THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996 TAG: 9601200428
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
The homeless Pirates of the Canadian Football League apparently have narrowed their choices for relocation to Dallas and Shreveport, La.
The Pirates, who relocated to Hampton Roads from Shreveport two months ago, were sent scurrying for a new home this week when the Virginia Beach and Norfolk city councils rejected their request for money to renovate Foreman Field and Old Dominion University cut off negotiations for a stadium lease.
Thursday, the team began negotiations with four cities, including Detroit and Milwaukee. Those two cities were eliminated Friday. Sources said the team could not negotiate a lease in either city in time to meet the CFL's deadline of Jan. 31, when the Pirates must announce where they will play.
The same sources said Dallas officials indicated Friday the team could lease the Cotton Bowl. Pirates coach Forrest Gregg lives in Dallas and is a former player, coach and athletic director at Southern Methodist University.
Said a Pirates official who asked not to be named: ``We know we have a place to play. What we don't know is whether we can draw there, and we don't have a lot of time to find out.''
Pirates president Lonie Glieberman declined comment, but sources said the team will do a quick market analysis Monday and Tuesday in Dallas.
CFL officials surely would prefer Dallas over Shreveport. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is ninth nationally in population with more than 4 million people and would be a natural rival for the CFL's San Antonio Texans.
Shreveport is an unlikely locale for the Pirates, though still possible because the city offered the team a $1 million sponsorship last month to return. City officials said they expected the Pirates to refund a $1 million sponsorship they paid the team last season if they did not accept the December offer.
Shreveport officials admit they made the offer to bolster their legal case against the Pirates and did not expect the team to accept.
Thursday, those officials backtracked, telling the Shreveport Times they hadn't officially made the $1 million offer after all. Moreover, the city apparently no longer is asking for the $1 million from last season to be returned.
According to city attorney Jerry Jones, Pirates owner Bernie Glieberman must sign the agreement offering $1 million, then it must be signed by Shreveport mayor Bo Williams, before it goes into effect.
Williams said he would wait for Glieberman to make the first step.
``If he signs, I'll have to weigh it at that time. Right now, I don't even know if they have a team,'' Williams said.
Countered Lonie Glieberman: ``We have not received anything from the city. We've read in the newspaper that they sent us an offer, so we assume it's still good.''
Jones and Pirates attorney Mark Gilliam plan to meet soon to settle any lingering financial questions.
``One way or the other, we want to get this done,'' Jones said. ``I think we have a good argument that they are in default of the contract, but I'd prefer that we sit down, get out a calculator and figure out the numbers. That would be the best thing of all.'' by CNB