THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 21, 1995 TAG: 9511210423
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
PORTSMOUTH - After a loss to Virginia Tech that was strictly the pits, Virginia's next football game is expected to be the Peach Bowl.
``I'd be very surprised if it's not,'' said Terry Holland.
Atlanta in late December is just fine with him, Holland said. Let Clemson have Jacksonville, Fla., home to the Gator Bowl. The Cavaliers will go to the Olympic city and like it.
``That's a great place for us,'' said Holland.
For Holland, who is in his first year as director of athletics at U.Va., dealing with the bowl crowd is a new experience.
``It's my first time around,'' he said Monday after speaking to the Portsmouth Sports Club. ``I have to take people at their word.''
When the bowl people tell him that the Cavaliers are to be judged mainly on their football performance, he believes them. For now.
``If selling tickets is the game, tell us,'' he said. ``If it's going to be decided on the field, tell us.''
It's generally conceded that U.Va.'s attractiveness as a bowl team is diminished somewhat because of the school's inability to deliver sufficiently large postseason crowds.
The perception, according to Holland, is ``not valid.'' He objects to U.Va.'s fans being judged by the last two bowls, the Independence in hardscrabble Shreveport, La., and the Carquest in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Shreveport is a tough sell to alumni spoiled by previous bowl trips. As for the Carquest two years ago, the bid ``came out of nowhere,'' making it tougher for fans to secure holiday flights to South Florida.
``Given a bowl invitation with a timely announcement,'' said Holland, ``we can deliver people.''
Never like Clemson, though. Or Auburn, a likely opponent in the Peach Bowl. Or any number of Southern schools.
``Most of the schools that travel well,'' said Holland, ``are within driving range of the bowls.''
He's got a point there. Some of the biggest bowl crowds arrive by station wagon and Winnebago, not by Boeing 737. Which explains why the Gator Bowl covets Clemson, with a campus 450 miles away.
The bashing of U.Va. alumni also fails to take into account other realities. When it comes to student enrollment and football tradition, U.Va. has only relatively recently shown signs of joining the ranks of the big time.
Michigan, for example, has an alumni base four times that of U.Va.
``The small base and the lack of tradition are factors,'' said Holland. ``We're changing that, but it takes time.''
During and after his address to the sports club, Holland could not avoid discussion of Virginia Tech's come-from-behind victory over Charlottesville's 59-Minute Wonders.
He did so good-naturedly, recalling that, as Davidson's athletic director, he wrote Hokies coach Frank Beamer a ``fan letter.''
``He's done a tremendous job building a program under very difficult circumstances,'' Holland said.
Holland once built a winning basketball program at U.Va. under tough circumstances. This season's hoop team, he said, is ``real immature right now. But the whole league is in the same boat.''
Wait until next year, Holland advised: ``Our team, with the people Jeff (Jones) has recruited will be a top-10 team in the preseason rankings.''
For now, though, the main order of business is football. Before departing, Holland characterized the mood in Charlottesville this week.
``I think people are really disappointed for the players instead of with them,'' he said. ``You feel badly for them. They've worked so hard this year, you just feel they deserve something good to happen.''
Any day now, the Cavs and their fans will hear good news. Pretty soon, everything may be just peachy again. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
U.Va. athletic director Terry Holland says the basketball squad is
young but promising. Wait till next year, he advises, foreseeing a
top-10 team.
by CNB