THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160469
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: 60 lines
In love, war and the NHL expansion hunt, all is fair, including bending the statistics and shading the pictures to serve you best.
It is not only done, it is expected of any prospective franchise owner worth his silk pocket square.
This is why the video with which George Shinn supposedly dazzled the NHL expansion committee this week depicted Norfolk with an actual skyline - camera angles can be wonderful things - and all but ordained Richmond as a full, dues-paying member of the Hampton Roads family.
Richmond kept coming up in the 14-minute video - which was very well done by the way - as part of the Hampton Roads sports fan market, though it has never been any such thing. Richmond is Richmond, Hampton Roads is Hampton Roads, and never the two shall meet unless it's in an alley to settle this Admirals-Renegades feud once and for all.
However, the video took pains to note that, thanks to Richmond, 3.1 million people live within 100 miles of the planned downtown Norfolk arena; that seven Fortune 500 companies are in that range (Hampton Roads has one); that within those 100 miles are 1.1 million televisions; and that all those TVs give the Rhinos the 20th-largest TV market in the country.
Conveniently ignored, of course, is that the organizations that really chart TV markets rate Hampton Roads at No. 40.
Naturally, there were a few other touts that obfuscated the facts:
The video trumpeted that two-thirds of the United States' population lives within 750 miles of Hampton Roads. Just who will make the drive in from Detroit for a Rhinos game has yet to be determined.
It portrayed sports fans here as ravenous and ready for the big leagues. To prove it, the video showed crowd scenes, apparently from Charlotte Hornets basketball games.
It described Hampton Roads' transportation system as ``sophisticated,'' which I suppose it is if you're from Sri Lanka.
It bragged that 4 million tourists descend upon Hampton Roads each year - but somehow failed to mention that 3.99 million of them descend in the summer, when you'd have to go to Moose Jaw to find a decent hockey game.
Anyway, getting back to us welcoming Richmond into the club, I called Scott Schricker, the head of marketing for the Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers. Schricker thought it only right that the capitol city would be lumped into the Rhinos' stomping ground.
``It's very legitimate to add Richmond's numbers,'' Schricker said. ``Any other city would be doing the same thing. I don't think there are any qualms with the methods they're using to come up with those numbers.''
Schricker said Richmond's inclusion is also legitimate because he believes there are NHL fans who trek to Washington already who would welcome the just-as-long but less-frantic drive to Norfolk for a game.
Overall, though, those fans would barely register in the Rhinos' grand scheme. Few Richmond residents would become full season-ticket holders. Luxury suite and sponsorship potential is why Richmond is important.
Now, Shinn could sell wood to woodpeckers. But why Robins Pharmaceuticals would go in for a $115,000 luxury suite in Norfolk year after year is a little perplexing.
But remember, those are mere details mentioned above. And in the selling game, they should never be allowed to blemish a whopping good story.