THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9407310186
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
The polls are the source of much debate, controversy and confusion in college football. The media votes in one poll, football coaches in another. Bowl matchups and national titles can hinge on the voters' political or personal agendas.
``It's an imperfect system,'' Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said in The Sporting News' college football preview magazine, ``but for now it's the only one we've got.''
Lamar Brown was hoping to change that.
Brown and his company, Sports Fan America, initiated a new poll, one done by the fans. The idea was to give the common man a say in picking the best football and basketball teams in the land.
The idea was also to make a quick buck by charging the common man $39 a year to have his say, $59 if he wanted to receive a copy of the poll by mail or fax. The brochure that came in the mail offered a free Sports Fan America T-shirt to the first 1,000 pollsters to sign up for the chance to ``voice your opinion on a weekly basis in the national sports scene.''
About 980 of those T-shirts still remain.
Apparently there are enough radio call-in shows out there for people who feel compelled to express their opinions.
``I thought we'd get a lot better response,'' said Brown, a high school business teacher from Chattanooga, Tenn. ``It might be too much of a commitment for 30 weeks, or maybe it's too much money to join.''
Put your money on the latter.
Brown said he and his brother have sunk about $7,000 into the venture and received virtually no return on the investment. He said they have advertised in newspapers, done marketing campaigns and sent out mailings, but only a handful of people from the Southeast have been interested. Sports Fan America can be reached at 1-800-484-8813, ext. 2255.
Brown said he and his brother thought they could capitalize on the disillusionment some fans had with the polls at the end of the regular season last year when West Virginia, Notre Dame, Florida State and Nebraska all screamed and begged for the top billing.
``We thought it would be fun and worth a try,'' Brown said. ``It's been fun. I'll let you know in a few years whether it's been worth a try.''
AU REVOIR: Old Dominion's basketball team begins practice Monday for its summer tour of France. Jeff Capel's first practice as ODU coach begins at 6 a.m.
That could be an early indication that these Americans in Paris won't be on a lark.
``We won't be doing much sightseeing, we're going there to play basketball,'' Capel said.
The Monarchs will have 10 days of practice and will leave for Nice, France, Aug. 11. The trip includes time on the Riviera and in Paris, Lyon and Dijon. ODU will play seven games in 12 days and return home Aug. 22.
DESHAZO UPDATE: New Virginia Tech offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Gary Tranquill said Hokie quarterback Maurice DeShazo seemed to be doing fine after surgery last week. DeShazo underwent arthroscopic surgery to correct a problem in his left, non-throwing, shoulder.
Tranquill said DeShazo will be ready to go when Tech begins practice Aug. 11. ``I have no concern at all,'' Tranquill said.
``He'd been bothered by it since the end of last season. It was sore and they did a lot of therapy for it and it didn't work out, so they decided arthroscopic surgery would be the best thing. It was more of a nagging thing than anything.''
Tranquill said the therapy was expected to rectify the soreness. When therapy failed as fall camp loomed, it was determined surgery should be done.
Tranquill said if it had been DeShazo's throwing shoulder and the doctors started talking about operating at this late date, ``I might have objected to that.'' by CNB