THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 4, 1996 TAG: 9611040037
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: 135 lines
Two busloads of Hampton Roads community leaders and their families, 22 people in all, pour into the Charlotte Hornets' offices. Inside stands George Shinn, immaculately dressed, smiling from ear to ear, greeting each with a handshake.
The guests gorge themselves on smoked salmon, shrimp, pasta salad and roast beef, mingle with Hornets' officials and take in the surroundings. Banners and posters are everywhere. In one corner is a hornets' nest in a glass case. Even the floor is adorned with a logo of Charlotte's favorite insect.
Once his guests appear settled in, Shinn asks for everyone's attention. ``I've asked you here,'' he says in his distinctive Carolina drawl, ``to suck up to you.''
Laughter erupts, but nobody in the audience doubts he is being serious.
The founder and owner of the Hornets, the man who last Friday stunned Hampton Roads by applying to bring a National Hockey League expansion franchise to the region, pulled out all the stops in a hastily planned but carefully orchestrated eight-hour effort Saturday to impress community leaders.
The region's seven mayors were invited to attend the Hornets' home opener against the Toronto Raptors, and four attended - Virginia Beach's Meyera E. Oberndorf, Norfolk's Paul D. Fraim, Portsmouth's James W. Holley III and Hampton's James L. Eason.
Also on hand were Barry DuVal, president of the Hampton Roads Partnership; Brad Face of Forward Hampton Roads; Morton V. Whitlow, chairman of the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads; Curtis Cole Jr., former ODU basketball star and president of the Norfolk Chamber of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce; Will Sessoms Jr., the Virginia Beach vice mayor; Jerrauld C. Jones, a state delegate from Norfolk; and Art Collins, executive director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. Each brought along a family member.
Shinn dispatched three planes to Norfolk International Airport, including his personal purple-and-blue jet with a Hornet on the fantail, to shuttle the entourage to and from Charlotte.
Even though it was opening night for the Hornets, Shinn spent the evening with the Virginians. The troop arrived about 5:45 p.m., and for more than an hour he shook hands, posed for pictures and talked turkey.
He was joined by most of the Hornets' braintrust, including Tom Ward, vice president of marketing, who came up with the Rhinos nickname for the hockey team and will lead a ticket sale in Hampton Roads slated to begin Tuesday.
Even Hugo, the Hornets' mascot, made a guest appearance, posing for pictures with Jones' and DuVal's young sons.
Shinn apparently had been briefed on how dysfunctional Hampton Roads can be when it comes to regional cooperation.
``If the whole community doesn't embrace this thing, then it won't work,'' he said. ``It can't be just Norfolk. It can't be just Norfolk and Virginia Beach. It's got to be Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, and Suffolk, too.
``The economic benefits will be tremendous for everyone, but there are certain things you can't place an economic value on, like having Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry to go to these middle schools and try to urge kids to stay in school and stay away from drugs. That's part of the requirement we have'' for players.
At 7 p.m., Shinn cuts himself off and leads the group on the short walk to the Charlotte Coliseum. They enter, via the VIP entrance, just as the Canadian national anthem is being played.
Because the trip was planned only 24 hours in advance, the group is scattered about the coliseum. The Hornets have sold out 318 consecutive games, and when asked how the team was able to assemble so many tickets so quickly, one official said: ``You don't want to know.''
The show surrounding the game is extravagant. A light show and indoor fireworks precede the Hornets' introductions. Hugo makes his entrance swinging on a rope and smashing through a simulated brick wall. Later on, he dons his ``Super Hugo'' outfit and does acrobatics, jumping on a trampoline and dunking backward and sideways.
The crowd of 24,042 roars its approval.
Shinn injects Hampton Roads into the festivities as both DuVal's and Fraim's names appear on the giant scoreboard as potential (albeit wrong) answers in a trivia contest.
At halftime, as the Rockettes perform at midcourt, Eason chats with an old friend - Jess Kersey, a Newport News native and an NBA ref who's working the game. Shinn is in the stands with Fraim, Oberndorf and others, conversing quietly.
``I'm excited,'' Fraim said during a break. ``I'm really beginning to think it's going to happen.''
DuVal planned seating arrangements on the planes with negotiations in mind. Most of the city leaders are paired. DuVal and Fraim, who has represented the partnership in negotiations with Shinn, went over preliminary figures with others as to how much it might cost each city to build a new arena.
The region has until Nov. 14 to come up with a plan to fund an arena, one that DuVal said likely would require money from every city in the region. On the 14th, the area must make a presentation to NHL officials.
Sessoms, an arena proponent, was doubtful when the trip began. ``I just don't see how we can get it done in this time frame,'' he said in the Norfolk airport.
Afterward, he is buoyant: ``If we're talking about something like $600,000 per year from the city of Virginia Beach to bring a major sports team here, I don't know how we can say no to that.''
Charlotte wins the game easily against Toronto, 109-98. Curry, the former Virginia Tech star, scores 38 for the Hornets. It is a successful debut for new coach Dave Cowens.
But for the Virginians, the talk is of the dance team, the fireworks, the music, the cordial nature of Hornets employees.
``Everything they do here appears to be first-class,'' Oberndorf says.
Shinn continues to lobby on the way back to the offices. But others are also lobbying him. Sessoms implores Shinn not to make a final decision on an arena site until Virginia Beach has had a chance to make a pitch for a site near Indian River Road and Interstate 64. Shinn had indicated earlier he'd probably pick a site in downtown Norfolk.
``He said he'll listen, and that's all we can ask,'' Sessoms said.
Mostly, though, this is a night for others to listen to Shinn. ``We're going to work real hard to put together something you'll be real proud of up there,'' he said. ``We'll make every game an event there.
``I really think it can work. But part of the unanswered question is that on Tuesday, when we come up and present a program on getting people to . . . put down some money for tickets, are they going to do it? If they say no, our chances just about slip away. If they say yes, then our chances go up, and how loud they say yes is how much better our chances are.''
Goodbyes are said quickly; everyone has meetings planned for Sunday. Shinn and his Hornets' staff will go over plans for the Nov. 14 presentation to the NHL. In Norfolk, DuVal will convene regional leaders to discuss a funding plan for the 18,000-seat arena.
``This came on so suddenly,'' Holley said. ``We don't have a day to spare.''
As the planes approach the Hampton Roads skyline, it is nearly midnight. Face, sitting next to his wife, Dotty, smiles to himself. He has been working since the early 1980s to bring major-league sports to the region. What has been lacking all these years is a deep-pocketed investor willing to ante up for a franchise, he said.
``It was inevitable this would happen,'' Face said. ``The market is just too favorable for it not to have happened. Somebody was going to bring a team here.
``But it's fascinating how the stars have aligned in the last 48 hours to give us this opportunity. Who could have expected it would be George Shinn?'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
George Shinn by CNB