THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140741
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 60 lines
Matthew Musolino of Virginia Beach once wrote a letter to the Washington Redskins, asking them to put his son on the list for season tickets.
Lyndon Johnson was president. The Dallas Cowboys were 5 years old.
Waiting since 1965, Dominic Musolino, now 33, finally got a letter back last Friday.
``Sure is a lot of years to wait for my own tickets, isn't it?'' asked Musolino.
He was among the 1,082 Hampton Roads residents given the opportunity to purchase club seats or luxury boxes in the team's new 78,600-seat stadium scheduled to open in 1997.
In August, if available, waiting-list members who declined to spend between $995 and $159,950 for club seats or executive suites can purchase stadium seats for between $40 and $60 each per game.
Dominic Musolino wasn't interested in waiting any longer. He applied for four club seats.
Musolino was one of five Hampton Roads residents interviewed about finally being offered the chance at Redskins seats. On average, they had been waiting for 25 years.
``I was totally surprised when it came in the mail,'' said Chesapeake's Valrie McHugh. ``We got on the list originally because my husband was a huge fan. We went on right after we were married in 1971.''
McHugh's husband died several years ago.
``I have some friends who are strong Redskins fans,'' McHugh said. ``I don't really know what I'm going to do. The prices they're charging are scary
Franklin Gaillard of Virginia Beach received his packet last Friday. Saturday, he filled out an application for two club seats - at more than $1,000 each - and a parking pass.
``I was No. 10,000 when I started on the list in 1970,'' Gaillard recalled. ``I am really, really excited.''
Before his family owned a television, James Taylor of Newport News listened to Redskins games on radio as a kid in Charlottesville. In the 1960s, he occasionally rode the Redskins Railroad from Richmond to RFK Stadium. He spent 25 years on the waiting list.
When his packet arrived last Friday, he put it aside, thinking it was just the usual offer to purchase preseason tickets.
``Now I don't know what to do,'' he said. ``My wife and I just retired recently and we're toying with the idea of moving to Florida in the next couple of years.
``As much as I'd like to have the tickets, it'd be kinda hard to make that drive, huh?'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH/The Virginian-Pilot
After a 31-year wait, Dominic Musolino of Virginia Beach last week
was given the chance to buy Redskins season tickets.
Graphic
VP
TICKET COUNT
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm] by CNB