Roads owner.
Cullen, fearing the loss of a huge gate, was upset that the Rampage didn't make it to Norfolk on Sunday, then went ballistic when the Roanoke Valley team failed to show on Monday, claiming "this is the worst thing I've ever gone through in this league."
On Wednesday, Revo said: "Those statements made by Blake Cullen were just out of pure greed. He had no comprehension of what had happened here. All he saw was his money."
\ RAMPAGE FUTURE UPDATE: The situation at the LancerLot - Revo and staff were ordered out of their west-end offices Wednesday by Roanoke County officials cials - has hampered Revo's negotiations concerning the club's move or sale.
"There's nothing really to report on that end," Revo said Wednesday. "I was hoping we could get back in our office today and return to some sense of normalcy here. I should have known better, I guess."
Revo's plans still depend on whether Knoxville owner John Staley completes a deal to move the Cherokees to Huntsville, Ala. If that deal is not consummated, Revo figures to be Huntsville-bound in a hurry.
Meanwhile, the Roanoke Civic Center Commission has withdrawn its offer to take the club in '93-94, spokesman Mark Collins said Wednesday. The commission had given Revo a Feb. 14 deadline to make a decision.
"Revo talked to Bob Chapman [civic center manager] last week," Collins said. "But [Revo] hasn't called us back since. So the civic center's offer has been officially retracted. Still, I'm sure if Larry Revo approached us tomorrow that we'd still honor the contract."
\ KELLY PLAYS DEFENSE: ECHL Commissioner Pat Kelly was adamant about playing last Saturday's ill-fated game at the LancerLot between Richmond and Roanoke Valley.
"It's standard procedure in the league to play a game when the visiting team is able to get to the home team's building," said Kelly, defending his decision. "Richmond made it to Vinton, so we played. It's that simple."
Revo contended he would have preferred to postpone the game, which was played in front of 63 fans who braved the blizzard.
"There were three NHL games postponed that night," Revo said. "So why does the East Coast Hockey League try to play? Tell me."
\ ICE CHIPS: The ECHL and Richmond Renegades owner Allan Harvie Jr. apparently have decided to try and settle their differences out of court. Harvie filed a $1 million lawsuit against the league in February after his club was slapped with a $10,000 fine for breaking the ECHL's roster rules concerning "veteran" players. A league source said Harvie apparently has accepted the league's compromise to reduce the fine to $5,000 if he drops the lawsuit. . . . Add the Louisville IceHawks to the list of blizzard-stalled victims last weekend on I-77 in Bland County. The IceHawks were stranded for 36 hours - from 3 a.m. Saturday to 3 p.m. Monday - near Big Walker Mountain tunnel. Coach Warren Young and his players spent most of their time at an emergency Red Cross shelter. . . . Cam Colbourne's goal in last Saturday's ill-fated game against Richmond reserved him a space in Roanoke Valley and ECHL history. Colbourne, 39, one of three players Roanoke Valley picked up the final two weeks out of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Adult League, is the last player to score a goal in the LancerLot and the oldest player to score a goal in ECHL history.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB