Social media, (WAVY.com, Facebook, and comments from nameless readers at the end of articles on newspaper web pages) is the new water cooler gossip zone, reminded my colleague and Old Dominion graduate Jeff Myers today. Jeff is a season ticket holder for both ODU football and basketball, and like thousands of others, had an opinion of the hiring of new basketball coach Jeff Jones.

In less than 24 hours, anonymous pundits typed their fingers raw, calling for the firing of Old Dominion athletic director Dr. Wood Selig after word leaked out Selig had hired Jeff Jones away from American University in Washington, D.C. to replace longtime coach Blaine Taylor who was fired in the midst of Old Dominion’s most miserable season in school history.

Looking back, I must admit I think Dr. Selig made his first mistake by being honest and saying he was looking for a hard working, maybe young coach, who would work hard, knows the area and would bring excitement back to the Ted Constant Center.

So much for honesty. Like other AD’s, Dr. Selig should have just clammed up and said he was looking for the best coach possible. But that is not his style.

His second mistake (and this is only my personal opinion) came when he publicly proclaimed in late February that interim coach Jim Corrigan was not only in the running for the job, but that “another candidate had to come in and beat him.” A great slap on the back for a job well done under difficult circumstances, but nothing I ever believed to be true. Although I am sure Dr. Selig will disagree.

I wonder how ecstatic Monarchs fans would have been if Selig had hired the loyal 54-year old Corrigan who had spent 19 years as an ODU assistant, but had only won three games as a head coach? Not a very sexy hire.

Virginian Pilot reporter Ed Miller, one of the best, and who’s primary beat is ODU basketball, reported the finalists to replace Taylor were down to a handful. Dennis Felton, who left Western Kentucky to move onto Georgia where he was fired in 2009. Kevin Keatts, a promising assistant to Rick Pitino at Louisville, who’s previous job was as a Prep School coach at Hargrave Military Academy. And 56-year old Steve Robinson, Roy Williams’ top assistant at North Carolina, who was fired as head coach at Florida State after five years. Felton has been out of the business for four years, and although Robinson is considered one of the top assistant coaches in basketball he did not fare well in his only shot at being a head coach.

Keatts seems to have the most upside, but there is no guarantee he would be the next Brad Stevens, Shaka Smart or Danny Hurley (my guess to be the next coach at Rutgers, if they can get him).

So who would have drawn cheers had they been introduced today instead of Coach Jones? Alabama’s Anthony Grant would be nice, but his $1.8 million price tag is a little out of ODU’s reach. Seton Hall took a chance with Tommy Amaker, a then young Duke assistant, who left Seton Hall after three short years for a better job at Michigan where he was fired and replaced by Richmond’s John Beilein. Amaker is at Harvard now, where he turned down a $1.1 million a year offer from Miami last year.

Of course, it would have made national news today had Florida Gulf Coast’s Andy Enfield donned a Blue and White Monarchs cap. Dr. Selig had the darling of this year’s NCAA tournament secretly on his radar before March Madness began and had already interviewed Enfield before his team’s unbelievable run in the NCAA tournament two weeks ago. Selig was so interested in Enfield he had a private plane ready to fly down to Ft. Myers to bring Enfield and his wife to Norfolk for a final talk and maybe a final offer. The plane was sent back into the hanger when Enfield instead flew to Los Angeles where he landed a six-year $6 million dollar deal to become the new coach at USC.

But let’s be honest. Let’s say FGC (where is it, again?) had not beaten San Diego St. and Georgetown two weeks ago. Let’s say Enfield had agreed to come to Old Dominion. How many Monarchs fans had him in their coaches search bracket? What would the reaction have been when word leaked out that ODU’s new coach was a former businessman with two years of coaching experience at the school nobody had ever heard of.

“Fire Wood Selig” would have been the rant of the day.

