THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080422
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
Scope's oft-maligned, 23-year-old scoreboard, which blew its top almost as often as Admirals' coach John Brophy, has finally been replaced.
Scope officials watched with a mixture of nostalgia and relief last week as the 18,000-pound amalgam of steel, cable, lights, computer chips and glass was lowered to the arena floor, cut loose from its moorings and lugged away.
``We were fortunate that it lasted as long as it did,'' Scope director Bill Luther said.
Friday morning, Fairtron Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa, began installing a new, state-of-the-art $500,000 scoreboard system.
The old scoreboard was state of the art when Scope opened in 1971. City officials touted it then as the finest of its kind for an arena of its size.
But by the 1980s, scoreboard breakdowns marred Scope's image, sometimes in front of millions of television viewers.
Though the scoreboard worked far more often than not, it always seemed to break down when a high-profile event was being held at Scope.
One of the most memorable failures occurred in 1983 when, with a CBS national television audience watching the NCAA women's basketball Final Four, the scoreboard shut down during the championship game.
After a few minutes of delay, Old Dominion athletic director Jim Jarrett and Houston athletic director Cedric Dempsey were posted at opposite ends of the press table to flip hand-held scorecards. The Scope announcer called out the time every minute or two.
Dempsey is now executive director of the NCAA.
From Old Dominion basketball to Admirals hockey to wrestling matches and even conventions, not much escaped the scoreboard's wrath.
Two years ago, the scoreboard failed with a regional cable TV audience watching Virginia Tech's basketball team battle ODU. As usual, time had to be called by the announcer and the score was kept by hand.
After ODU pulled away in the final minutes of its 71-61 victory, Tech players complained that the scoreboard shutdown had distracted them unfairly. The Monarchs, they said, were accustomed to such breakdowns.
The night before, it had malfunctioned during an Admirals' game.
Nonetheless, Luther speaks with a hint of affection when discussing the old scoreboard.
``The old board was a great board,'' he said. ``But technology has just advanced so much.''
Luther called in technicians from across the country to repair the scoreboard after breakdowns. Sometimes they succeeded. Sometimes they left scratching their heads, unable to diagnose what had gone wrong.
Jarrett, one of the scoreboard's harshest critics, is overjoyed about the new scoreboard.
``The city has made a commitment to upgrade Scope and we're very pleased,'' he said.
Scope officials have renovated meeting rooms, refurbished the seats and applied fresh paint in several areas, Jarrett noted.
``We're trying to bring a 1970s building up to year 2000 standards,'' Scope assistant director John Rhamstine said.
Scope also recently installed a jet ice-making system for $40,000. Among other things, the system filters oxygen out of the water used to make ice.
``It makes the ice harder and clearer,'' Luther said. ``It's also more energy efficient.''
Luther said Scope will recoup the $40,000 within two years in energy savings alone.
Admirals president Blake Cullen, whose team is the building's top draw, is enthusiastic about the new ice. He isn't quite as enthusiastic about the new scoreboard.
``I liked the old scoreboard,'' he said.
Little wonder. He had the rights to sell advertising on the old board, which netted him $15,000 last year.
Scope has retained those rights, and Luther says advertising sales will pay off the scoreboard's $500,000 pricetag over time.
Here's what fans can expect to see on their next trip to Scope:
Color computerized graphics and a brighter, 1990s look.
Smaller scoreboards for each end zone, which will eliminate players from having to crane their necks to see the score.
New timeclocks for the basketball goals that will count down to the tenth of a second.
New software for the outdoor electronic sign on Brambleton Avenue announcing events at Scope, which broke down more often than the scoreboard.
New software for the message boards in the concession areas on the concourse.
The main scoreboard arrived late Thursday and was attached Friday to dozens of cables by a handful of hardy souls.
The men scurried up ladders that lead to Scope's ceiling, then pulled themselves up by ropes through a crawlspace between the roof and the ceiling to a hole 125 feet above the scoreboard.
They then made sure that the cables supporting the scoreboard were properly connected to the ceiling.
Friday night the board was raised for the first time to its accustomed spot about 50 feet above the floor. This morning Scope was to begin freezing ice for the Admirals, who open training camp Sunday.
Fairtron had expected to deliver the scoreboard a week ago and will be hustling to get it working on schedule.
Every night after the Admirals break practice, Fairtron employees will spread a tarp on the ice, lower the scoreboard and calibrate the new system.
Fairtron's contract with the city calls for the scoreboard to be operating Thursday, when the Admirals open exhibition play against Johnstown.
What if the scoreboard isn't ready?
``Then the cost goes down,'' Luther said. ``There's a penalty clause'' for each day the scoreboard isn't working.
Too bad Scope didn't have the same clause the last 23 years. ILLUSTRATION: STAFF FILE
The old Scope scoreboard, shown here when the ODU men's basketball
team defeated Syracuse in 1980, was installed in 1971.
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff [color photo]
Scott Beazley, an employee of Electric Contractors of Chesapeake,
secures a line for the new scoreboard at Scope.
by CNB