Tim Graham: Ron Meyer predicts a Packer romp

Tim Graham

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

TIM GRAHAMis a Las Vegas SUN sportswriter. His media column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached on the Internet at tim@lvsun.com

Ron Meyer's New England roots withered away long ago.

In handicapping Sunday's Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers, the one-time Pats coach and current CNN football analyst isn't optimistic for his former employer.

"The Packers are the dominant team," Meyer said from New Orleans during a break from taping CNN-SI's Super Bowl coverage, which kicked off Monday. "The score I'm predicting is 45-10, Packers."

Meyer, who resides in Las Vegas and works as a casino host at Arizona Charlie's, earned his first of two NFL Coach of the Year honors with New England after taking the Patriots to the playoffs in the strike-shortened 1982 season.

"I just don't see the Patriots able to score on the Packers' defense," said Meyer, who owns a career NFL record of 54-50. "I see a defensive game with the Packers extremely dominant and the Patriots taking three strikes and getting off the field a lot of the time."

Meyer's head coaching career has Las Vegas bookends. He got his start at UNLV in 1973 and retired after guiding the now-defunct Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian Football League in 1994.

In between, he coached Eric Dickerson and Craig James at Southern Methodist before moving on to the NFL with New England (1982-84) and Indianapolis (1986-91).

With NFL head coaches flip-flopping since the regular season ended, Meyer's interest in returning has been piqued. It grew even more after ABC analyst Dick Vermeil, despite having coached his last game 14 years ago, became head coach of the St. Louis Rams Monday behind a five-year, $9-million deal.

"If someone came to me I'd certainly listen," Meyer said. "When you read the contract numbers (on Vermeil's contract), you can see why anyone would sit down and talk.

"But I don't even have a r'esum'e. I don't make calls. I'm happy at CNN and very happy at Arizona Charlie's. I will say, though, that I don't have an unlisted phone number."

Static

* SEEING STARS: The Las Vegas Stars have released their television schedule for the 1997 season. The slate entails eight road games that will be seen not only on Prime Cable Channels 1 and 48, but also on Cox Cablevision in Southern California, the cable home of the San Diego Padres. The first game airs from Edmonton April 17. The Stars will receive additional Southern California exposure from Cox during a weekly half-hour show that highlights the Padres' minor-league affiliates.

* OSCAR WINNER: Oscar De La Hoya's victory over Miguel Angel Gonzalez at the Thomas & Mack Center last Saturday raked over $14 million in pay-per-view sales. The fight for De La Hoya's World Boxing Council 140-pound title, produced by TVKO, was purchased in an estimated 400,000 homes at a suggested price of $34.95. The fight was blacked out in the Las Vegas area. ... HBO (Prime Cable Channel 54) will air the fight Friday at 6:30 p.m. as part of a doubleheader that will conclude with the live broadcast of Pernell Whitaker vs. Diobelis Hurtado from Atlantic City. If Whitaker defends his welterweight belt, he will face De La Hoya this spring.

* SOESBE IT: It's not as lucrative as those of his UNLV colleagues, but first-year UNLV baseball coach Rod Soesbe has his own radio show. The half-hour "Rod Soesbe Show" debuts Jan. 31 on campus station KUNV 91.5 FM. It will run each Friday at 10 a.m. during the season, featuring the thoughts of the longtime Rebel assistant, who took over upon Fred Dallimore's retirement last year, as well as player interviews. Because KUNV is a noncommercial station, Soesbe is doing the show for free. UNLV basketball coach Bill Bayno and football coach Jeff Horton receive more than $60,000 and nearly $30,000, respectively, for their radio and TV shows, seen and heard on commercial stations.