THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 1996 TAG: 9606080265
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 48 lines
Mayor Paul D. Fraim and state Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, who hope to welcome an NBA franchise to Norfolk someday, were content Friday with welcoming the NBA Jam Session to Harborfest.
The Jam Session, an interactive array of games and exhibits located in a 67-foot trailer, has come to Hampton Roads in part because of the region's interest in the NBA.
After hearing that Hampton Roads is seeking an NBA franchise, NBA events manager Steven A. Board called Wayne Hoffler, a Norfolk native and longtime friend who five years ago helped start the Hampton Roads Pro-Am League. Would Norfolk be interested in hosting the Jam Session, he was asked.
Hoffler said yes, then called Jones, a fellow-Booker T. Washington High School graduate, who called Fraim.
Presto. The Jam Session not only gained permission to come to Harborfest, it received a coveted position, right in front of Waterside.
``We couldn't be in a better location,'' Hoffler said.
The Jam Session opened at noon Friday, and had its official ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. with Fraim and Jones doing the honors.
Fraim has spearheaded local efforts to build a 20,000-seat sports arena, court the NBA and assemble an ownership group. Jones, an unabashed arena supporter, has sponsored legislation to create a new regional sports authority.
Former Norfolk State and Milwaukee Bucks star Bobby Dandridge will be at the Jam Session today to sign autographs.
Hoffler, vice president of Renow, Inc., a medical supply company in Norfolk, says the NBA paid to bring the exhibit to Hampton Roads.
``It's a gift from the NBA, and an old friend, to the area,'' said Hoffler, who attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania with Board.
The Hampton Roads Pro-Am, a summer basketball league for professional and college players, is providing volunteer help to staff the facility, which includes baskets of various heights that festival goers can dunk upon, a foul-shooting contest, computer games, an imprint of Michael Jordan's hand and a shoe worn by Shaquille O'Neal. All exhibits are free. ILLUSTRATION: MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Larry Volger, 18, on break from working as a Harborfest volunteer,
takes a shot at the NBA Jam Session in front of Waterside Friday
afternoon. With three hoops set up at heights lower than the
regulation 10 feet, even the average weekend warrior could try, as
the slogan says, to be like Mike. by CNB