THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 1, 1997 TAG: 9701010244
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HARTFORD, CONN. LENGTH: 111 lines
Welcome to the big leagues.
With its youth gangs, crushing poverty and worst-in-the-nation illegitimacy rate, Connecticut's capital - population a modest 124,000 - has some major-league-caliber urban problems.
And, yes, it also has major league sports. As home of the Whalers, Hartford is the only U.S. city with a National Hockey League team and no other big-league team. In that respect, it is what some in Hampton Roads would like to become: an NHL-only town.
The question is: Does hockey alone confer ``major league'' status on a region? The Whalers have been in the NHL since 1979, and it's still a matter of debate in central Connecticut.
``No,'' said Tom Abate, a bartender at Gaetano's, a sports bar and restaurant in the mall attached to the Hartford Civic Center. ``If we had baseball or football, yes. Hockey's a growing sport, but it's not as big as those.''
``Yes,'' said Peter Clark, a season ticket holder from Branford, Conn. ``Without hockey, it would be: `Hartford, where's that?' ''
Students of urban problems know where it is. In a state with the nation's highest per-capita income, Hartford is a pocket of economic distress. In 1991, average household income in the region was $54,607. In Hartford it was less than half that - $26,419.
And in a recent Money magazine survey, Hartford was rated as one of the nation's least-safe cities, ranking No. 189 on the list of 202 cities.
``The party line is that Hartford is one of the poorest cities in the nation, with problems with teen-age pregnancy, and low income,'' said Tony Caruso, director of the Downtown Council, a business group that promotes downtown Hartford.
But hockey also gives Hartford another identity. Because of the Whalers, many who probably wouldn't know Hartford from Harrisburg or Helena know it as the home of an NHL team.
That's worth something, sports backers say.
``As someone in the convention business, what's valuable to me is 80 times a year, having somebody opening up USA Today and seeing that Hartford beat Pittsburgh,'' said Curt Jensen, sports marketing manager for the Greater Hartford Sports Commission.
For those trying to promote the city, the NHL standings are free advertising. With the Whalers threatening to leave town, many in the business community are clamoring to keep them, saying that Hartford won't realize what it had until it loses it.
``It's a quality of life issue that I think is very powerful when you put it together with quality housing, short commutes, all the sort of more subjective things companies look at when deciding to relocate to a community,'' Caruso said.
Caruso and others couldn't point to a company that came to the region because of hockey; most of the big insurance companies that earned Hartford the nickname ``the insurance capital of the world'' have been around for decades. But the gut sense of many is that having an NHL team makes the region more attractive.
``There comes a time when you're trying to attract talented new employees,'' said Bill Russell, a former executive at Aetna Life Insurance who is now a consultant to the company. ``You're looking at this Stanford grad, and he's looking at alternatives in Boston, Washington, and your area. You'd like to say that in your nonworking hours, there are lots of entertainment options.''
Lou Beer, business consultant for the Whalers and a key player in the team's negotiations with the state of Connecticut for a new arena, said a major league team gives a city a ``higher level of visibility nationally.''
``Which city are you more likely to have heard of? Jacksonville, Fla., or Lincoln, Neb.? There are a whole range of cities like that. How much that (visibility) is worth, I don't know.''
Jensen said that because of the Whalers, outsiders sometimes think Hartford - which has a metro population of about 850,000 - is larger than it is.
``When many people from outside the region think of Northeast cities, they lump us in with New York and Boston,'' Jensen said. ``Really, we're more like Buffalo. Having a pro franchise lends to that myth.''
There are some major league benefits you can't put a price on, Russell said. With the Whalers, currently in third place in their division, the hockey buzz in the region is picking up, he said.
``It is remarkable how a community can get behind something,'' Russell said. ``There was a period a couple of years ago when the Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams were both ranked number one. That was incredible. With the Whalers playing well, interest is going to build.''
Not everyone gets behind them. The city of Hartford is 40 percent white, 38 percent black, with the remaining residents mostly Latino. The region is about 83 percent white, and crowds at Whalers games are overwhelmingly white.
``There's a gulf that exists between hockey and the urban community,'' said Larry Charles, director of One/Chane, a community development organization based in North Hartford, the most distressed part of town. ``Minorities are not involved in the front office, on the ice, or as owners of the downtown businesses that benefit from hockey. Nor are we as involved, therefore, in attending the games.''
Still, Hartford's popular mayor, a former firefighter named Mike Peters, said the region is ``uplifted'' when the Whalers are winning. But ask the energetic Peters whether he's the mayor of a major-league city or not, and he can't tell you.
``What's a major-league city?'' he said. ``L.A.? New York? If you look at hockey, there are some smaller markets, and in some other sports, too.
``It's not a very good debate to get into. It's what you want to be. We don't market ourselves as a major league city, we market ourselves as a city.''
Of course, if the Whalers leave, that will settle the question. Then Hartford will have nothing to debate. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Hartford Mayor Mike Peters says the region is ``uplifted'' when the
Whalers win.
Graphic
COMPARING THE MARKETS
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: HOCKEY HARTFORD CONNECTICUT