Tuesday, April 28, 1998 | 8:36 a.m.
It's a league in its first year of existence and its home office is in Las Vegas. Add in the fact that ground will be broken this week for a new arena -- the Millennium -- in North Las Vegas, and it appears inevitable that Southern Nevada will soon have a franchise in the Professional Indoor Football League.
"We're looking for investors right now," league president Dick Suess said Monday. "We were going to put a team in Las Vegas this season but we couldn't work it out with the Thomas & Mack Center."
The PIFL is in its fifth week of the season. The league has eight teams and is looking to add at least four more by 1999.
Teams are located in Honolulu, Denver, Salt Lake City, central Texas, Minneapolis, Green Bay, Madison and Baton Rouge. New franchises are expected in Tucson, Tacoma, Austin and Syracuse.
The franchise fee is $150,000 and Suess said the operating expenses will run at least $400,000 annually.
"We're in smaller cities and smaller arenas," he said. "If a team can draw 3,000 to 5,000, it'll at least break even."
A Las Vegas franchise -- likely to be called the Outlaws -- could join the league as early as next year or perhaps by 2000.
Suess also said a team of 18 players -- including eight former UNLV players, such as quarterback Bobby Stockham -- represented Las Vegas a month ago in an exhibition game in Hawaii.
It's back to the outfield for Green Valley grad Chad Hermansen, currently playing at triple-A Nashville in the Pittsburgh Pirates' chain. Hermansen, a shortstop in high school, opened the season at second base but was charged with seven errors in six games. As a result, the Pirates have moved him back to center field, where he played his first season in pro ball. He'll eventually get to the majors on the strength of his bat. ... On a per-event basis, here are the best-paid athletes in the world: basketball, Chicago's Michael Jordan, $404,146; football, Dallas' Troy Aikman, $366,875; hockey, Colorado's Joe Sakic, $207,317; baseball, Chicago's Albert Belle, $61,728; auto racing, NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt, $173,906; tennis, Marcelo Rios, $170,000; golf, Justin Leonard, $94,618. ... Seattle is attempting to become the first NBA team since the New York Knicks in 1972-73 to finish last in the league in rebounding during the regular season yet go on to win the NBA championship. The Sonics came into the playoffs averaging a league-low 38.5 boards. ... Final scoring averages of NBA players with local ties: Brian Williams, Detroit center, 16.2; Armon Gilliam, Milwaukee forward, 11.2; Larry Johnson, New York forward, 15.5; Kebu Stewart, Philadelphia forward, 2.7; J.R. Rider, Portland guard, 19.7; Stacy Augmon, Portland guard, 5.7; and Greg Anthony, Seattle guard, 5.2
Cable network A&E did a nice job with its two-hour history of pro wrestling, which ran Sunday. Of special interest: Hulk Hogan discussing how he was tabbed to defeat Andre The Giant in WrestleMania III and become the sport's leading attraction, while being leery that Andre might have second thoughts about the script; and ex-wrestler Gorilla Monsoon saying "it's highly unlikely that scientific wrestling will ever return (to popularity)." ... With season-ticket holders having to buy individual tickets to playoff games, attendance at the Las Vegas Thunder's two weekend playoff games at the Thomas & Mack Center was terrible. The crowd counts were 1,932 and 2,712. ... Philadelphia Flyers' forward Shjon Podein was married in Las Vegas last summer and his mother lives here. That's reason enough to review his final stats for the season: 82 games, 11 goals, 13 assists, plus-8. ... If the University of Texas' baseball team finishes with a losing record -- and the Longhorns are 18-25 -- it will be only the second time in the school's history that its baseball, men's basketball and football teams each had losing records in the same school year. The only time it has happened was 1955. ... The two women who came into the NBA this season as referees -- Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer -- got through the year unscathed and appeared to do a good job.
This wouldn't seem possible but it's true: Vinny Castilla, third baseman for the Colorado Rockies, has had consecutive seasons in which he batted .304 with 40 home runs and 113 RBI. The only difference between 1996 and '97 is that last season he played one fewer game. ... Lee Trevino, the all-time leader in wins on the PGA Senior Tour with 28, finished his round Sunday in the Las Vegas Senior Classic and said he didn't think he would play here again. He doesn't like the TPC at Summerlin or the TPC at The Canyons. ... Nevada resident and LPGA star Patty Sheehan caused a bit of a stir by coming out of the closet, admitting she has a female companion and giving the details on how they've adopted a baby girl. ... Masters champion Mark O'Meara has made the cut in 12 consecutive "majors" -- the longest such current streak. Former Las Vegas Invitational champion Jim Furyk is next in line with 11. ... Another former LVI champ, Bruce Lietzke, is now the PGA player with the most victories (13) without a win in one of the four majors. ... Titleist, a maker of golf equipment, provides the PGA Tour with 6,048 free balls every week to be used on the driving range where the tour is playing that week. ... The former owner of the Las Vegas Stars baseball team has become a horse-racing entrepreneur. "It started out as a hobby," Larry Koentopp said of owning his own stable in California, "and somehow we ended up getting quite a few."
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