THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994                    TAG: 9406250356 
SECTION: SPORTS                     PAGE: C1    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro 
DATELINE: 940625                                 LENGTH: Medium 

THINKING BIG IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT

What about Windsurfers; Surfers for short? Print the logo on a T-shirt and see how it floats.

{REST} Hmmm. I wonder. Would anybody go for the Virginia Pilots?

Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there. I was just pondering some of the possible names for our Dream Team, the major league sports franchise that may or may not be in Hampton Roads' future.

If we start now, we should be able to come up with something better than Panthers or Jaguars.

Picking names, I admit, is not only the least important aspect of any long-range plan to bring big league sports to Hampton Roads. It is the most premature. Still, thinking big is fun. Important, too.

Thinking big is what it's all about. Charlotte and Jacksonville have taught us that.

Regional cooperation - an oxymoron in Hampton Roads - is a vital element in any effort to attract a major league franchise. So is the location and construction of a first-rate sports facility.

But attitude counts for a lot, as well. Before Hampton Roads can even be considered a serious candidate for a big-time franchise, it must think of itself as a big-time place.

Little by little, that is happening, which is not to say that Hampton Roads isn't still years and years away from becoming a serious player in the sports lottery.

Let's face it, only in the last couple years has the area even begun to live up to its potential as a minor league sports market.

With the growth of the hockey Admirals and the building of Harbor Park, the area's pulse has quickened. Not enough, though, that anyone outside Hampton Roads would notice.

Taking into account the area's small national profile, and despite its population, it seems preposterous that anyone would consider Hampton Roads a prime candidate for big-time sports.

It wasn't that long ago, though, that people said the same about Charlotte, a city much derided as the country's largest truck stop. Today, Charlotte is known for its teams, not the Teamsters.

As for Jacksonville, the northern Florida city is just Hampton Roads with palm trees. But turn that around and you see that Hampton Roads is Jacksonville without the football stadium.

Jacksonville was teased and squeezed for years before landing its NFL expansion franchise. One assumes that, today, the city swells with pride. A major league team gives a community's image a big boost. Puts a city on the map, so they say.

Other assumptions are less reliable. It is misleading to claim, as so many do, that a big league franchise enhances an area's economy. Or that a city receives its fair market value for its investment. Or that the presence of a basketball or football team attracts industry.

More likely, better schools attract industry. As for the alleged economic impact, a team does not necessarily stimulate new spending. It siphons off money that would be spent on other products.

If Hampton Roads really needs a major league sports franchise, it is for the sake of its pride. So that the area can bask in big-leagueness. So that it can find its way to the map.

Most of the readers who responded to our telephone poll favor a franchise in the NBA or NFL to one in baseball or hockey. As long as we're dreaming, we might as well aim high.

Virginia Beach was the callers' preferred location for a new arena or stadium. The Beach has the land and the people. But if Hampton Roads is ever going to be treated seriously as a future home of major league sports, it will be up to Norfolk to lead the way.

Norfolk officials are actually doing something besides talking. City Councilman Paul Fraim, economic development chief Robert Smithwick, City Manager James Oliver Jr., and others are out front in their efforts to make the big-leaguers aware of Norfolk.

It's a start. A small, important start.

In an area with so much negative sports heritage to overcome, so little business clout, and such rancorous regional relationships, only the most aggressive, single-minded campaign has a chance.

And who knows? If we can convince ourselves that we are really big time, maybe, one day, we can convince a big league team.

by CNB