Pioneer Bowl cancelled
Pioneer Bowl VI, scheduled to match SIAC champ Tuskegee against CIAA runner-up Bowie State in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium this Sunday (Dec. 15), has been cancelled due to the promoter's inability to meet financial obligations. 
According
to Mickey Farrell, Tampa Sports Authority Director of Stadium Operations, Orlando-based
Jericho Communications, who convinced officials from both conferences to move
the game from Atlanta to Tampa this year, was unable to meet a November 30 deadline
of $5,000 to the Authority nor a Dec. 2 deadline of $26,750.
The official announcement came via a press release from the CIAA office on Dec. 5.
"Moral support and enthusiasm are beneficial, but they are not the type of support that makes an event of this magnitude materialize," said CIAA Commissioner Leon G. Kerry in the release. "One must have major monetary backing and contingency plans, and unfortunately, this year's efforts fell short of both."
The game has been primarily financed through efforts of the SIAC, but according to a published report by Atlanta-based journalist Hal Lamar in Onnidan's Black College Sports Online (www.onnidan.com), that conference's athletic directors met earlier this year and decided not to continue footing the bill. In the story, Acting SIAC Commissioner Cory Lima said the bowl game cost the conference between $80-100,000. The athletic directors decided to either "put the game on hiatus or find someone to take it over."
There was no word on the future of the game.
© 2002 Azeez Communications, Inc.