THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601190263
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On the Street
SOURCE: Bill Reed
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Wonder of wonders!
The leaders of Norfolk and Virginia Beach have decided to forego the honor of committing public funds to the CFL Pirates.
The Pirates, you may remember, came a calling a few months ago, seeking financial aid to bring their ailing franchise to Norfolk from Shreveport, La.
Team owners wanted to play their home games at Old Dominion University's Foreman Field, which was in need of $400,000 in repairs before it could accommodate Canadian Football League games.
On Tuesday, both Norfolk and Virginia Beach said thanks, but no thanks. A joint statement issued by both city councils read: ``It was decided that the long-term interests of the citizens of Hampton Roads would be better served by pursuing other professional and amateur sports opportunities.''
A wise decision, indeed.
Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim cited the fact that the CFL has not had a good track record in the United States of late. At last count, three of the seven American teams in the league have folded and leaders in both Norfolk and Virginia Beach were leery of shelling out a bundle of money on a prospect that is dubious at best.
One unspoken question that leaped to everyone's mind was why were the Pirates leaving Shreveport if their product was so hot? Answer: I dunno, but the team lost $7 million there in two seasons. This indicates something was wrong some place. Apparently, the team couldn't draw flies in the Pelican state.
Now the thinking among the leaders up here was that if the Pirates were to go belly up, Hampton Roads' chances of getting a major league franchise in any sport - marbles, tiddlywinks included - would be at serious risk.
Pirates president Lonie Glieberman was not daunted by the bad news from Norfolk and Virginia Beach. He was quoted as saying his team would go forward with plans to locate here, meaning in Foreman Field - maybe even pay for the upgrading himself.
One small problem. ODU doesn't want the Pirates. A university spokesman says ODU intends to abide by the joint decision of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Meanwhile, Glieberman has moved into a Virginia Beach condo and has sold about 2,700 season tickets to locals for games that may never take place.
This brings up an interesting question: How will folks who bought the tickets get their money back - if indeed the Pirates never play a down here?
Folks from every corner of Hampton Roads have pined for a major league franchise of some kind for years. They even had one here back in the '70s in the form of the Virginia Squires. This was an American Basketball Association team that featured the great Dr. J, who later went on to become an NBA legend. Mediocre attendance and money problems eventually forced the owner to sell off his high-priced talent and to disband the team.
This experience no doubt crossed the minds of our local politicos as Pirates officials gave them the old sales pitch for a little financial backing. Also tippy-toeing through their brains were recent examples of the fickleness of professional sports.
One is the impending move of the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Then there is the decade-old, slip-out-the-back-in-the middle-of-the-night move by the Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis. Recently, rumors have circulated that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cincinnati Bengals want to move.
It is patently obvious that the big bucks in sports far outweigh the loyalty and needs of ardent fans. It also is obvious that this is a trend that won't change anytime soon. by CNB