ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601230044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
I read with interest the complaints from UVa fans regarding the Roanoke Times' ``lack of coverage'' of UVa's victory in the Peach Bowl. It didn't exactly break my heart, because my fellow Hokies and I are much more familiar with ``lack of coverage'' than any UVa fan could ever be. The national press fawns over UVa as if they're the Second Coming, so don't complain here.
Let's get this straight: The Roanoke Times does a great job covering Virginia Tech sports, as it should. Tech should be the first priority and UVa the second priority of the Roanoke television stations and newspaper, for three reasons:
1. Virginia Tech is only 35 miles away from Roanoke. UVa is 120 miles away. Simple geography. That's a compelling reason right there.
2. Blacksburg has no local daily paper to fawn over the home team. Blacksburg also has no television station. Roanoke is Tech's only major media outlet, and the Hokies rely on the Roanoke Times for good, in-depth coverage. If you want better coverage of UVa, then get a mail subscription to the Daily Progress, the Charlottesville newspaper.
3. This year, Tech is better than UVa. They're better in football, and and they went to a bigger bowl. They're better in basketball, with a nationally-ranked, talent-laden, well-coached team. People like to read about winners, and Tech's a winner.
Let me commend you for your coverage of the Tech bowl game. You really outdid yourselves, and as a Charlottesville native who moved down here to get closer to Tech (so I could actually read something other than AP wire reports about the Hokies!), your coverage of the Hokies has been everything I wished for.
WILL STEWART
RADFORD
Ticket policy needs revision
Virginia Tech wants to be a top 15 football team every year, and one of the measures of a top season is season ticket sales. Why can't the team that has gone to three straight bowl games and can get 30,000 people to go to New Orleans (not to mention about 10,000 to Shreveport) sell more season tickets? I am a devout Tech fan who does not own season tickets. I feel my reasons for not purchasing them are shared by many, but have never been addressed by the athletic administration at Tech.
1. Price. I am not referring to the price of a single-game ticket, that's average, but season ticket holders are asked to pay that price for every game. Other retailers reward customers buying in bulk with price breaks, why can't Tech?
2. Location. To fill a 52,000 seat stadium in a town of only 25,000, a lot of people have to travel. It is difficult to commit to traveling to Blacksburg five-to-seven times in the Fall when you live in Tidewater or D.C. The need to miss one game is inevitable for some. Would you spend $20 on a game you couldn't see?
3. Seats. After reading literature ``promoting'' season ticket sales, I discovered that unless I contribute to the Athletic Department, I could not get tickets inside the 30 yard lines and below the lower cloud layers. If there are only 13,000 season tickets sold, who is sitting in all the good seats?
On any given football Saturday, I can go to the stadium and purchase a ticket for a crummy seat at the gate for full-price, or I can purchase a good ticket from a scalper, usually for less than face value. Where is the incentive to buy season tickets then?
Unless the athletic administration addresses the concerns - by reserving the best seats for season ticket holders or offering a package of 5 tickets for the price of 4 - look for me combing the crowd before each game next fall searching for good, cheap tickets.
SCOTT ROWLAND
CHRISTIANSBURG
Another view on Peach Bowl
To all those crybaby Wahoos who wrote complaining about the newspaper coverage of the Peach Bowl ...
It's tough being second best. Get used to it!
GARY SMITH
SALEM
In defense of the Express
I just wanted to write and commend your staff, especially Ralph Berrier and Jack Bogaczyk, for their excellent articles on the Roanoke Express.
I hope the article ``Roundhouse no funhouse for Anzalone'' makes those Express fans who have turned their backs on the team turn back around. We were in attendance at the Charlotte game and were disgusted by the crowd's behavior. There are always bad fans, but never this many.
I was refreshed to see this excellent defense of the coach and the team.
CHRIS MOORE
BLACKSBURG
LENGTH: Medium: 92 linesby CNB