THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060539
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: 67 lines
Only a couple times during this final, frustrating season, Blake Cullen said, did he ``start smashing the brownies and throwing chairs around'' his Hampton Roads Admirals office at Scope.
Far too much of the remaining time, though, Cullen spent almost sullen.
It was plain to see that, yes, the thrill was gone for the Admirals owner. But it was difficult for even him to know exactly why.
The best advice most people cannot afford to accept is to quit doing something when it's no longer fun. Cullen became the rare person who could act on that notion this week, when he officially turned over his progeny to the Mark Garcea-Page Johnson conglomerate for an undisclosed sum.
Whatever Cullen pocketed, perhaps $2 million or more, it was a new, now-wealthy man who fronted a press conference at Scope on Wednesday as a private Norfolk citizen.
``Goodbye,'' he said. And ``thanks,'' to the employees, players and fans who made his seven years here ``by far the happiest of my sports career, including the 23 I spent in the major leagues,'' with the Chicago Cubs and in the baseball commissioner's office.
Even 20 years after his dismissal as a Cubs executive, Cullen can't bear to go back to Wrigley Field. That's why he said he might be able to remain in Norfolk, working on some vague minor league hockey and baseball deals, only until the start of next hockey season.
Cullen will be on the cusp of 61 years old then, still with no inclination to live off an investment-generated income stream or rattle around European museums.
A bachelor, Cullen's an airport-taxi-hotel kind of guy. He goes places for specific reasons. Business reasons.
By next season, presumably, Cullen's joy in working will have returned in full. But he suspects that staying in the Admirals' neighborhood, as an outsider, would be no fun at all.
Comfort, you see, is now what it's all about. Cullen's days of counting paper clips and hawking program ads are done. For the first time, micro-management is out. Delegating authority is in.
As a future minor league impresario, Cullen sees himself pushing buttons from a central office above the fray, nurturing two or three franchises somewhere on the East Coast, hiring good people, watching everything blossom.
In Norfolk, Cullen had become immersed in the standings, vexed by East Coast Hockey League policy, uncertain behind the wheel. He wasn't confident anymore that he knew what the fans wanted. He felt rumblings of dissension from the seats and lost focus of the Admirals' player development purpose.
``It's tough when you've been champion,'' Cullen said. ``Nothing else kind of satisfies. . . . I wanted to win, get the two points, and move on.''
And so he has. The man who, for a $25,000 franchise fee, brought an obscure hockey league to Scope, captured the imagination of Hampton Roads and possibly lit a fuse for minor league hockey nationwide, walks away a millionaire.
The true relief, though, is that the ``arduous'' process of the actual sale is over, Cullen said. An emotional pull will remain, because the Admirals were a unique experience he doesn't expect to duplicate.
It was magic. It also was over. The spiraling down hurt Cullen. He just hopes the pain leads to rebirth for all concerned.
``My theme for next year was going to be, `Let's put the fun back in it.' '' Cullen said. ``I meant for me. And the fans.'' ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA
The Virginian-Pilot
Former Admirals owner Blake Cullen is ready for new challenges after
saying goodbye and thanks to those who made his seven years here
``by far the happiest of my sports career.'' by CNB