THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050401
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
When it comes to his patience and faith in the Canadian Football League, Bernie Glieberman is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
His CFL tenure, which consists of two years in Ottawa and two in Shreveport, La., has been an adventure in losing money. It is probable that the Detroit construction magnate, whose first glimpse of Hampton Roads came Monday, is courting at least a fifth season of red ink in ancient Foreman Field.
But like a card player chasing one big hit, Glieberman sees himself as too far into the fray to fold like the franchises in Birmingham and Memphis. This is because he is positive he's going to nail that straight flush sooner than later. He's willing to wait.
``I know there's room for a second professional football league in this country,'' Glieberman said during a press briefing at the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce building in downtown Norfolk. ``Some league is going to be successful here. And I don't want to have gone this far and not have it be us.''
Sure, Glieberman has heard of the United States Football League and the World League of American Football, which folded on American soil in the last decade. But they were doomed by mismanagement, Glieberman noted.
The USFL collapsed under the crush of unrealistic salaries paid by big-bucks owners such as Donald Trump. ``Their costs got out of control,'' Glieberman said.
And the NFL treated the World League, which it created, strictly as a minor league, he said, so the public perceived it as inconsequential.
The CFL, meanwhile, is a unique, exciting animal, Glieberman said. The Pirates have two 15-second TV commercials ready to unveil which stress that point.
``Pro football is coming to Hampton Roads,'' an ad touts. ``The good news is it's not the NFL.''
``The difference in quality of play between the NFL and CFL is almost not noticeable,'' Glieberman said. ``But the difference in economic situations is light years.''
True to the latter point. But Glieberman fudges on the former. If the CFL's players were big, strong and good enough, would they not already be in the NFL?
When I say ``Doug Flutie,'' do you say ``NFL washout?''
That said, the CFL game has charms in its own right that make for fine entertainment and loyal followings. And now that the league has acknowledged that there is no U.S. TV money fairy and has cut its budgets to project profitability without TV, Glieberman is even more bullish on his CFL presence.
Still, the dark cloud over the whole thing remains Foreman Field, provided a lease can be forged between the stadium's owner, Old Dominion University, and the Pirates.
I guess it'll happen. But judging from Pirates president Lonie Glieberman's antsy reaction to questions about lease negotiations, that deal apparently is far from done.
As best he could, CFL commissioner Larry Smith flattered the old brickyard, which can't accommodate the longer CFL field dimensions without significant modifications.
Smith discreetly dropped words like ``quaint,'' ``intimate'' and ``folksy.'' ``It just needs a little TLC,'' he said.
As a temporary home, Foreman Field will be a suitable launching pad for the CFL rocket he is trying to construct in the States, Smith insisted. And upon which Glieberman will continue to lay big money.
``There's no question about whether the league will be here the next two or three years,'' Smith said of the 104-year-old CFL. ``The issue is, how can we be highly successful for the next 100 years?'' by CNB