Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 13, 1995 TAG: 9507130033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
If somebody wants to borrow the name and apply it to the football game, it won't bother Morgan one bit.
``I think it's an excellent opportunity for both teams,'' said Morgan, executive director of the VMI Keydet Club and a graduate of E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg. ``I've been a strong proponent of this game for a number of years.''
The Keydets were in need of a game - and an opportunity to make money - after being dropped by Division I-A Vanderbilt. Liberty did not have an opening on the date in question, but was able to make room with the assistance of one of VMI's Southern Conference partners, Appalachian State.
Liberty, a member of the Big South Conference in all sports except football, remains interested in finding an affiliation for its football program but does not look at the VMI game as a way to get the Southern Conference's attention.
``I think we see the VMI game as, hopefully, a way to get more of the in-state teams to play us,'' Liberty athletic director Chuck Burch said. ``It makes too much sense not to play this kind of game.''
The Flames once played James Madison on an annual basis, but the series was discontinued when JMU joined Richmond and William and Mary in the Yankee Conference.
Burch has written letters to the Yankee Conference and solicited the assistance of Richmond athletic director Chuck Boone, but has never received any hint that the Flames are under consideration.
There has been speculation that the Southern Conference might seek a replacement for Marshall, headed for the Mid-America Conference, but Burch has not spoken to Southern Conference officials since that announcement.
``We're taking a low-key approach,'' Burch said. ``I told [VMI athletic director] Davis [Babb] that it would be nice for this to be an annual game, but we're asking for no commitment or no guarantee. It was VMI that set up the golf tournament, but that's great for us, too.''
Liberty hopes to bring a big crowd to VMI for the game, Sept.9, which could go a big way toward establishing the rivalry. There has been talk of rotating the game and possibly playing in Roanoke, if Victory Stadium is renovated.
``One of the most important factors in the future of this game is the crowd support,'' Morgan said. ``With some of the changes that have been made in recent years, Division I-A teams aren't as willing to schedule I-AA teams and we need to find ways to fill up our own stands.''
GETTING TOGETHER: ACC programs North Carolina and North Carolina State are in the process of scheduling home-and-home football series with independent East Carolina at the bidding of the state legislature.
``I think athletic scheduling is something that belongs on campus and not in the halls of the legislature,'' said North Carolina athletic director John Swofford, who has been reluctant to schedule East Carolina, especially in Greenville, N.C., because the Tar Heels have relatively little to gain.
GREAT EIGHT: Sponsors of the season-opening Great Eight men's basketball invitational in Pontiac, Mich., reportedly have received acceptances from Virginia, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Wake Forest, Massachusetts, Oklahoma State and Michigan State. Matchups will be announced at a later date.
GO FIGURE: Doug Johns, the former University of Virginia pitcher who made his major-league debut Saturday for Oakland, finished his college career with an 8-14 record and a 7.04 earned-run average from 1987-90.
Johns started 97 games as a first baseman and designated hitter during his last three years and batted .335, with nine home runs, as a sophomore in 1988. He hit 16 home runs, which ranked in the top 10 on UVa's career list at the time of his graduation.
Johns, who owed his 16th-round draft selection mostly to the fact he was left-handed, is the first UVa product to play in the majors since pitchers Rick Horton and Bob Malloy in 1990. Johns was ejected Saturday for throwing a retaliatory brushback pitch after teammate Mark McGwire was beaned by Toronto's David Cone.
WOMEN'S HOOPS: Virginia Commonwealth is still looking for a new women's basketball coach to succeed Susan Walvius, who resigned June 14 to become the new head coach at West Virginia.
The Rams enjoyed the biggest turnaround in Division I women's basketball last year, when they improved from 3-24 in 1993-94 to 20-10. It moved Walvius, a 1986 Virginia Tech graduate, a little closer to .500 at 67-74 after five seasons.
One of the attractions with Walvius is the international ties she has developed. The Rams last year had two freshmen from Sweden and one player from Russia, Australia and Ireland.
W&L COACH HONORED: John Tucker, who coaches the men's cross country and women's track teams at Washington and Lee, placed second in the pentathlon in the 45-49 age group and received All-America recognition at the USA Track and Field National Masters Championships.
Tucker, a Lexington High School graduate, was a sprinter on W&L track team and served as team captain in 1976-77. Tucker, 45, had earned All-America honors in various events from 1990-94. He was an assistant track coach at VMI for six years before going to W&L, where both of his team won conference championships.
by CNB