THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996 TAG: 9602210403
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
The historic Oyster Bowl, which for nearly five decades gave Hampton Roads its only taste of Division I college football, appears dead as we know it.
Virginia Military Institute has pulled out of the 1996 Oyster Bowl, leaving the 50-year-old charity event with no game, say Oyster Bowl sources. VMI was supposed to play The Citadel in November at Foreman Field, but instead will host that game in Lexington.
The Oyster Bowl, whose motto has been ``Strong legs run so that weak legs may walk,'' has provided more than $3 million to the Shriners Hospitals for Crippled and Burned Children since 1946. But Oyster Bowl officials say the game has lost money the last two seasons.
Oyster Bowl officials have called a press conference for this afternoon at the office of Norfolk attorney James A. Howard Sr., apparently to discuss the bowl game's demise.
Howard, who has scheduled Oyster Bowl games for decades, did not return phone calls. Other Oyster Bowl officials declined comment, deferring to Howard. VMI athletic director Davis Babb also referred inquiries to Howard.
Sources say Oyster Bowl officials hope to keep the game alive, though they have yet to decide how.
One option would be to host a high school game. The first Oyster Bowl featured Granby High vs. Clifton, N.J., in 1946. Another option would be to suspend the game for a season, giving officials time to schedule a college game in 1997.
But one Oyster Bowl official who asked not to be identified said: ``I don't see how it can be resurrected. It looks like it's over.''
Only a $50,000 donation from a Newport News Shriner allowed game officials to make a donation to the hospitals in 1994. No donation was made after last season's game, which drew 8,414 to watch Georgia Southern defeat VMI. It was the smallest crowd in Oyster Bowl history.
In its heyday, the Oyster Bowl hosted nationally ranked programs and routinely brought Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Navy to 25,600-seat Foreman Field. Syracuse defeated Navy in the 1959 Oyster Bowl en route to winning the national championship.
Future NFL stars such as Fran Tarkenton, Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, Randy White and Bruce Smith participated in the Oyster Bowl. Thanks to temporary seating, the Oyster Bowl twice drew in excess of 32,000.
In the 1980s, the game slowly succumbed to falling attendance, increasing costs and the continued deterioration of Foreman Field. Because gate guarantees could not keep pace with growing costs, the game has featured smaller schools with less drawing power since the mid-1980s.
Though VMI is the smallest Division I program in Virginia with 1,200 students, it had become the bowl's unofficial home team, hosting six of the last eight games. In spite of its sparse enrollment, VMI's strong alumni presence in Hampton Roads helped to sell tickets.
Old Dominion University athletic director Jim Jarrett has released the Oyster Bowl from its five-year lease to university-owned Foreman Field, sources say. Jarrett declined comment.
The game's decline came in spite of an ambitious plan begun in 1993 to try to revitalize the event. The Oyster Bowl parade and other events were moved to Virginia Beach. J. Albert Tatem, the bowl's general chairman, struck a deal with Ocean Occasions to organize events intended to make the bowl game a weekend celebration, including a golf tournament and oyster roast. Tatem sent two tickets to each of Khedive Temple's 4,800 members, asking them to buy or sell the tickets to friends.
But attendance and corporate sponsorships continued to shrink. Aware that the game was in trouble, Oyster Bowl officials briefly contemplated using the now-defunct Canadian Football League Pirates as the home team. Lonie Glieberman, president of the CFL team that unsuccessfully attempted to relocate from Shreveport, La., to Norfolk, said he was close to signing a deal with the Shriners to turn one Pirates home game into a charity exhibition.
That plan ended in January when the Pirates were told by the Norfolk and Virginia Beach city councils that they weren't wanted. That left the Oyster Bowl only with VMI, and that option is now gone.
Privately, VMI officials say the hassle of playing at Foreman Field was a factor in their decision. The stadium's press box facilities are below Southern Conference standards. VMI sources say that for the Georgia Southern game, the press box wasn't heated and hadn't been cleaned, and many of the phone lines didn't work.
Mostly, though, VMI officials say they're pulling out for monetary reasons. The gate guarantee has dropped from $125,000 to $70,000 in the last three seasons. Because it must pay travel and hotel expenses for both teams in the Oyster Bowl, VMI would make more money by playing at home.
Moreover, Major General John W. Knapp, superintendent of VMI, has told Babb he wants the VMI-Citadel contest played in Lexington. Dubbed the Military Classic of the South, the rivalry between the two schools is spirited and one that Knapp thinks should be played on VMI's campus. MEMO: Staff writer Jim Ducibella contributed to this story.
A GLORIED PAST
In its heyday, the Oyster Bowl hosted nationally ranked programs and
routinely brought Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Navy to
25,600-seat Foreman Field. Syracuse defeated Navy in the 1959 game en
route to the national championship.
Future NFL stars Fran Tarkenton, Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, Randy
White and Bruce Smith participated in the Oyster Bowl. Using temporary
seating, the game twice drew more than 32,000 people.
In the 1980s, falling attendance, increasing costs and the continued
deterioration of Foreman Field hurt the Oyster Bowl. Last season's game
between Georgia Southern and Virginia Military Institute drew a crowd of
8,414. VMI has pulled out of the 1996 game, and Oyster Bowl officials
asked for and received a release from their lease at Foreman Field. by CNB