Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994 TAG: 9406150002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke was rebuffed in his attempts to build a new stadium in Northern Virginia, but residents of the commonwealth will get most of the new seats in the proposed 78,600-seat stadium in Laurel, Md.
At RFK Stadium, 51.7 percent of the 55,000 seats are held by Maryland residents via season tickets, leaving 35.6 percent in the hands of Virginians and only 12.7 percent for District of Columbia residents. About 2,000 seats belong to residents of other states, some of those members of Congress.
With the new, $160-million stadium, the first 10,000 names on an incredible waiting list of 48,600 applicants for season tickets will get two seats each. Virginians will get 45.6 percent of those seats, with Maryland residents getting 40.9 percent and D.C. residents 13.5 percent.
And 38,600 names will remain on the Redskins' tickets-wanted list even when the proposed stadium opens in 1996.
THE CITY: Salem Buccaneers owner Kelvin Bowles told a Roanoke Valley Sports Club audience two weeks ago that he'd been contacted by one city - which he wouldn't identify - about relocating his baseball franchise. Bowles told that city Salem has a July 19 referendum on construction of a new ballpark and he wouldn't talk until after that vote.
The city is . . . no, not Roanoke. It's Hampton, which lost the Peninsula club to Wilmington, Del., two years ago.
CANDIDATES: If they decide they want the headaches, two men with area college ties deserve NBA head coaching jobs in the near future - Bill Blair and Rick Carlisle.
Blair, the former VMI head coach, has been very visible in the NBA playoffs on Larry Brown's Indiana bench. The Pacers are Blair's fourth NBA team and he just finished his 13th year as an assistant coach in the league, where he's known for his defensive teachings.
Carlisle, 34, just finished his fifth season on the New Jersey Nets' staff, but will the former Virginia guard be headed elsewhere with the retirement of his boss, Chuck Daly?
Nets general manager Willis Reed is considering assistants Brendan Suhr and Paul Silas for the vacancy but says, "I think Rick Carlisle will be a head coach in this league some day, but right now I don't think he's ready."
CALCIUM: Baltimore shortstop Cal Ripken passed 1,955 consecutive games last weekend in his bid for Lou Gehrig's ironman record of 2,130. He hasn't missed a game since May 30, 1982. More than 3,100 major leaguers have gone on the disabled list since then and the other 27 clubs have used a combined total of 415 starting shortstops.
Should he reach Gehrig's mark, which he could about a year from now, he still would have to play another 86 games to break baseball's world record for consecutive games. Third baseman Sachio Kinugasa played 2,215 consecutive games for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan's Central League from 1970-87.
COLOR-CODED: In the merchandising-crazed sports world, the NBA is following the lead of baseball, in which many clubs are wearing more than one cap or uniform jersey in order to enhance sales.
NBA clubs are being urged to introduce a third uniform to their usual home-road pair. So, the Charlotte Hornets will add to their white and teal, Alexander Julian-designed garb with a purple uniform they will wear in at least 12 road games next season.
SERMONETTE: As the NBA Finals continue, ponder the quote of the season, uttered among the trash talk: "Basketball is like church," said Orlando Magic guard Scott Skiles. "Many attend, but few understand."
Write to Jack Bogaczyk at the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, 24010.
by CNB