P RO MOT IONS/M ARKETI NO
Houston promoter attempts Freedom Bowl rescue
Lionel Day, a sports promoter based in
Houston, is attempting to revive the Free
dom Bowl All-Star Classic football game
after a one-year hiatus.
Day is planning to stage the game Jan.
13 - during the Martin Luther King Jr. holi
ton. The game w ill feature athletes from the
47 predominantly black colleges. Eddie
Robinson of Grambling State and Willie
Jeffries of South Carolina State have
already committed to participate as coach
es.
The Freedom Bowl, last played Dec.
12, 1987 in Winston-Salem, N.C., was first
held in Atlanta in 1983. It moved to Wash
ington after two years.
Past games were plagued by bad
weather, poor attendance and poor promo
lions.
Day, a former lineman under Chuck
Fairbanks at the University of Oklahoma,
has devoted the past 18 months to reviving
the Freedom Bowl. He is confident it can be
a success.
"I think I have a better understanding
of what it takes to make it successful," said
Day, a former agent who at one time reprc-1
"sented-Greg Pruiu, Dexter Bussey, Aaron
Kyle and James White among others.. "In
the past, it was done the old fashioned way.
Houston has to embrace the game. It has to
be promoted. The key is getting corporate
decision-makers involved."
Day says he wants to make the game a
national event, not just a local activity for
Houstonians.
"The mere fact that the SWAC is back
in it is an indication that we think we can be
successful," said Dr. James Frank, commis
sioner of the Southwestern Athletic Confer
ence.
The SWAC pulled out when its
Council of Presidents decided the financial
risks were too high and it required too
much of Frank's time. Under Day's pro
posed budget, the SWAC and MEAC will
not undertake any financial risk. They will
receive an initial grant of $100,000 --
$50,000 by July 1 -- and 20 percent of the
profits will go to charities.
Day says the Martin Luther King
Foundation of Detroit has committed
$400,000 to sponsor the game.
"I just hope they will be able to put
on a good, first-class game," said Mississip
pi Valley State athletic director Chuck
Prophet. "There have been so many shys
ters involved in games like these over the
years."
Previous Freedom Bowls have pro
duced such NFL players as Jerry Rice,
Sylvester Stamps and Robert Clark. But
Day says the level of competition needs to
be elevated. That's why he plans to involve
athletes from schools which aren't predomi
nantly black (about 10-15 per 50 -man
squad).
"That's a twist, not a change," he said.
Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
The Freedom Bowl has been a God-send to black college gridiron talent seeking opportunities to play In the pros.
"The original concept was to showcase
kids who don't get an opportunity. They'll
still get their chance. We're trying to
enhance the product"
Day's "twist" already has its oppo
nents. "I'm not being selfish/' said Savan
nah State head football coa&i Bill Davis.
"But other athletes get opportunities that
our athletes don't get. We need to showcase
our athletes and not dilute the game. Maybe
it would be all right to use athletes from
some of the smaller schools."
Another problem could be the date.
The game will be played the same weekend
as the NFC and AFC championship games -
- the two contests that determine who will
appear in Super Bowl XXIV.
Previous games were played the week
before the Super Bowl. That was more con
venient for NFL personnel. But Day doesn't
think that playing the game a week earlier
will keep scouts away.
"They'll have people here," he said.
If the Houston Oilers are involved in
the AFC title match-up, there could be a
major dilemma since they play their home
games at the Astrodome.
"We'll have to look at a contingency
date," said Frank. "We were told they were
reserving it for the Oilers, but that it was
very tentative."
Day says the game can be a success
and show a profit in its initial year. But he
isn't deluding himself into thinking he does
n't face a lot of work.
"There's a lot of work to be done," he
said. "But if I can make them like it once, I
can make them like it again."
-Roscoe Nance