So with Enfield in LA, and all the other finalists with their fair share of question marks, Selig may have taken the safe way out. ESPN college basketball guru Fran Fraschilla, the former coach at St. Johns and New Mexico convinced Dr. Selig that Jeff Jones was the perfect man for the job. A hard worker, a great strategist, well connected in the world of AAU basketball (maybe the most important complement). A coach who can calmly make the kind of adjustments on the fly which is worth two or three wins a year. That can be the difference between making the postseason and being a bubble team bust.

ESPN host Tony Kornheiser pointed out today that Jones’ record at AU was the best in the school’s history and even more impressive considering the private school in the Patriot league with tough academic standards is no Duke. NBA reporter David Aldridge said this morning Jones had taken American U to the NCAA tournament twice, something none of its previous coaches including Gary Williams (Ohio St. and Maryland), Jim Lynam (St. Joseph’s), or Tom Davis (Iowa) was able to do during their coaching stints there.

Aldridge said what impressed him the most, was that Jones stayed at AU for 13 years and did not use it as a stepping stone for a better job. Aldridge said Jones respected the people and fans at American University and appreciated their love of basketball, that he gave the fans there the excitement of having a winning and championship team. When AU beat Colgate in 2008 and made the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, Jones sat on the bench after the game with a towel over his head and sobbed with joy over what his team had accomplished and what it meant to the fans. He brought respectability and a winning attitude to the program, and the AU fans will forever be grateful for that.

It may not be sexy—but it appeared to be sincere.

Boo Williams, one of the most successful AAU coaches in the nation, who lives in nearby Hampton, told David Teel of the Daily Press today, “They (ODU) needed to get somebody who knows the 757 and North Carolina. Jeff knows the area. I think it’s a good hire.”

But in the age of the web, where every game is on TV, and a totally obscure coach with a hot wife can get a million dollar a year raise by winning two games, fans want flash. You know, Mark Schmidt at St. Bonaventure, Scott Nagy at South Dakota State, Chris Mack at Xavier, Baylor’s Scott Drew. Had Dr. Selig been able to steal away any one of these household names how excited would Monarch fans be tonight?

I pointed out to Dr. Selig today, something he already knew of course, that some ODU fans were disappointed and were wishing for a “sexier” hire.

His response…

“I can understand that but my number one goal is to put ODU basketball in a position to win championships, because I believe championships are sexy. So if ODU is going to win Conference USA championships, if ODU is going to go to the NCAA and compete and make noise in the NCAA Tournament, the position I believed was best suited to put us in a position to accomplish that was Jeff Jones.”

And considering the options, I tend to agree.

After years of talks, over a million dollars spent on consulting reports, and most recently an NBA team looking to relocate, time has run out for now regarding plans to build a new arena in Virginia Beach with the Sacramento Kings as the building’s main tenant.

Today, Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms and Peter Lukko, the president of Comcast Spectacor, acknowledged they are no longer hopeful a deal can be made with the next week or so to bring a major league sports team to Virginia, that team being the Kings.

“Both parties remain committed to the concept of an arena in Virginia Beach and to continuing discussions with a potential anchor tenant. That said, we have not reached a level of progress that will allow the city to go before the General Assembly to request the necessary funding.”

So, the Kings will not be signing an agreement to come to Virginia Beach.

I spoke with Mayor Sessoms today and asked him if he was disappointed. He said, “Yes, but at the same time looking ahead to the future, and seeing opportunites like this again we know what to be prepared for. One city can’t do this alone in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I think we will have an opportunity like this again, hopefully in the very near future. Based on our experience I believe we will be able to negotiate better, have our partnerships in place with whoever we do this with ahead of time, and get out to the community ahead of time.”

Without that agreement with the Kings, Virginia Beach will not ask state legislators for the 150-million dollars they need to finance the deal.

Thus the Kings, who have never publicly admitted they were considering the move to Virginia, will most likely explore other options. Whether it be selling the team to folks in Seattle, perhaps working a deal to move the team to Anaheim, or just staying put in Sacramento.

There is no way to tell today just how far apart the various parties were from agreeing to a deal–Beach officials were adamant they would not build the arena unless they could guarantee no risk to the taxpayer. And the Kings obviously weren’t going to make the move unless they were convinced it was a good deal for them.

