ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230095
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
VMI MOVES 1996 Citadel game to Lexington.
Maybe you've never heard of the Oyster Bowl, but some of the NFL stars who played there as collegians are more memorable: Georgia's Fran Tarkenton, Don Meredith at Southern Methodist, Virginia Tech's Bruce Smith.
In one of the more memorable Oyster Bowl plays, Navy quarterback Roger Staubach heaved a 66-yard touchdown pass to a flanker feigning a leg injury and hobbling toward the sidelines.
Sudden death came Tuesday for the game played for 50 years in Norfolk to raise money for charity. It was never able to draw the huge crowds modern college football demands.
``The expense of the game has skyrocketed,'' said Jim Howard, a Norfolk attorney and game chairman for the sponsoring Shriners.
VMI was supposed to play The Citadel on Nov.16 in the 1996 Oyster Bowl. Instead, the game between the two military schools will be played in Lexington.
The Oyster Bowl began in 1946 as a high school charity game to raise money for handicapped children. After two years it became a college game.
Always played during the regular season, the bowl often drew such big-name schools as Duke, North Carolina, Pitt, Georgia and Maryland. Navy was the most frequent guest, thanks to the huge Norfolk Naval Base.
Over the years, the Oyster Bowl raised more than $3 million. But attendance, which peaked at about 32,000 in the 1950s and '60s, began to decline in the 1980s.
Fewer than 8,500 fans turned out for last fall's game between VMI and Georgia Southern, the smallest turnout ever. Howard said the city collected more in admissions taxes at the last game than was raised for the 22 hospitals supported by the Shriners.
The Shriners plan to sponsor a golf tournament instead, he said.
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB