Who's going to the penthouse in local sports - and who's getting the shaft.
GOING UP
Beau-quets
Not only is UNLV linebacker Beau Bell the best defensive player in the Mountain West Conference, he's a nice guy. He was named the conference's defensive player of the year this week and could get picked on the first day of the NFL Draft. He certainly will be playing on Sundays next year, when he will be surrounded by a slightly better supporting cast than he was on Saturdays.
Homegrown talent
Mojave High product Sequoia Holmes scored 25 points to spark UNLV's Lady Rebels to a victory over 16th-rated George Washington in a game in which they trailed by 24 points in the second half. Former Silverado High standout Heiden Ratner was named the Colonial Athletic Association's rookie of the week after continuing his 3-point marksmanship for 6-1 James Madison University. And Green Valley High grad Billy White is averaging 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds a game for 8-1 San Diego State. To paraphrase Pete Townshend, the local kids are all right.
Rodeo fans
A caller who identified herself only as Dolores said based on her experience working the baggage carousel at McCarran International Airport, there's no overnight bag she'd rather check for its rightful owner than a National Finals Rodeo fan's. "They are patient, polite and we always looked forward to having them," she said. So NFR fans are just like NBA All-Star Game fans, with the exception of the patient, polite and looking forward to having them parts.
GOING DOWN
Handwriting on the wall
On Sunday, after it chose UCLA to oppose BYU on Dec. 22, the Las Vegas Bowl put out a news release quoting Bruins coach Karl Dorrell that said, "UCLA is extremely happy to be playing in the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl." It did not say "We." It said "UCLA." Uh-oh. The next day, Dorrell was fired. Dorrell thus joins Bob Toledo as a former UCLA coach who did not accompany his team to Las Vegas for the postseason.
Interim coaches
So the big mystery at the Las Vegas Bowl media luncheon was whom UCLA was going to send in lieu of a coach this time. Our guess was Gary Beban, who could have apologized once and for all for being awarded the 1967 Heisman Trophy. We were wrong. It was DeWayne Walker, the Bruins' defensive coordinator.
Pressing the panic button
So Karl Dorrell got the ax, nobody invited Gary Beban and a technical glitch resulted in the final minute of the Virginia Tech vs. Boston College game being shown on the news conference monitor instead of BYU's and UCLA's greatest hits. So what? On game day, every seat will have a BYU backside in it and the game will be remembered as another major success - regardless of the final score. Just like last year.
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