As a sports town, Richmond is just D-ifferent
If you are interested in tightening your abdominals or improving your sex life, Men's Health magazine has plenty of advice for you.
Every issue, or so it seems, has stories on those topics.
That's all well and good. But there is one thing about Men's Health that is not so good.
In the July/August issue, the magazine ranked America's most sports obsessed towns.
Arlington, Texas, was judged to have the most sports-obsessed citizens. It is ranked No.1 and has a grade of A+.
Richmond? Well, we were a little bit behind Arlington. Quite a bit, actually.
Richmond is 92nd and has a grade of D-.
Being the 92nd best sports town in the country is not the main problem. After all, we live in a big country.
It's the Dthat stings.
Richmond is a worse sports town than Jacksonville, Fla. (sixth, A-)?
Take the NFL's Jaguars out of Jacksonville, and what do you have? The country's largest city in terms of square miles. That doesn't really jump out at you as an essential ingredient in a top sports town.
Richmond is worse than Anchorage, Alaska (10th, B+) which has, what, the first leg of the Iditarod?
Worse than Manchester, N.H. (11th, B+)?
Are we talking sports or presidential primaries?
Richmond has its shortcomings as a sports town. Some minor-league teams struggle here. But that should be taken as a sign of good taste, not bad sports fans.
And we did, uh, misplace that Triple-A baseball team. That can happen anywhere.
If Richmond is one of the worst sports towns in the country, why are Eastern League executives so intent on placing a minor-league baseball team in this market?
They think Richmond will be a jewel in their crown.
Take that, Men's Health.
Look at the two NASCAR Sprint Cup events at Richmond International Raceway. Each draws more than 100,000 fans.
Men's Health included NASCAR figures in its ratings. That alone should have boosted Richmond's ranking and grade.
Then, there is VCU men's basketball, which has about 6,100 rather avid fans at each home game.
The University of Richmond is the Division I Football Championship Subdivision defending national champion.
The Washington Redskins count about 3,000 Richmond-area fans among their season-ticket holders. Thousands more avidly follow the team.
Thousands of area residents go to Charlottesville and Blacksburg for University of Virginia and Virginia Tech football and basketball games.
You can't go to a mall without seeing someone wearing something that says Virginia Tech, Virginia or Redskins.
In Richmond, we tend to work on our abdominals by doing something, not by reading a magazine and thinking, "Yeah, I need to try that."
The Ukrop's Monument Avenue race is one of the top four 10Ks in the country in terms of participants.
The James River and James River Park system always are buzzing with activity.
The setting there is so enticing the organizers of the national XTERRA triathlon series feel Richmond must be included on the schedule.
Richmond isn't a Dsports town. It is a different type of sports town. Always has been. Always will be.
That's not such a bad thing.
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or
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Reader Reactions
Nice try Paul, and while I love Richmond ... it deserved a D- as a “sports town.“ Why does a AA baseball team want to come here? Because when you look at the number of major league teams, AAA teams, and AA teams you’re probably looking at 90 plus places Teams need to go. What is the only city in America with a Federal Reserve Bank and no NFL Team? You guessed it ... Richmond VA. We’d be lucky to fill the endzone seats if we had an NFL team.
I truly hope this changes as we continue to grow, and while we are tops in terms of a place to do business, we should are near the bottom of major cities as “sports fans.“ I find it funny you talk about thousands of Richmonders who LEAVE town to go to sporting events, and except for NASCAR we don’t have anything that brings fans in. Much of your argument centers around events that are as much community activities as they are “sporting events.“ The rest relies on alumni from universities, current students and very niche sports fans to provide the majority of spectators to any event in Richmond.
I’m in favor of a brand new ballpark, preferrably in Shockoe Bottom because I think that’s the first step for Richmond to become a “sports town.“ We’ll see what happens and if the powers that be can blow another professional baseball team’s presence here ... only time will tell.
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