Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407250030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Well, maybe the Salem Civic Center's manager ought to hold off on erecting it for a while, but Salem definitely is on the fast track with the NCAA folks in Overland Park, Kansas.
Harveycutter officially announced Wednesday that Salem will add the baseball World Series in 1995 and the men's basketball Final Four 1996 and 1997 to its Division III championships menu, pending approval by the NCAA Executive Council at its meeting Aug.8-9.
``We want to be the Division III capital, and the key to that is the ODAC [Old Dominion Athletic Conference]'' which is the NCAA-member co-sponsor for Salem, Harveycutter said. ``... Everyone I've talked to says there's never been one place that has hosted four championships, and one school would be overburdened with it. But when you've got a conference with 13 schools and all of their resources ...''
The ODAC also is the co-sponsor for the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl - the national championship of Division III football - for the next two years. Longwood will co-sponsor the Division II softball championships next year in Salem.
``This will definitely keep our plates full,'' Harveycutter said. ``We'll have a sport in the fall [football], one in the winter [basketball] and two in the spring [baseball and softball]. That's plenty right now for an area our size.''
Marie Tuite, assistant director of championships for the NCAA, said an initial concern of the basketball committee was that Salem was biting off more than it could chew.
``That's one reason why our bid is only two years with an option for a third,'' Tuite said. ``They're usually three years with a rollover, but the committee knew Salem was hosting a number of championships and was afraid there wouldn't be enough energy left.''
Tuite said the positives Salem exhibited in its formal presentation to the committee, however, greatly overshadowed that concern.
``First, [Salem] just came off very successful football and [Division III] softball championships, and by success, I mean both administratively and community support,'' Tuite said. ``Second, it appears that the good folks in Salem are prepared to publicize the event and attract the kind of crowd we like to have. And, third, they gave an excellent presentation.
``We got a clear sense that this [basketball] championship was important to them.''
Ditto the baseball committee.
``When people come in and roll out the red carpet and say, `We want your sport. Your sport is important to us,' it's exciting,'' said Jeffrey Albies, baseball coach at William Paterson College in Wayne, N.J., and chairman of the Division III baseball committee. ``They made us feel like we were important and that steered our committee in a positive way.''
Albies said the baseball committee also expressed concern Salem might be overburdened. However, Harveycutter assured him that wasn't so because, with the exception of Harveycutter and a few others, the staffs will be different for each of the championships.
by CNB