Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501260059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We are the Roanoke Valley. So says the 11th annual Roanoke Valley Poll, conducted last fall in Roanoke (city and county) and Salem by students for the Center for Community Research at Roanoke College and this newspaper.
Among the more than 100 questions asked of 400 Roanoke Valley residents, 17 questions involved sports. The sample has an error margin of plus or minus 5 percent. The sample was 60 percent female, 85 percent white, 23 percent college graduates and 48 percent from Roanoke City - or pretty much representative of the valley's demographics.
Here's what you said about sports:
When visitors arrive from out of town, 13 percent of us go to a Salem baseball game, but that's 1 percent fewer than go to Miniature Graceland. Franklin County Speedway gets 11 percent, while 8 percent took visitors to Roanoke Express games. The Blue Ridge Parkway is the leading destination, at 73 percent.
Although 87 percent of us have cable TV in the home, not many of us watch baseball. Only 31 percent of the respondents said they watch the national pastime ``often'' or ``very often,'' and 42 percent are in the ``not at all'' category. Of course, none of us have watched it since August, and because of that, fewer of us may watch it this season, if at all.
Only 28 percent watch NBA games often or very often, the same percentage as college hoops. There are 46 percent who don't watch the NBA, 52 percent who don't watch college games. The hockey strike probably didn't matter much to viewers, since 75 percent don't watch the NHL, and only 6 percent watch the sport often.
It's no surprise that the NFL is the Roanoke Valley's favorite TV sport. That's true nationally, too. Almost half, 48 percent, say they watch the NFL often or very often, and only 32 percent don't watch. As for college football, 46 percent say they don't watch games, 13 percent watch very often and about one-fourth (24 percent) watch often.
World Cup soccer last summer? The poll says 67 percent of us didn't watch it.
As for those who said they had favorite sports teams ...
The valley's college loyalties are split. The favorite football team is Virginia Tech (49 percent), but Virginia tops the Hokies as the basketball favorite (32 to 26 percent). UVa football gets 21 percent. That leaves 42 percent of you pulling for other basketball teams and 30 percent preferring other football teams.
In football, Notre Dame stands third behind the state's Division I-A programs with 6 percent. N.C. State, Florida, West Virginia, Miami and Penn State are the only other schools with at least 2 percent.
In basketball behind UVa and Tech, Duke had 11 percent, just ahead of North Carolina's 9 percent. Georgetown and N.C. State were the other teams with more than 2 percent. Roanoke College, which conducted the poll, didn't get a vote. Hmmmmmm.
The favorite major league baseball team is the Atlanta Braves, with 46 percent. Baltimore and the New York Yankees got 14 and 13 percent, respectively. Boston (4 percent) was the only other club above 3 percent. The Colorado Rockies, new parent club of the new Salem Avalanche, didn't get a vote.
The Redskins are the favorite NFL team, at 47 percent. Dallas was next at 21 percent, followed by Pittsburgh and Miami (5 percent) and San Francisco's 4 percent. The Carolina Panthers should have some impact on these numbers next season. More than 36 percent said they will be Panthers' fans.
The favorite NBA team isn't the Charlotte Hornets, at 22 percent, but the Chicago Bulls at 38 percent. Boston gets 14 percent of the valley's NBA loyalty, with the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 percent. Of the 75 respondents who said they had a favorite NBA team, one picked the Orlando Magic.
Only 19 of 400 respondents said they had a favorite NHL team. Four of those liked the New York Rangers. That was enough to lead the poll.
The bottom line on all of this? It seems we like Elvis more than sports.
by CNB