THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 3, 1995 TAG: 9502030647
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
It's been said that soccer is fast becoming America's grassroots sport - the one the kids play - while football is the game the nation loves to watch.
Evidence of that was on hand Thursday night at the Norfolk Sports Club Jamboree at the Waterside Marriott. While most of the top-dollar celebrities people came to see - Norv Turner, Ken Stabler, Steve Spurrier, Bernie Kosar - were from the world of football, many of the folks receiving the hardware had soccer ties.
Matt Whalen, who received the Ellis Loveless Award, given to the top area high school athlete, is a soccer star at Cox High as well as an outstanding basketball player.
The J. Roy Rodman Award for top college coach in Virginia went to Bruce Arena, coach of Virginia's four-time national championship soccer team.
And the Leigh Williams Award, given to the state's top college athlete, went to U.Va. soccer All-American A.J. Wood.
``It's just a sign of the times,'' incoming sports club president Alan D. Stein said. ``Just look at youth soccer and the number of kids who are playing it.''
Another major award, the Bob Bates Award, given to the area's top high school coach, went to a coach from another nontraditional sport, Norfolk Academy lacrosse coach Tom Duquette.
Duquette, a former All-American at Virginia, has a 192-66 record in 13 years and has coached Norfolk Academy to the de facto state title the past two seasons.
``It's time to recognize not just football, baseball and basketball,'' Stein said.
THE SNAKE: Kenny ``The Snake'' Stabler, former quarterback for the Oakland Raiders, said that given the NFC's recent dominance in the Super Bowl, folks who are talking about changing the NFL's playoff format by seeding the teams may be on to something.
``There might be something to that,'' Stabler said. ``We've got to think of a better way to get the two best teams together.''
Stabler, who has worked as a TV analyst in recent years, was in his heyday when the AFC was king, during the 1970s. The NFC has now won 11 straight Super Bowls, but Stabler said he doesn't think it's a case of one conference being superior to another.
Rather, it's a case of a few dominant teams - the 49ers and Cowboys, primarily - skewing the picture, he said.
``One dominant team can make it look like the whole conference is down,'' Stabler said. ``I was a victim of it in the '70s, with Pittsburgh.''
PROUD MOM: Maryland's Joe Smith, who had 29 points and 21 rebounds against Virginia Wednesday night, could not make it home to accept the General Douglas MacArthur Award, given to the outstanding collegiate athlete from a Virginia High School.
But Smith did make an appearance via video. And his mother, Letha, was on hand to pick up his trophy.
Letha Smith said she talked to Joe early Thursday morning, after his scintillating performance against Virginia.
``He called at 12:58 and said, `You asleep?' '' Smith said. ``I said, `What do you think?'
``We talked until about two. I guess he was pretty excited.''
GOLDBLATT WINNER: Bill Leffler, longtime sports writer for The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, won the Abe Goldblatt Award, given to the media person who exhibited superior interest in scholastic athletics.
Leffler began his sports writing career at the Portsmouth Star in 1954 and joined the Ledger-Star in 1957. He's been the sports editor of the Portsmouth Currents since its inception in 1976 and estimates that he's written over 20,000 bylined stories on local athletes in his 40-year career.
Goldblatt, who died in November, was a fixture on the local and regional sports scene for more than six decades. His sportswriting career began in 1933 and spanned 61 years.
``I worked around Abe for 40 years, and I hope a little bit of what he did rubbed off,'' Leffler said. by CNB