Time has run out, the city needed a deal to take to the state, saying the $150 million was critical to make the project happen.

If there is a positive to the arena talks–it re-energized the entertainment complex planned for the old Dome site at the Oceanfront. That project, to be built by producer Michael Jenkins, using $120 million of his own money, should be finalized soon.

I’ll have more on the Mayor’s arena statement later today, and on WAVY News 10 at 6pm.

Time for the next step, as Virginia Beach continues it’s quest to build a new 18,000 seat arena and lure the NBA Kings from Sacramento as the building’s anchor tenant.

Tomorrow, December 11th, the Beach City Council is expected to vote overwhelmingly to continue negotiations on the project giving state leaders the confidence that from a local level, everybody is on board.

For now.

City leaders including Virginia Beach councilman Glenn Davis and the city’s finance director Patti Phillips traveled to Dallas late last week to continue talks with Comcast-Spectacor, along with Kevin Taylor the project manager at consultant HKS, Inc. On it’s website, HKS quoted Sims Hinds, managing director of HKS World Events as saying, “We believe that Virginia Beach and Southeastern Virginia represents the last untapped major sports and entertainment market in the country.”

HKS World Events has been working with the Virginia Beach Development Authority on the arena project for more than two and a half years. HKS designed the new Cowboys Stadium, Dodgers Stadium, along with NBA arenas in Dallas and Indianapolis.

But all the talking in the world is not going to come up with the money needed to build the arena and pay moving expenses for the Kings.

Next up, trying to convince members of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly to kick in $150 million to help with the costs.

The state session begins on January 9th. Because the request for state money came in so late, it was not included in the budget introduced by Gov. Bob McDonnell. So now it is up to local Delegates and Senators to submit a budget amendment to the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees. That must be done by Friday, January 4th. Local Senator Frank Wagner is expected to carry the legislation to Richmond but neither he nor Beach Senator Jeff McWaters have yet to endorse it. Delegates Ron Villanueva, Chris Stolle, Sal Iaquinto, and Bob Purkey are believed to have been briefed on the proposal but none of them have made any public comment.

Longtime Delegate Bob Tata, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, was quoted by Aaron Applegate in the Virginian Pilot last month calling the arena concept, “pie in the sky.” But sources say skepticism by the local delegation in Hampton Roads came before they were given details of the proposal.

After the budget amendment has been submitted, it will have to go before a subcommittee, then the House Appropriations Committee, and then to the entire House of Delegates before it can be adopted. When, and in this case (a big) if this happens, the House budget is sent to the Senate for consideration.

One noticeable stumbling point in the state request may be that Virginia Beach wants to use $80 million of the $150 million to pay the owners of the Kings for moving costs, the anticipated 30 million dollars demanded by the other NBA owners in what they call a “relocation fee”, and loss of revenue the team expects to suffer while having to play in smaller arena’s in Virginia during the two years it will take to build the new building at the beach.

Negotiators may be better served finding another way to come up with the $80 million for the team–using the state money instead for construction and other costs.

Asking for state funds to pay the owners of the Kings George and Gavin Maloff, may be a deal breaker, and this deal is fragile enough.

It’s doubtful the arena can be built without help from the state, so the support of local legislators and eventually law makers from around the state are going to be paramount for this to happen.

Next Tuesday, the newly formed Citizen Communications Committee for the proposed project will hold a public Town Hall meeting at the Virginia Beach Convention Center to gather input from citizens.

So while the arena and the relocation of the Kings is far from being a done deal, it will all be over soon one way or another. The state General Assembly session is only 45 days long, meaning it ends February 23rd.

And the many people associated with the project that I have talked to say there does not seem to be a chance the arena can be built without both the state money and without a long term lease signed by the Kings.

Stay tuned.

After months of negotiations it appears the details have been worked out to build an arena in Virginia Beach, and bring a major league sports team with it.

But the deal is far from being done.

A plan to build a $350 million arena on the Virginia Beach oceanfront, with an NBA team as its anchor tenant, moved forward during Tuesday night’s Virginia Beach City Council meeting.

Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms announced that he has been advised by Peter Luukko, the President and CEO of Comcast-Spectacor that a proposal is ready for the city to build the arena in the Virginia Beach resort area.

Today, the city staff under the direction of the Mayor sent to state officials a request for $150 million dollars to help with construction costs and moving expenses for the unnamed team.

As I reported earlier this month, George Maloof Jr., one of the owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings met in Richmond with Gov. Bob McDonnell and other state officials to talk about moving his team to Virginia Beach if an arena was built there. No one involved in the negotiations, including the Kings have ever confirmed the Kings are the “major league sports team” being referred to.

Before and since that meeting, Mr. Luukko, has been negotiating a deal with Beach officials and presumably the Kings to bring the three groups together.

The city would own the building, Comcast-Spectacor in partnership with concert industry giant Live Nation would manage and book the arena, provide lease payments and all operating costs. In partnership with world-wide concert promoter Live Nation, the operators would count on the major league sports team as it’s principal tenant. But the majority of the dates would be filled by major concerts, large religious functions and other sporting events. These events range from ACC and NCAA basketball tournaments, Olympic trials, NCAA swimming championships, and pay per view wrestling and MMA shows. Comcast-Spectacor would kick in $35 million to make the deal work.

The Kings would be the main tenant.

But the deal hinges on the Virginia General Assembly agreeing to borrow $150 million, with that money expected to be paid back over time via state tax revenue that would be generated by the arena.

$70 million of the requested state funds would go towards arena capital costs, and $80 million will go to the team for moving expenses. That would include an estimated $30 million dollar relocation fee the Kings would have to pay the other NBA owners, and for potential loss of income the Kings would face by having to play two years at the Old Dominion Constant Center while the arena is being built.

Already one consultant report, given to state officials, concludes an arena with an NBA team in Virginia Beach could generate as much as $182 million in visitor spending each year, with the state alone taking in almost $11 million a year in tax dollars.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has long supported efforts to bring a professional sports franchise to Hampton Roads. But will he have enough sway to convince state leaders that the state tax revenue the arena will bring in will pay off the loan? In addition to the money, McDonnell believes the national exposure of a “major league team” will be good for the state.

The city would be responsible for borrowing $195 dollars. The council it would seem, has to be convinced money generated by the arena on the local level will be enough to pay back that loan without the city having to use current or future tax dollars. In addition city hotels, restaurants and shops both in the resort area and nearby would look forward to increased business especially during the non-tourist season from September through April.

Mr. Luukko is expected to come before the Virginia Beach Council next week to make Comcast-Spectacor’s formal proposal. Mayor Sessoms told Jason Marks of WAVY-TV Tuesday night he and Mr. Luukko believed the chances of this all coming together was about 50-50.

On Tuesday, the Virginia Beach City Council will be presented with the final consultant’s report regarding the feasibility of building a $350 million arena.

The clock is ticking, so where are we now?

Governor Bob McDonnell, Beach Mayor Will Sessoms and officials from Comcast-Spectacor met in Richmond last week along with Sacramento Kings owner George Maloof in regards to the Kings moving their team to Virginia Beach.

Most of my sources tell me today they don’t believe the arena can survive without the assurance that the Kings will sign a long term deal.

But it won’t be cheap. The Kings will have plenty of expenses, at least a $30 million dollar relocation fee to be paid to their fellow NBA owners, as well as $10 to $15 million in moving expenses. As much as the owners would like Virginia Beach to help them with their $67 million arena debt in Sacramento that will never happen.

The Kings would have to play their games at the Ted Constant Center at Old Dominion for two seasons while the arena is being built.

Thus the team would want to be compensated for lost revenue–the total cost, including relocation fees, moving expenses and lost revenue for two years would be somewhere around $100 million.

It may sound like a lot but that is not an outrageous assumption, and it can be paid over time.

Already one consultant report, given to state officials, concludes an arena with an NBA team could generate as much as $182 million in visitor spending each year, with the state alone taking in almost $11 million in tax dollars.

