Columnist Ron Kantowski: Master P would save Bandits from a bum rap

Thursday, Oct. 14, 1999 | 11:01 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday and Thursday. Reach him at ron@vegassun.com or 259-4088.

Cal Ripken Jr.'s streak of making wise business decisions ended this week when he became a minority owner of the fledgling International Basketball League's (IBL) Baltimore Bayrunners.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, which probably means Ripken's "minority ownership" will consist of doing television spots for the team in exchange for season tickets.

Regardless, the minor league IBL has at least raised a few eyebrows by enticing a group of basketball celebrities to jump on board in executive positions. They include Ralph Sampson (executive vice president, Richmond Rhythm), Oscar Robertson (minority owner, Cincinnati Stuff), Bernie Bickerstaff (head coach and general manager, St. Louis Swarm), Herb Brown (head coach, Baltimore), Allan Bristow (head coach, Richmond) and Jeff Malone (assistant coach, San Diego Stingrays).

Unless you count Ricky Sobers, the former UNLV star and NBA veteran, the Las Vegas Silver Bandits have yet to put a big name up on their marquee.

But here's a suggestion: If the Bandits really want to generate some interest in a franchise that seems destined to fail (as all around here eventually do), they should go after Percy Miller, the former University of Houston power forward better known as rapper Master P.

Master P could be like Leo Farnsworth, Warren Beatty's character in the movie "Heaven Can Wait," who bought the LA Rams just so he could play quarterback. P certainly has the capital to purchase controlling interest in the Bandits (although that's not saying much, as the local team is currently being run by the league) and has acquitted himself as a playa -- er, player -- in the CBA. He could own, coach and star for the Bandits.

And on top of that, he could make the national anthem sound very interesting, indeed.

* THAT'S RICH: This will never happen, because the idea is more extreme than a Mountain Dew commercial. But Major League Baseball might as well separate the haves from the have-nots, as they do in European soccer. All eight playoff teams were among the top 12 payroll franchises, so the days of a small-market team (such as the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers or the We Are Family Pirates of the 1970s) winning the World Series are long gone.

Actually, it's kind of neat the way the soccer leagues are structured. In England, for instance, the top 20 clubs play in what is known as the Premier League. The Premiership is supported by Division One, Two and Three leagues, which are roughly the equivalent of our triple-, double- and single-A circuits for baseball -- with one very large catch. The top three teams in the final standings for each league are "promoted" to the one above it for the following season, while the bottom three are "relegated" to the lower league.

That kind of a setup would sure make a Cubs-Cardinals game in late September a lot more interesting during a year in which Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa aren't launching baseballs into celestial orbit.

* AROUND THE HORN: On the topic of Las Vegas minor league basketball franchises that never had a chance to succeed, the name of Rick Kulis surfaced this week. The former owner of the Las Vegas Silver Streaks of the defunct World Basketball League is now president of something called the International Female Boxers Association (IFBA). This week, Kulis dropped off a $2,000 check and assorted goodies for Margaret Miller, the female pug who beat up former jockey Loi Chow (a man) during a publicity stunt -- er, prizefight -- in Seattle last weekend. ...

If the golf course up at Mount Charleston is shut down and turned into a nature park -- or even a 7-Eleven with a gasoline pump -- I know at least one guy who won't shed a tear. A colleague and avid golfer said the mountainside layout is the only course he knows of where you could hit a perfect shot -- and have no idea where the next one is supposed to go. Evidently, the course was thought up by the same guy who designed the AMC Pacer. ...

There's a new popular television series featuring the Air Force as a backdrop which has nothing to do with Majors Nelson and Healy or a Jeannie in a bottle. Saturday night's Utah-Air Force Mountain West Conference offering set for ESPN2 will mark the fourth time (in six games) the Falcons have appeared on national TV this season. ...

And finally, a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this week said the Colts selected Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf in the 1998 college draft not on the recommendation of a scout or even a computer, but on the advice of a sports psychologist named Bob Troutwine.

"We said the media and the pressure would cause (Leaf) frustration," Troutwine said after analyzing the two players' personality traits. "He is a very competitive person."

Forget about throwing footballs through an old tire. If you are the proud parent of a strapping high school quarterback, better have him brush up on the Rorschach test instead.