THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601130158
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Kevin Armstrong
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
I hate the Redskins.
It took a few years of living here before I realized rooting for ``old D.C.'' wasn't a requirement for citizenship in Hampton Roads.
I'm a Cowboys fan and always have been.
I didn't jump on the winning band wagon yesterday. My dedication to 'Da Boys in Dallas is a result of my native state - Oklahoma - not having a professional football team of its own.
Sound familiar? Virginians have to cross state lines to find a ``home team,'' too. While you 'Skins fans pass over the Potomac on fall Sundays, Sooners sojourn south of the Red River - what some folks there call ``enemy lines.''
The Cowboys are one of the few things that Oklahoma and Texas citizens actually agree on.
Professional sports have a way of doing that for a community.
Politics, religion and taxes can divide people quicker than Troy Aikman can find Michael Irvin in the end zone, but you put those same folks together in a stadium and they're suddenly soul mates.
I've lived in Hampton Roads for 12 years and still long for the chance to root for the ``home team.''
I've yelled and screamed at Admirals games and cheered the Tides to victory, but it doesn't measure up to what we are as a region. Those teams define community in terms too small for our size.
Now come the Canadian Football League's Pirates.
The owners seem to think they're bigger and better than Shreveport, La., has to offer and that they can take Hampton Roads to a new level in professional sports.
They envision filling some 18,000 seats in Old Dominion University's expanded Foreman Field.
And, of course, they foresee us buying into this dream.
What that means for you individually is a season ticket purchase. What they want from your collective tax dollars is financial help for stadium improvements.
Several Norfolk city leaders have approached their counterparts at the Beach enlisting support. The offer: You help us with part of the $400,000 facility face lift, and you'll get that investment back and more in the form of a proportional share of admission taxes.
While that's the dollars and sense part of the deal, it's more about moral support than money.
Norfolk has already put itself on the line financially with downtown enterprises, including Nauticus, Harbor Park and the proposed MacArthur Center. It's gone that route alone.
What it would like now is some buy-in from its neighbors on creating a regional sports franchise. That means putting money where your mouth is.
Less than half a million dollars isn't going to break the bank in either city, but the civic backing of another community is worth more than twice the price in security.
Imagine, too, the cornerstone it could lay for regional cooperation between the Beach and Norfolk.
Something to build upon, right?
Only if it's a solid foundation.
That's the real problem with this deal. Do we really want to construct two dreams upon this plan?
Shreveport's experience suggests otherwise, so does the sluggish season ticket sales thus far.
This isn't about playing politics and making our neighbor cry ``uncle.''
It's not good for Virginia Beach because it's not good for Norfolk.
Norfolk - and the region - is on a winning streak. The Admirals exceeded the wildest expectations. The Tides are riding a new wave of popularity in a classy facility.
Let's not lose yardage in our pursuit of a ``home team.''
Let's invest together in another effort we can all be proud of. by CNB