THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120622
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
The Canadian Football League has given the Pirates and three other American CFL franchises until Jan. 31 to get their houses in order.
CFL commissioner Larry Smith said the board of governors agreed Thursday that all teams must declare whether and where they will play by Jan. 31, which is the second of three days of league meetings scheduled in Edmonton.
``This date is cast in stone,'' Smith said. ``And I have a very hard head.
``There will be no exceptions . . . Mr. (John) Tory, chairman of our league, feels strongly about that and so do I.
``We're not trying to be belligerent. But we're interested in the credibility of our league. We have to know who's going to play so we can do our schedules and get them to our TV networks.''
Clearly, the CFL's 12 owners didn't know how many teams would play in the United States after concluding a 3 1/2-hour telephone conference Thursday.
The Pirates, who have relocated from Shreveport, La., to Hampton Roads, are on hold because they have yet to negotiate a lease agreement for Foreman Field and have not gotten approval from cities in the area for $400,000 worth of improvements to the stadium.
Nonetheless, their application for relocation will be approved or rejected on Jan. 31 in Edmonton, Smith said.
Baltimore, the CFL champion, hopes to move to Houston, but is beset with financial problems. A Shreveport group is attempting to purchase the Birmingham Barracudas, and Smith said the group continues to make ``good progress.'' But that deal is also far from final.
The Memphis Mad Dogs, who have folded, may be purchased from the league by groups in Los Angeles or Montreal, Smith said.
San Antonio, the only American franchise that has no intention of moving, might also fold if enough American teams don't commit to play in three weeks.
``I will live with the 31st,'' said San Antonio owner Fred Anderson. ``But if we don't have answers on the 32nd, I'll hit the road. I'll be out.''
Thursday's three-week delay was good news in what has so far been a bad week for the Pirates. They learned Wednesday that Norfolk is willing to help fund the stadium improvements only if Virginia Beach will chip in, and Virginia Beach officials appear unwilling to participate.
Pirates officials attempted to reach Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf on Thursday, but when she returned their phone call, they had left for a meeting with local Navy officials. Pirates president Lonie Glieberman said they will try to reach her again today.
Pirates officials, accompanied by officials from the Norfolk and Virginia Beach branches of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, met with Oberndorf several weeks ago and apparently left the meeting thinking they had won a convert. But Oberndorf said following a meeting with Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim on Wednesday that she had concerns about providing city money for the Pirates.
``We're eager to have the opportunity to sit in front of Mayor Oberndorf and ask her about her concerns,'' said Bill Haase, the Pirates executive vice president.
``We need to find out what the root of the problems seems to be. Until this happened, we were under the assumption we had answered her questions and were ready to move to the next plateau.
``Something has happened that we're unaware of that's caused a delay in that progress. We're not sure what to do until we talk to her. . . . We certainly hope there aren't any doors that are closed. We hope we have a chance to sit down and speak with her.'' by CNB