THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050402
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Canadian Football League commissioner Larry Smith pronounced Foreman Field an acceptable home for the CFL Pirates and said he was ``favorably impressed'' with Hampton Roads after more than 12 hours of meetings with area business and political leaders Monday.
``It's a very quaint, intimate stadium that when you put 26,000 people in there, it's going to be a hell of a place to watch a football game,'' Smith said after inspecting the 25,600-seat facility for more than an hour Monday morning.
``If you upgrade the press box, paint it up a bit and make a few modifications to your field, then you have a field and a facility'' that would be adequate for the Pirates, he said.
``Foreman Field is probably acceptable with some upgrades that are not necessarily very expensive,'' he added.
In other developments:
The Pirates say they have sold nearly 2,000 season tickets in the 19 days since their ticket sale was announced. ``We're on track to sell our goal of 15,000,'' team president Lonie Glieberman said. A six-week TV, radio and newspaper advertising campaign will begin later this week. Monday's update was the first the Pirates have given since selling 800 in the first two days of the sale.
Glieberman and Pirates executive vice president Bill Haase met for an hour with Old Dominion athletic director Jim Jarrett to discuss terms of a lease. Neither side would comment on what was said other than to say discussions will continue. It is the fourth meeting between the Pirates and ODU, which owns the stadium.
Smith's first trip to Hampton Roads began with a charter flight from Toronto with Pirates owner Bernie Glieberman that landed at Norfolk International Airport at 9 a.m.
They had breakfast with the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads in Chesapeake, then went to ODU. After Smith and Bernie Glieberman met briefly with Jarrett, they left to inspect Foreman Field while Lonie Glieberman and Haase remained behind.
The Pirates entourage, which also included coach Forrest Gregg and John Ritchie, chief financial officer for Bernie Glieberman's Detroit homebuilding company, then lunched with the Norfolk Sports Club, held a press conference at the Norfolk office of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, held a meeting with Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim at City Hall, and then held another with members of the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce in Hampton.
Then came a dinner meeting with representatives of several companies interested in signing on as corporate sponsors.
``Among the things that excites me in my initial impression of your area is the population base, but more than that, it's the attitude of the people,'' Smith said. ``I think the tradition that sports has in your market without necessarily having a major league team makes this a great opportunity.
``This market, if it's done properly, if you put a competitive team on the field, offers some real possibilities.''
Smith is expected to report back to CFL owners later this week. At league meetings last week, most owners said that they would vote on the Pirates' application to relocate from Shreveport to Hampton Roads based largely on Smith's report.
Bernie Glieberman said that report will be optimistic.
``When he goes back to the board of governors, he'll be able to substantiate what we've been saying about this market,'' he said. ``This is the perfect model of what we should have in the CFL.
``We've got 1.5 million people without any major competing sports. We need to go into areas like Hampton Roads, Milwaukee and Portland (Ore.).''
Bernie Glieberman, also on his first visit to Hampton Roads, said he was pleased with what he saw of the new home for his CFL team.
``Forrest (Gregg) mentioned to us how clean it is, that it's like a Canadian city,'' Gliberman said. ``He was right. I'm very impressed.''
The Pirates have asked the city of Norfolk to pay for up to $400,000 in renovations to Foreman Field, consisting largely of press box and locker room renovations.
When those renovations are completed, Smith said the only stumbling block is the stadium playing field. It is 30 yards shorter than a standard CFL field, which is 110 yards long with 20-yard end zones.
Smith suggested during the tour of Foreman Field that the Pirates pay to have the end zones lengthened. One option would be to have entrances to the end zones moved from the front to the sides of the end zones. That would allow the stadium to have a 100-yard field with 18-yard end zones or a 110-yard field with 13-yard end zones.
When asked if he thinks Jarrett and the Pirates will come to terms, Smith said: ``Yes, absolutely. Jim's in a situation where he has to take care of his constituency. . . . But at the end of the day, I think there will be an agreement.
``We think our league would add to the quality of life to the area, and to the students at ODU.''
Smith leaves today for Shreveport, where he will meet with a group interested in moving the Las Vegas, Nev., or Birmingham, Ala., franchises to Louisiana next season. ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
LARRY SMITH CFL COMMISSIONER
HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
BERNIE GLIEBERMAN PIRATES OWNER
HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
CFL commissioner Larry Smith pronounced Foreman Field an acceptable
home for the Pirates.
by CNB