Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 29, 1994 TAG: 9412290102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK AND RANDY KING STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FLA. LENGTH: Long
According to preliminary estimates provided by Dave Braine, Tech's athletic director, the Hokies expect to net more than $837,000 from the Gator, which pays $1.5 million to each of its teams.
``Bottom line, we should finish with at least that much, probably more,'' Braine said.
Tech is fortunate to be playing in the Gator the year before the Big East Football Conference begins revenue sharing. The Hokies' only financial commitment to the league from its bowl check is a $33,000 fee each Big East bowl club pays for conference office operations.
Tech's projected bowl budget includes $662,995 in expenses, the largest being $137,000 for the travel and lodging of The Marching Virginians, Tech's band.
Team and administration lodging for six days in Jacksonville and Gainesville (on game day) is $100,000. The expenses also include $62,000 for coaches' bonuses, likely a month's pay for Frank Beamer and his assistants.
If Tech's net meets projections, it will be the second-largest football payday in school history. The largest came during the 1991 season, also in the Sunshine State, when the Hokies moved a home date with Florida State to Orlando's Citrus Bowl for a $1 million guarantee.
THE SPLIT: The four Big East bowl teams - Miami, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Boston College - will combine for $7.45 million in postseason revenue.
Next year, the league will realize more than that from one game in the new bowl alliance. The Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls will pay $8 million per team, and the Big East owns one of those six team slots.
The Gator, which will get the second Big East team, will continue to pay $1.5 million. The league also expects to have deals with the Carquest and Aloha bowls. How that money will be divided among the membership is to be decided.
Braine said the decision on football revenue sharing will be made at the Big East's spring meetings. The Tech athletic director, Miami athletic director Paul Dee and BC athletic director Chet Gladchuk form the committee that will file a report on revenue-sharing proposals.
WHO'S BEST: Tech and Tennessee will play the Gator Bowl on the University of Florida campus, the home of the Southeastern Conference champion, and Beamer isn't expecting much support from the Gators' faithful.
``People down here and around Gainesville don't like to hear this, but I think Tennessee is as good as anyone in the SEC right now,'' Beamer said. ``They've lost four games, but they've only lost one of the past seven. ... Their four losses are very misleading as to where they are right now.''
ORANGE OUT: After wearing all-orange uniforms in a home loss to Virginia to end the regular season, the Hokies won't don that color in the Gator Bowl.
Tennessee is the designated home team as the SEC host, and will wear orange jerseys and white pants. Tech will wear white jerseys with maroon numbers and orange trim, and white pants.
NO SWEAT: Former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning arrived in town Wednesday to watch his son Peyton, Tennessee's quarterback, prepare to lead the Vols in his first bowl game.
Much has been said and written about the elder Manning also playing his first bowl against the Hokies, in the 1968 Liberty, which was the last game in the Tech secondary for Beamer.
What does Manning, then a sophomore for the Rebels, remember most about that mid-December game in Memphis, Tenn. - other than Ole Miss rallying from a 17-point deficit to a 34-17 victory?
``It was the coldest game I ever played in in my life,'' he said. ``It was windy and cold, and I learned something that day that helped me.
``I wore a sweat shirt under my jersey. It's the first time I'd done that, and it was the last. I couldn't get my arm up and extended to throw. It really bothered me.
``After that day, even with the Saints when he played in places like Green Bay and Buffalo, I never wore a heavy shirt under my jersey.''
A CROWD: With the two teams combining for about 33,000 tickets sold, the Gator Bowl has had 38,500 ticket renewals from locals. However, with the game being played 63 miles from Jacksonville, there is some question about how many fans will make the trip.
The Gator has attracted crowds in excess of 70,000 in 14 of the past 17 years. The record of 82,911 was for Clemson-West Virginia in 1989. The 62,003 for Oklahoma's rout of Virginia in 1991 is the smallest Gator attendance since 1966.
GATOR BITES: The Hokies enter the game ranked No.17 in the Associated Press media poll. Tech's best AP ranking in a final regular-season poll was No.16 in 1954. ... Only five bowls - Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton and Sun - are older than the Gator, which is playing its 50th game. Two Virginia schools have appeared previously: UVa lost to Oklahoma 48-14 three years ago; and Washington and Lee fell to Wyoming 20-7 at the end of the 1950 season. ... Tennessee's 643 victories rank ninth all-time in major-college football. Michigan is first with 746, followed by Notre Dame, Alabama, Texas, Penn State, Nebraska, Ohio State and Oklahoma. Virginia Tech has 522 victories. ... The Gator Bowl will be Tech's 10th TV appearance in 16 games.
by CNB