Throw in the publicity of having a major league sports team in Virginia and the governor, mayor, and local business folks think it’s a good idea.

If the numbers add up.

A big chunk of the money would have to come from the state, as much as $105 million dollars, which would be paid to George and Joe Maloof the owners of the team for relocation fees and lost revenue, with any money left over to be used to help the city with construction costs.

The state would also help with financing bonds needed to build the arena.

Comcast-Spectacor and Live Nation, who are putting the deal together, will also probably be asked to kick in as much as $35 million dollars in cash to help make this happen.

Another option is, if the Kings don’t get what they want, would it be viable to build a less expensive arena–that would host concerts, big college basketball tournaments, like the ACC, ultimate fighting, big religious conferences, and then someday go after another NBA team, or maybe an NHL team that could move right in. Thus no lost revenue to be paid out since the arena will already have been built. That would be a $100 million savings alone.

That would probably rule out any money from the state right now, which might be enough to kill the deal, unless the NBA would guarantee Virginia Beach an expansion franchise, which seems out of the question.

Again the City Council will receive their own consultants report on Tuesday, but will the Kings buy in?

Can the arena happen without the Kings?

A complicated situation that could come to a conclusion one way or another by the end of the year.

Moving football games to Saturday this season caused problems this weekend for Norfolk High School.

But they are going to make them up tomorrow, two four o’clock games, Granby will take on Booker T Washington at Powhatan Stadium at ODU while Lake Taylor will host Churchland at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.

Then there will be two games played at 6:30, Norcom and Maury will meet in the night cap at Powhatan, while Wilson and Norview will follow that Churchland Lake Taylor game at the Sportsplex.

Here is the schedule for Tuesday , October 30,2012. (This is subject to change)

@ Powhatan Stadium

4:00 pm : Granby vs BTW

6:30 pm: ICN vs Maury HS

@ Va. Beach Sports Plex

4:00 pm: Churchland vs Lake Taylor HS

6:30 pm: Wilson vs Norview

As Michael Florio reported on NBC Sports, if the UFL isn’t already dead, it soon will be.

News today that former Virginia Destroyers coach Marty Schottenheimer has sued the league for over 2-million dollars in unpaid compensation.

Marty now joins another former UFL coach Dennis Green who is also suing the league for unpaid wages.

Marty was all smiles when he took the job last year, and why not, league founder Bill Hambrect personally guaranteed him a 2 point 3 million dollar salary.

When he didn’t get paid, Marty threw in the towel; his brother Kurt replaced him as head coach without any explanation.

The Destroyers are still scheduled to play Sacramento tomorrow night (Fri) at the Sportsplex.

While the Virginia Beach City Council awaits its own $50,000 study, an economic impact report done by CHMURA ECONOMICS&ANALYTICS concludes a new arena with an NBA team as its main tenant, could generate as much as $182 million in visitor spending in Virginia Beach.

According to the report, starting in 2015, the total statewide economic impact (including direct, indirect and induced) of a potential NBA team in Virginia Beach is estimated to be $502.6 million a year, which can support 3,712 jobs in Virginia. State government can receive estimated annual tax revenue of $10.9 million. The sources of those economic impacts are the NBA team operation, new arena operation, and visitor spending.

The report also suggests that while the arena is being built, the NBA team would have to play its games in other Virginia locations for two years, which could also inject hundreds of millions of dollars of economic impact per year into the Virginia economy. While the building is under construction, from May 2013 to September 2015, it is estimated that the construction activities will generate a total cumulative economic impact (including direct, indirect, and induced) of $559.3 million that can support 3,944 cumulative jobs in the state. Among the total economic impact, $317.4 million are derived from direct spending during the construction phase. This spending could directly support 2,229 cumulative jobs in the state from 2013 to 2015.

Once the arena is built, and the team plays there full time, the annual revenue of the team is estimated to be $135 million, including ticket sales and licensed merchandise sales. The potential NBA franchise in Virginia will have between 185 and 201 full-time employees working in the team headquarters in Virginia Beach. The team will have 15 basketball players with annual salaries of $75 million.

