Columnist Dean Juipe: Real Quiet in Preakness and at UNLV

Dean Juipe

Monday, May 18, 1998 | 10:56 a.m.

IT'S A STORY that hasn't so much disappeared as it has taken a respite. It has gone underground.

It will resurface, in the form of a final report within the next couple of weeks.

But, until then, the investigation of UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro is apt to remain internal. Like the horse that won the Preakness and the Kentucky Derby, it's real quiet.

Did he or didn't he? That's the question UNLV staffers are being asked. Did any of them actually hear Cavagnaro make sexual and racially insensitive remarks that a man in his position should never even consider, let alone think of saying out loud?

If the final report indicates he did, Cavagnaro in all probability will be out of a job.

If he's exonerated, he may come through the ordeal a little worse for the wear yet it'll be a case of life goes on. He'll be functional.

While the specifics of the ongoing inquiry have stayed out of the papers it is known that several coaches have been quizzed, as have at least a handful of employees within the athletic department. For whatever reason, there is also another handful that has declined to be interviewed.

Everyone knows Cavagnaro has at least one accuser, a fellow whose identity is far from unknown despite the fact he has only been seen in a shadow box on TV. He says there isn't any doubt Cavagnaro made the remarks.

Likewise but far, far off the public record to date, there are whispers that indicate collaboration. And while the most vigilant of Cavagnaro's stalkers say that's good enough for them, the real issue may be context.

If it's determined he was just being stupid, or flippant, but not acting with malice or any real prejudice, Cavagnaro may be spared even if he is guilty as charged. It's possible he apologizes and keeps his job.

Which brings up the question of his flimsy denial when the story initially broke. He said it wasn't within his character to make untoward remarks and that he certainly didn't remember the comments he was charged with uttering. But he wasn't adamant and he wasn't convincing -- not like a man could be if he were entirely guilt-free.

Those approaching this conflict on an even keel saw that as a crack in his armor, as if maybe there is something to this after all.

Of course Cavagnaro's Folly, as this might be called if he is indeed guilty, would never have surfaced had he not hired the wrong women's basketball coach. Crazy, isn't it? But when UNLV brought in the seemingly unqualified Regina Miller to coach the Lady Rebels last month it triggered a series of negative reactions that were driven by a single question: Why her?

And one of the theories that emerged -- and was bolstered by the fact UNLV paid a consultant's fee to the head of the Black Coaches Association -- is that Cavagnaro brought Miller on board as a trade-off or a way of seeking forgiveness from the school's minority coaches who were aware of his earlier verbal transgressions.

The facts and the fictions are in the process of being sorted out and maybe nothing serious develops. Yet there are those who believe the pivotal warning sign -- the one that says it's always calm before the story -- remains posted.