Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 15, 1995 TAG: 9509150056
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Football success at Virginia isn't going to come any easier in future years. The Cavaliers, following this season's scheduling of Michigan and Texas as non-conference foes in addition to the annual state tussle with Virginia Tech, will continue to challenge themselves outside the ACC.
As for the series with the Hokies continuing as the last game of the season, Gerry Capone, UVa's assistant athletic director for football administration, said the state date is penciled in for late November through 2005.
Sure, UVa has some likely breathers, such as Central Michigan next season, Kent in 1998 and Central Florida in 1999. Otherwise, the UVa schedules are impressive, including series with Penn State and Boston College.
Also scheduled is a 1999 visit to Hawaii on Thanksgiving weekend, giving the Cavaliers a 12-game regular season as they have this year. Texas returns UVa's '95 visit next season. Arizona is on the schedule in 1997-98, although Capone said the Wildcats may ask out of those dates. BC is set for 1999-2000, Penn State the following two years and Cal in 2002 and '03.
Not only is this schedule challenging to a team and attractive to fans. With new network TV contracts beginning in 1996, it gives the Cavaliers additional opportunities in non-conference dates with foes appealing to networks.
BALLPARK FIGURES: The true impact of the move from Municipal Field to impressive Memorial Stadium won't be felt until 1996, when the Salem Avalanche plays its first full season in the new ballpark. However, there is no question what the Yard by the Boulevard means to the worth of the franchise.
Kelvin Bowles paid $175,000 in November 1985 for the then-Salem Redbirds. Two minor-league analysts said the floor for a full-season Class A club these days is $2 million, ``and that was when Salem was in the old park,'' one said.
So, what is Bowles' franchise worth in one of the best Class A ballparks on the planet? ``A minimum $5 million,'' one minor-league club executive said, ``maybe closer to $6 million.''
NO HELP: Talks with the Colorado Avalanche - the transplanted Quebec Nordiques - have dead-ended, and so it appears the Roanoke Express won't have an NHL affiliation this season. That's not rare in the East Coast Hockey League. Ten of the 21 clubs in 1995-96 won't have NHL ties.
YOUR GOLD: Who's paying for the Summer Olympics in Atlanta? Well, to some extent, you and you, and me. Although Summer Games organizers always talk about the private financing of the Games, the federal government will spend $92 million in tax money on what is called ``Olympics-related expenses.'' Those bucks cover security, transportation and trash collection, among other items.
THE MICK: The recent debate on The Roanoke Times' editorial page about Mickey Mantle's military draft status is cleared up by a 1952 story in The Sporting News. Local baseball umpire Buck Fielder, who certainly belongs in the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame, produced a copy of the story.
Mantle was found ``physically unqualified'' for the service by the Army Surgeon General, according to the article by Arthur Daley of The New York Times. ``I'm perfectly willing to go into the service if they want me,'' Mantle told Daley.
Period, end of story.
IN THE DARK: The lights actually went out Saturday night on National Minor League Football. The Central Pennsylvania Piranha was leading the Washington Stonewalls 14-0 with 1:49 left in the second quarter. Then, a nearby train derailment in Harrisburg, Pa., knocked out the stadium lights. The next time the Roanoke Rush is trailing, maybe it can just turn off those very dim bulbs at Victory Stadium.
FOOD FIGHT: Bowl-bound fans have been known to litter football fields with reminders of their destination, but at Texas Tech, some fans have turned into flour children. In Lubbock, they've been throwing tortillas on the field for two years. Now, the Southwest Conference warns a repeat of that practice will bring unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties.
``The penalties are going to be pretty severe,'' said Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes. ``It will really hurt our team if we have a lot of first-and-60s. We have a hard enough time on first-and-10s.''
by CNB