The 44 NBA home games are expected to attract 704,000 annual spectators. When the new arena is in full operation, non-NBA events can attract 743,484 annual spectators, for total annual spectators of 1.4 million for both the NBA games and non-NBA events. This would include, the report says, a wide range of sporting events, concerts, and family shows.

The economic impact estimated in the report does not include potential playoff games, NBA All Star weekend, or other events such as draft nights, or fan appreciation nights. The NBA has rewarded teams/communities that develop a new arena with an NBA All Star Weekend within the first 10 years of the venue’s existence. For example, the NBA held their All Star event in the new Orlando Amway Center during the venue’s second year of operation—it generated a $95 million economic impact in Orange County, Florida.

Chmura pointed out other benefits that should put a smile on the face of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. It predicts tremendous media exposure for Virginia as the home of a major professional sports team. This media exposure, the report says, will allow Virginia to showcase its rich culture and history and high quality of life, thereby boosting economic development. States such as Louisiana and Oklahoma have recognized the benefits they receive from hosting an NBA franchise, which is tantamount to free advertising for the state. Business and community leaders in Oklahoma City believe that “the Thunder help Oklahoma City in their effort to keep their talented young people working and living in the City rather than leaving for greener pastures elsewhere.”

The report also compares the economic impact of the proposed arena to other businesses. For example, in 2008, Virginia attracted Rolls Royce to Prince George County. This project is estimated to have over $2.0 billion economic impact in the Virginia’s Gateway region in 10 years, for an annual average of over two hundred million dollars. To attract Roll Royce, Virginia provided an incentive package valued at $56.8 million. The economic impact of the potential NBA franchise will be larger than that project.

The report was prepared for Warren Harris, the director of the Virginia Beach Development Authority. I would assume Mr. Harris is hoping this will help convince officials in Richmond to contribute to the building of the proposed $350 million arena. Council members, who will have the final say on the arena, hope to have their impact study by next month. Prior to that, Comcast-Spectacor is expected to present council with a proposal to run the arena.

Comcast-Spectacor commissioned its own study, prepared last summer by former Old Dominion President James V. Koch, now an economic professor, which estimated the new arena would host 200 events a year, create over 1,200 jobs and generate close to $100 million.

More on the story as it develops.

It has been an interesting week thus far. After an impressive opening game victory, the Washington Redskins lose their second game falling to the Rams, and lose two of their defensive starters for the rest of the season.

Regardless, the future does look brighter for the Skins thanks to their new exciting rookie quarterback Robert Griffin the 3rd, who is enough for me to battle the traffic from Hampton Roads to Washington, DC and back again this weekend to see his first “real” game at FedEx Field.

The NFL replacement refs are terrible, but then again they are replacement refs. I have always thought the NFL owners should find the money to make referees full time. There is plenty for them to do. Travel on Friday, meet and get ready for their games on Saturday, work the games on Sunday, travel on Monday, meet and go over their games on Tuesday and have Wednesday and Thursday as their weekend. They can fill in the off-season working mini-camps and representing the league speaking to high school and college referees around the country. And lets face it, the NFL is a $20 billion business, and they can’t afford to make 45 refs full time and pay them a decent salary.

The City of Virginia Beach may have a little competition on its hands if it hopes to get the Sacramento Kings to sign on as the anchor tenant of a proposed arena.

The Seattle City Council says it will work with 44 year old multi-millionaire Chris Hanson to build a new 490 million dollar arena, if Hanson can secure an NBA team.

Hanson, who is worth over 300 million dollars, is partnering with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Peter and Erik Nordstrom, you got it the department store brothers.

Obviously the Sacramento Kings seem to be a potential target.

And construction on the arena can’t begin until a team has agreed to move to Seattle.

A spokesman for the Maloofs, owners of the Kings, said they wouldn’t comment on the Seattle developments.

“Their comment is the same as before – they’re not going to weigh in on every rumor.” said spokesman Eric Rose.