UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursdav August 24.1995
5B
New Hall of Fame offers something for everyone
The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The artificial turf is down on the Gridiron Plaza, the plaques are up in the Hall of Champions and the film is set to roll in the Stadium Theatre.
Three years after South Bend was awarded the National College Football Hall of Fame, everything is ready for the building's opening Friday. And the $15 million hall is even better than organizers had hoped for, said Bob Casciola, executive director of the National Football Foundation.
"It's spectacular. It's going to be as fine a hall (of fame) as there is in the country," he said. "It's new, it's modern, it's interactive. I think anybody who comes in, no matter what their age, is going to be entertained. We're very, very pleased."
The previous museum-like hall in Kings Mills, Ohio, never attracted the expected crowds, and it closed in 1992 due to financial problems. Organizers were determined the new hall would be different, with a little something for everyone.
The hall's main entrance is on the Gridiron Plaza, a field complete with goal post that will be used for outside functions such as tailgate parties.
"I think it's a gangbuster type of facility. It's a real tribute to the game."
Bernie Kish
National Football Hall of Fame Director
Once inside, a spiral ramp takes visitors to the lower level, where life-sized figurines of football fans past and present point people to the Stadium Theater. The 22-minute film shows highlights of six 1994 games, and is shown on a 360-degree screen to give visitors the feeling of being at an actual game.
The theater is surrounded by the hall's centerpiece, the Hall of Champions. There are beige, sculpted plaques for each of the hall's 729 inductees, and computer monitors housed in what look like ticket booths offer career highlights and statistics, as well as 30-second film clips.
It also includes film clips of players getting ready for games, as well as coaches' pregame sneches.
Outside the Hall of Champions are interactive displays where visitors can get a feel for what it is like to play and coach college football. In the Training Room, visitors can measure their height, weight, body-fat percentage and vertical leap, and see how it matches up with a typical player.
The Practice Field lets people test their passing, kicking, and running and blocking abilities. The Strategy Clinic pits visitors against legendary coaches by presenting actual game scenarios and asking visitors to make the call.
The interactive displays are what will make the hall a success, said Phil Faccenda, president of the Friends of the Hall of Fame, a nonprofit group established to
("The previous hall) was a wonderful museum, but it was a museum. This is an amusement park," he said. "I can bring my grandchildren through three or four times a year and they will enjoy it. If I'd taken them to the one in Ohio, they would have spent a few hours there and that would have been it."
help finance the facility.
There are other things working in the hall's favor, including its location. The hall is a centerpiece of South Bend's downtown, and it's just two miles from the Indiana Toll Road, making it easily accessible to people in cities such as Chicago and Detroit.
But the hall's biggest attraction could be its proximity to Notre Dame. While organizers have taken great pains to keep the hall's identity separate from the university's, they are counting on fans who come to South Bend to see the Fighting Irish or their opponents to make up the majority of visitors.
"Notre Dame is the second-largest tourist attraction in the state," Mayor Joe Kernan said.
When the hall opens, it will be nearly a
year later than planned. City officials delayed construction of the hall 10 months when they could not find corporate sponsors to underwrite the bonds sold to finance construction.
The first corporate sponsor, a $600,000 gift over three years by Butter King Corp., was not announced until July 20. This week, officials announced a $250,000 agreement with Bayer Corp., the maker of Alka-Seltzer, and a deal with the U.S. Postal Service.
Financial details of that agreement were not available, but the Postal Service plans to build a national marketing campaign tied to college football.
The difficulty of hiring sponsors is not discouraging, nor does it reflect badly on the hall, said Bernie Kish, the hall's director. In these days of tight budgets, most corporations did not want to make a big investment until the hall was complete
"p" Just give us a chase. If they see the place, they're going to love it. "Kish said." "I just think it's a gangbuster type of facility. It's a real tribute to the game."
Chiefs cut former No.1 pick
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marty Schottenheimer won't be surprised if some of the players the Kansas City Chiefs cut Tuesday show up this season wearing enemy uniforms.
Return specialist Jon Vaughn, who averaged almost 26 yards in 15 kickoff returns for Kansas City last year, might be a particularly good candidate to come back and haunt the Chiefs. He was one of 17 players cut as all NFL teams trimmed their rosters to 60 players.
"I'm sure there are a handful of players there who will have an opportunity to catch on with other teams." Schottenheimer said.
"Any time you've got to let players go, it's difficult. I don't think we had any really dramatic decisions to announce today. But we've got a very competitive environment here."
The departure of Vaughn, who also had a touch-down return after being signed as a free agent in late November, seemed to be good news for rookie free agent J.J. Smith of Kansas State, who
is vying for a spot as a running back and kick returer.
Also cut by the Chiefs was cornerback A.J. Johnson and linebacker Percy Snow, a former first-round draft choice trying a long-odd comeback after being out of football for a year.
Snow, the Chiefs' No.1 draft choice in 1990 out of Michigan State, had looked good in spurs after asking for one more invitation to training camp.
Snow had learned of his fate on Monday.
"I knew what long odds I was up against here," he said. "I've got no hard feelings. But I don't want to talk about it."
Also cut Tuesday were wide receivers Wesley Carroll, Allen DeGraffenreid, Harrison Houston and Sean LaChapelle; running back Terry Richardson; offensive linemen Ron Florine and David Ware; defensive end Ronn Woolie; linebacker Arnold Ale; cornerback Perry Carter; defensive tackles Rob Waldrop and Mike Pelton; and tight ends Robert Williams and Willy Tate.
The Chiefs will have to cut down to the regular season maximum of 53 players on Aug.27.
The Associated Press
Nebraska reaps record licensing revenues
LINCOLN, Neb. — The University of Nebraska has found it pays to be the reigning national champion of college football.
Since the Cornhuskers' victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl the university has realized more than $2.18 million in royalties from license and logo fees, said Gary Fourier, Nebraska assistant athletic director for business and finance.
NU granted more than 800 licenses for the sale of T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, hats, posters, knickknacks and books. Fans have purchased more than $68.2 million worth of national championship goods.
Nebraska finished the 1984-95 fiscal year with a $200,000 surplus in the $22 million athletic department budget.
In addition to profits from the sale of
licensed goods the university is benefiting from a 66-cent increase in ticket prices, a fund-raising effort that could reach $4.75 million and the possibility of national and regional markets.
And there is no measuring the revenue potential that would result from an undefeated regular season and another national championship game, Bahl said.
The Collegiate Licensing Co. of Georgia said Nebraska jumped from No. 14 to No. 4 in gross royalties, trailing Michigan, Notre Dame and Florida State in royalty revenues.
For Nebraska that meant a record jump of 372 percent over 1993-94 revenue.
Nebraska made almost $1.6 million in revenues in the six months following the Orange Bowl, an increase of more than $1 million for the entire previous two years combined.
Bahl predicted that NU will find
another hot market when Herbie
Husker is replaced in maccos.
Herbie is being retired after 22 years because he lacked marketing potential, said NU athletic director Bill Byme.
Bahl said the Newtsaka athletic department wants to exploit a wider market.
"I think we're close to saturation locally, but we have barely scratched the surface in the region and in the nation," he said. "When you consider that Michigan and Notre Dame are bringing in almost $8 million in royalty revenues, you can see that we have a ways to go."
NU has no plant to take advantage of the lionur and beer market.
"We have allowed some beer companies to put out schedule cards and banners, with the message about drinking safely and responsibly," Bahl said.
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