Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 18, 1994 TAG: 9407180022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack BogaczyK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's a where's where to consider training for the 1996 Summer Games, compiled by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. It lists 103 locations in 12 states, naming communities, organizations and facilities available for use by visiting nations or the U.S. National Governing Bodies.
So, when a Roanoke reporter and photographer visiting the ACOG offices in downtown Atlanta last week asked about their hometown's hopes to become a summer stop for the Surinam swimmers or the Finnish fencers, an ACOG executive went by the book.
"The Roanoke Valley is in here, listed under Virginia Amateur Sports. I guess that means there's a chance," said the ACOG man.
Maybe. He handed over the binder. It was bigger than a briefcase. It was 642 pages. Turn . . . turn . . . turn . . . The only person who goes this deep in Atlanta is Fred McGriff.
Finally, there it was, Roanoke's bid to grab an Olympic ring - on the last eight pages in the binder. The Roanoke Valley is one of three potential training sites in Virginia. Richmond is first. The Roanoke Valley is behind Sweet Briar College.
That's because the book is compiled alphabetically. Virginia is the last state in the book. "R" comes before "S," but Roanoke's bid is through Virginia Amateur Sports - not a bad idea, because VAS is finishing its fifth Commonwealth Games of Virginia and has a sanction from the National Congress of State Games, which is linked to the USOC.
Roanoke's bid by VAS was an impressive package. Primarily based at Hollins College, the door is open for archery, badminton, equestrian, fencing, football (soccer), judo, modern pentathlon, natation (swimming), softball, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and weightlifting. Notable for its absence is kayaking. A call Friday to the USOC about whether any team might consider training here brought a question:
"Isn't Roanoke the place that told the U.S. kayak team it couldn't use a lake?"
Yes, Roanoke wants Bulgarian weightlifter's muscles at Hollins, but not zebra mussels on Carvins Cove. So, is our bid sunk with the Atlanta Games opening two years from Tuesday?
No, but if Virginia Amateur Sports doesn't hear from someone soon, perhaps it would be a good time to make some phone calls. Then, VAS might not have the time or money for that. VAS is far too understaffed and underfunded.
It needs more than three full-time employees not only to pull off an Olympic connection, but to sanction more events than the summer weekend Commonwealth Games, which still is plagued by uneven competition and uncertain schedules across its sports roster, some glaring absentee events and another State Games on the other side of the commonwealth.
If VAS is to survive and prosper, it needs more help and it needs to generate more work for itself.
Some cities already have been locked in as Olympic training sites. Ten teams have signed with sites, and 33 others are in contract negotiations with locales in the Southeast. The British are coming to Tallahassee, Fla. Richmond will welcome Tunisian athletes as early as this week. The Ukraine is sending some teams to Auburn, Ala. The Australians are headed for Athens, Ga.
Roanoke - known in explorer days as Big Lick or Virginia Disney South - is 425 miles from Atlanta by interstate, but that would be tough to tell from the ACOG's "highway map of the Southeastern U.S." It includes Ohio and Texas, but not Virginia. The blue dots on this map signify pre-Olympic training sites - all but the three in Virginia.
Will any foreigners find Roanoke to come to practice before the fourth Summer Games staged in the United States in an Olympic century?
Perhaps if we sold ourselves as the Magic Kingdom, would that attract any attention? Jiminy cricket, when you wish upon a star - and we have one on a mountain - makes no difference who you are, right?
Just remember, wise men once said Explore would be a Mickey Mouse idea, too.
\ Write to Jack Bogaczyk at the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, 24010.
by CNB