Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
While it would appear that in Utah offensive coordinator Mike Sanford UNLV got a good man to lead its football program out of the doldrums, a published report suggests he wasn't the first choice, as was previously indicated.
Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon told the Bowling Green News he was offered the UNLV job before Sanford was but turned it down. He did not say who made the offer.
"I told the guys (his players) about the Vegas thing," Brandon said. "I said that a guy called and said he wanted to pay me half a million dollars for the next five years.
"I don't coach for the money. I coach for the fun and excitement of it."
That's Brandon's story and I assume he's sticking to it.
But then he got to the real reason he said he didn't want the UNLV job. Brandon has a 19-6 record since succeeding Urban Meyer at Bowling Green and is getting the Falcons ready for their second consecutive bowl game. In his four years at BG, the Falcons are 36-12. UNLV over that same span is 17-29.
"You could pay me a million dollars," Brandon said. "But if we're getting our butts kicked it isn't any fun.
"People kept saying it was a good job," he added about UNLV. "Well, why hasn't it been a good job?"
Brandon was last to interview for the UNLV post, two days after Sanford's second formal interview with UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick and president Dr. Carol Harter on Dec. 1.
Hamrick's policy is not to comment on personnel matters. So if the logistics of the hiring process matter to you, draw your own conclusion.
We're getting used to not watching the UNLV men's basketball team on TV, thanks, in huge part, to the deal former athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro cut with current TV partner ESPN Regional. But at least Rebels fans will have access to College Sports Television, which has purchased the rights to Mountain West Conference sports beginning in 2006.
CSTV, the first 24-hour college sports network, on Monday announced distribution deals with cable operators Cox Communications, which supplies Southern Nevada, and Charter Communications that potentially will increase its viewership by some 65 million households.
In adding Cox and Charter as partners, CSTV now has distribution deals with the five largest cable operators as well as DirecTV on satellite, which should allay the concerns of fans in MWC cities who initially wondered if the games would even be available in their markets.
While commissioner Bud Selig has yet to weigh in on the possibility of a major league baseball team coming to Las Vegas, at least Mayor Goodman has the blessing of Brandon Whitt, driver of the No. 38 Cure Autism Now/Werner Ladder Ford on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit.
So as Carl the greenskeeper said in "Caddyshack," he's got that going for him.
"With all of the people they have there and the tourism, I don't think Las Vegas would have any problem supporting a major league baseball team," Whitt said in a statement that was distributed to Las Vegas media on Monday. "The grandstands seem to do pretty well at every race I've seen at Las Vegas Motor Speedway."
Derrike Cope, driver of the No. 49 Advil Ford in the Busch Series, is a tad more skeptical.
"Regardless of the sport and regardless of the team, you have a lot of competition for the entertainment dollar. Obviously, Las Vegas has plenty to do, whether you are a tourist or live there," said Cope, who shocked the stock car racing gods by winning the 1990 Daytona 500.
"Sure, major league baseball can make it in Las Vegas but it's not automatically a slam dunk. If those guys work as hard as racing promoters, then they have a chance at being successful. If not, they may as well keep the team (the Marlins) in Florida."
Not word yet on how Whitt and Cope feel about the NHL lockout, Kobe's relationship with Karl Malone or Notre Dame's new football hire.
She's already the hardest working woman in the bowl business but perhaps Las Vegas Bowl executive director Tina Kunzer-Murphy should emcee the official press conferences held in conjunction with the game as well.
TKM, as the kids like to say, got off the best soundbite of the bowl game season so far when, noting the disparate backgrounds of the combatants, she said Wyoming says RO-dee-o while UCLA says Ro-DAY-o.
Cowboys coach Joe Glenn, who was wearing one of Dennis Weaver's suede vests from the old TV series "McCloud," laughed out loud. As did Bruins coach Karl Dorrell, who was nattily attired in a dark business suit with a white dress shirt and starched collar.
The Sun's Jeff Haney, who covers boxing for your friendly afternoon newspaper, also knows a thing or two about college football, based on his Heisman Trophy ballot.
Like the majority of the voters, Haney had USC's Matt Leinart on the top of his ballot, followed by Utah's Alex Smith and Oklahoma's Jason White.
No word yet on on whether his ballot will be recounted in Ohio.
Former NFL head coach, NASCAR driver and Elvis Presley enthusiast Jerry Glanville, whose name surfaced in conjunction with the UNLV football job (primarily because he put it there), has now turned his attention to the opening at New Mexico State.
Las Vegas would have been the quintessential city for an Elvis fan such as Glanville to put down roots. Las Cruces, N.M., is not.
But it is bigger than Tupelo, Miss.
Some critics (i.e., Minnesota sports columnists) are saying that Randy Moss' ill-conceived reverse pass originating from the Seattle 20-yard line that was intercepted during a 27-23 defeat Sunday might turn out to be the play that costs the Vikings' their season.
The ill-conceiver was Minnesota offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, a former UNLV assistant under Jim Strong.
Now you know why the Rebels run so many off tackle plays.
As I was sitting there listening to Mike Sanford's coronation as UNLV football coach, I couldn't help but flash back to the same setting six years ago when John Robinson was announced as coach and most of Las Vegas and half of Henderson showed up to kiss his ... well, Rose Bowl ring.
Robinson, of course, had been kicked to the curb by most Rebels fans after this year's 0-4 start and was long gone by the time Sanford began making the same promises that he (Robinson) had made in 1998.
But don't feel too sorry for him. At his belated going away party at the UNLV football banquet, nine of his former players presented him with the keys to a Mercedes-Benz 2005 E500.
Willie McGinest (Patriots), Chris Claiborne (Vikings), Daylen McCutcheon (Browns), Keyshawn Johnson (Cowboys), Brian Kelly (Bucs), Sammy Knight (Dolphins) and retired Hall-of-Famers Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott, all of whom played for Robinson at USC, picked out the color (silver) while Eric Dickerson, who starred for Robinson with the Rams, kicked the tires.
Although Robinson insisted that nothing be done to honor him during the season, banquet goers said he was moved by a video montage of his career highlights, featuring Dan Fouts, John Madden, Anthony Munoz, Bo Schembechler, Lott, Dickerson and current Rebels Ryan Claridge and Dominique Dorsey, that was produced by the UNLV staff. He also received a crystal trophy from one of his biggest boosters, UNLV president Dr. Carol Harter, and a cruise from the athletic department.
As Don Pardo used to say, they were lovely parting gifts for Robinson's many contributions to the UNLV program both on and (mostly) off the field.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Kansas, former Rebels coach Jim Strong is still waiting for his home version of the game just for playing along.
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