SPORTS FOLDEROL

  Believe it or not … Richmond (city of) remains the runaway leader in attendance for the NCAA Division I men’s soccer final four … yet hasn’t held the event since 1999. It’s true. Starting in 1995, five of the top six crowds for the College Cup turned  out at City Stadium … including a SRO of 21,319 for the ‘95  semifinals, second only to 22,512 that witnessed the 1980 final at  54,692-seat Busch Memorial Stadium, then home of the MLB St.  Louis Cardinals and NFL Cardinals. In all, Richmond still has eight of the top 12 crowds … including  an average of 20,651 for the top five. So, tell us, why did the NCAA leave the Capital City, never to return  again? Well, for one thing the governing body decided … if little old  Richmond, Va., could attract crowds of 20,000-plus, bigger venues  could do much, much better. Wrong! The event went from here to Charlotte, N.C., and the home of the NFL  Carolina Panthers, where 73,250 seats were left mos...

The New York Rangers begin training camp this week, with Glen Allen’s Zac Jones faced with a familiar predicament … trying for the third straight season to prove he belongs in the National Hockey League. Each of the last two years the 22-year-old defenseman had an outstanding camp only to be shipped eventually to AHL Hartford where he excelled. Now, with a new coach (Peter Laviolette) and armed with a new, two-year contract, Jones would seem a lock to make the team. Former coach Gerard Gallant (fired) reportedly clashed with general manager Chris Drury over personnel including Jones who, at 5-10, 185, wasn’t big enough to suit the coach. Joining Laviolette on his new staff is Hall of Famer Phil Housley, who played as an under-sized defenseman and comes with a reputation for making players better. At this point, it appears there is one opening among the Rangers’ top six defensemen. That would be on the No. 3 pairing opposite right-handed Braden Schneider. To complicate things for lef...

  Welcome to my world. Won’t you come on in … and sit a spell: ..... WE'VE BEEN SAYING  for a while now that NASCAR will pull one of Richmond’s two Cup races and move the event elsewhere (to be determined). The signs have been unmistakable. First, Dennis Bickmeier , the speedway’s man in charge since 2011, unexpectedly resigned to become executive director of Henrico County’s sports and entertainment authority – which, among other things, plans to build a 17,000-seat indoor facility that ostensibly will be a much-needed replacement for the Richmond Coliseum (R.I.P.) by 2026. He knew what was coming and got out while he could … on his own terms … and not become the designated fall guy (sorry, person) in the face of declining interest. To replace Bickmeier, NASCAR installed the speedway’s first female president, Lori Collier Waran , who had no experience running a race track. Her claim to fame was editor of Style Weekly, a newspaper. At that point all warning flags were up and f...