THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9511300152
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
SMOTY'S SPORTS ASYLUM?
Yep, you read it right. That's the name of James Holt's new sports bar and restaurant.
Smoty's?
``It's just a word I used to call people when I bumped into them,'' Holt, 42, said. ``Some people might say `Hey Joe,' well I said `Hey Smoty.' It's like the friend you never had but you call everybody that.''
Holt has had plenty of friends in his 30 years of working in Virginia Beach restaurants.
But this is the first one he's owned and the fact that he picked his current location is kind of ironic.
Smoty's is the former home of Legend's Sports Pub, where Holt was the original cook.
``That was seven years ago,'' the First Colonial graduate said as he fried up 600 pieces of chicken for the Kellam High fall sports banquet. ``It's weird that I'm back here owning it.''
But the fact that he's kept the sports motif is not.
Holt has always been a sports enthusiast and is a big supporter of the Buffalo Bills.
His pub has three satellite dishes and 12 televisions.
Holt's partners in the business are wife Robin, Ed Langhals and father-in-law Robert Wilder.
``Owning the place is a little more work,'' he said. ``But it makes for better opportunities for yourself.''
BIG HIT: A professional boxing card will be held Wednesday at the Norfolk Elks Club at 1231 Typo Ave., beginning at 8 p.m. The doors open at 7 p.m.
The scheduled main event will be a 10-round championship between Jimmy Lobesack and Joe Farrell for the vacant Virginia super middleweight title. Lobesack of Virginia Beach is 5-0 with three knockouts, while Roanoke resident Farrell is 8-4-1 with four KOs.
Several other local fighters are expected to compete on the seven-fight card.
Tickets are $20. For more information, call Karate International at 486-5348, Clancy's at 583-3969 or the Elks Lodge at 461-6244.
LEFT OUT: Peter Nichols - a Virginia Beach resident who plays soccer at Norfolk Christian - was inadvertently left out of the All-TCIS story and photographs which ran in Wednesday's edition of The Beacon.
Nichols finished the season as the third-leading scorer in the TCIS with 15 goals and 13 assists.
The senior is currently playing for Christian's varsity basketball team and plans to study pre-med in college next fall.
HOOP CITY: Salem will be treated to a girls basketball extravaganza this weekend when it travels to Altoona, Pa., for games with two of the state's traditionally strong teams.
The Sun Devils, who already face a tough Beach schedule with the likes of Kempsville, Princess Anne, Tallwood and Bayside, open at 6 p.m. tonight against Altoona, the defending Quad A state champs.
Altoona, ranked No. 1 in the country in 1984 and 1986 by USA Today, lost five players who earned Division I scholarships to graduation. Saturday at 2 p.m., the Sun Devils meet Holidaysburg, the Mid-Alleghany conference favorite that graduated two Division I signees last year and has two to replace them this season.
``I knew going to a place like this would be tough,'' Salem coach Larry Bowman said. `Up there, girls basketball is a way of life. The coach told me they usually draw 3,000 or 4,000 (spectators) a game. But, they won't all stay for the boys game.'' MEMO: Staff writer Patti Walsh contributed to this notebook.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LEE TOLLIVER
James Holt, 42, is owner of Smoty's Sports Asylum, former home of
Legend's Sports Pub, where Holt was the original cook.
Nichols
by CNB