Thursday, September 29, 2016

Renovated Reynolds


The makeover of Reynolds Coliseum at NC State is spectacular! Thanks to Deputy AD Michael Lipitz for the tour last week. He ably led the project.

The ACC men's basketball tourney and the Dixie Classic originated in this hallowed hall, completed in 1949. It's the repository of Jimmy V's legacy and home to Kay Yow Court. A shrine to Tobacco Road hoops. Holy ground for Wolfpack Nation. 

The arena's rich history has been preserved, enhanced actually, with museum quality displays, and the space has been totally reimagined. More from wralSPORTSfan.com.





Sunday, September 25, 2016

99.9 The Fan - Marconi Nominee


You can't brag about an award you didn't win, but I must give a shout-out to our crew at CBC Sports Radio - 99.9 The Fan, Buzz Sports Radio and 1550 The Ticket.


Specifically, 99.9 The Fan (WCMC-FM) was nominated for a Marconi Radio Award - top sports station of the year in America. The awards gala was held last Thursday night in Nashville at the annual Radio Show. It's a huge conference staged by the National Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau; 2,200 in attendance.


99.9 The Fan has been a sports station only since 2007. We're a relative newcomer to the format, so it's quite an honor to be nominated. WFAN in NYC won the trophy last year, and this time around we were competing with a slate of major market stations. (RDU is radio market #38.)


The Detroit station won this year. We shall return!!! And I'm proud that we were on the the field of play. Congrats to our staff at 99.9 The Fan. That's our Director of Programming and Operations on the left, Dennis Glasgow, and our General Manager, Brian Maloney, on the right. Top talent!


Monday, September 19, 2016

HB2 Damage in Durham



The anvil of HB2 landed on Durham last week.

The ACC, at the direction of its University presidents, pulled their neutral site championships out of NC for 2016-17, following a similar decision by the NCAA. So, the week-long ACC Baseball Championship will not be held at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park next May. In the spirit of transparency (and venting) I post herewith:

It's is so frustrating that this is hurting our community that prides itself on diversity and inclusiveness. Sadly, that doesn't offset our Legislature's resistance to the same. 

I'm not despondent, though. This will be worked out by either judges or politicians in the next year, and hopefully, the tournament will return. I'm more concerned with the loss of momentum. We are trying to convince the ACC that Durham should be the long-term home of the event, and we were awarded a four year contract to show that Durham (and the Triangle) would embrace the event and grow attendance.

Last May, our pre-sold ticket sales were up 24%, and day-of-game sales averaged 1,000 per game for the weekend games. That was without UNC in the 2016 field, so clearly, we were making progress attracting "locals" to the games. Over the past two years, the ACC Baseball Championship in Durham has averaged attendance of 60K for the week with an annual economic impact of $3-5 million.

Regarding the latter, our hotels and restaurants, that had enjoyed full capacity over the typically slow Memorial Day weekend, get a punch to the gut.

My griping is not aimed at the ACC. They are our partner. We've hosted eight Championships since the DBAP opened in 1995. And I should admit that we have been the beneficiary of controversy in the past. We landed the tournament during the SC Confederate flag controversy, and we played host on very short notice when Fenway Park reneged on an invitation to the ACC.

My grousing is reserved for the NC legislature, the Republican leadership and our Governor. (I am registered as an unaffiliated voter, and on this issue I'm particularly unaffiliated with the GOP.)

I will never be convinced that this was really about the transgender bathroom issue in Charlotte - because the law has no enforcement provisions. Trust me, I've read the bill (over and over.) It was cooked up by the GOP leadership to motivate their voters, and it was meant to slap down Charlotte's city council. In the process, they took a broad, mean-spirited swipe at the entire LGBT community. That's what brought NC embarrassing national attention and the ire of the NBA, NCAA and ACC. Restroom security/privacy was never a problem - just a scare tactic to get votes. 

Meanwhile, the travel and tourism sector takes a major hit. Restaurants and hotels will lose millions. At sports venues, the hourly employees - the ushers, concessions workers and parking attendants - will lose work. The party known as a champion of business has done a great deal of economic harm.

We have just formed a Sports Commission in Durham to recruit sporting events to the Bull City. I'm a member. It was created and funded by the City Council and Board of County Commissioners last spring. The Durham Chamber of Commerce shepherded the project for over two years. Now, we are in the process of hiring two staffers. We must remove this anvil, aka HB2, so that we can get about our work.


Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Forever a Bull: William Mills Law



Our last game was Monday, but the season truly ended this afternoon with a noon celebration of Bill Law's life here at the ballpark. The closing prayer was followed by Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Reception fare: hot dogs and nachos. That's the way Bill wanted it! 

Our long-time PA announcer and team ambassador was beloved by fans, staff and the larger baseball community, owing to his devoted leadership of the Raleigh Hot Stove. RDU's Mr. Baseball. Forever a Bull. [Obituary] [Bill's Law - his life in baseball, wralSPORTSfan.com]

The Durham Bulls Athletic Park, with its steel beams and brickwork, has has a certain look, and because of Bill, it even has a sound. His voice reverberated beneath the roof and throughout the concourse on the PA system. It truly met the criterion of “unique” - a Boston accent mellowed (or sweetened) by a lifetime spent in North Carolina. [More memories from our staff.]

We will miss Mr. Law…deeply. I have not known a more loyal member of the staff. And I can still hear his voice at the ball yard.



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A moment of silence for Bill Law at the August 30th Bulls game.