Columnist Joe Delaney: Golf, football, baseball, boxing — and betting

Joe Delaney

Friday, Oct. 15, 1999 | 8:42 a.m.

Joe Delaney's column appears Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or joem

Welcome, golfers and fans of the Las Vegas International Golf Tournament, being played on three of our town's finest golf courses through Sunday. ... This is good for business locally and great publicity coverage nationally on television. ... Golf on TV can offer dramatic entertainment; remember the United States' dramatic comeback recently to win golf's Ryder Cup.

Baseball fan or not, it would be hard not to respond to the Boston Red Sox' miraculous comeback from two games down to win the five-game playoff series against Cleveland. ... The NFL upsets and turn-arounds by top teams have been exciting but more rewarding for the sports books than the parlay bettors so far.

Despite Mike Tyson's poor attitude and recent behavior, his Oct. 23 fight with Orlin Norris will adversely affect attendance for the UNLV-BYU game, be a near sell-out and see heavy betting for an apparent mismatch.

Anent Buddy Greco

Greco has assembled a fine group of musicians for his Flamingo-Hilton Friday, 8-11 p.m., "Las Vegas Live!" dance concerts in the hotel showroom. ... Duke Morgan and Frank LaSpina will host the live three-hour radiocasts of the concert on KJUL 104.3-FM. ... Lezlie Anders, Mrs. Greco, will share the vocal chores with her husband.

Buddy's big band includes Fred Haller and Sam Pisciotta, alto saxes; Dick Kastel, tenor sax; Dave Hawley, baritone sax; Dick Alber, Merv Harding and Bob Hamilton, trumpets; Al Imbach and Clay Overlien, trombones; Dr. Tom Ferguson, piano; Dick Jones, bass; Howie Agster and John Pisci, drums, and Mark Barnett, percussion; stalwarts all.

Billed as an exclusive evening of cocktails, dancing and entertainment with "casual elegant" or "cocktail attire" suggested, it should help recapture an earlier, warmer era in what would have been a dark showroom night.

Wynonna's here

During Wynonna's 12 years as the daughter in the very successful Judds, a duet with her mother, she was country music's most famous daughter. ... Since her mother's retirement because of illness, she has become Wynonna, wife and mother, totally her own person and a vital musical force. ... Mother and daughter will be reunited in concert on New Year's Eve in Phoenix's America West Arena. ... Wynonna is at the LV Hilton, tonight and Saturday.

Rich Little, the first impressionist to become a successful LV headliner, is currently up north at the Sparks Nugget through Oct. 27. ... With a presidential election in the works, Little, best known for his presidential press conferences, should be hot here once again.

Bertha the Elephant has retired after 37 years at the Sparks Nugget. ... She will continue to be active in community work. ... Angel, age 11, her good friend, succeeds Bertha as a showroom attraction.

Local happenings

Rock 'n' roll collections can be worth big money today. ... Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the MGM Grand Entertainment Dome, VH1 will be video-taping a segment for "VH1 Rock Collectors," a new series set to debut over the Thanksgiving weekend. ... If you have rock 'n' roll memorabilia, bring it in, you might make the program and some money as well.

Congrats, Richard Sturm, promoted to president of MGM Grand Entertainment and Sports, Inc., responsible for those activities in all the MGM Grand properties. ... Sturm came up through the ranks.

Final weekends for Steve Martin's "Picasso in the Lapin Agile," UNLV Judy Bayley Theatre; Nevada Theatre Company's "Baltimore Waltz" (Clark County Flamingo Library); and "Accidental Death of an Anarchist" (mis-titled here as "Accidental Death of a Tourist" Thursday) and "Death Trap" in CCSN's Nicholas Horn Theatre and Cheyenne Campus Little Theatre, respectively.

Weekend specials

Ranchero singer Alejandro Fernandez will perform at 8 o'clock tonight in the Mandalay Bay Events Center. ... Fernandez ranks right up there with his dad, Vicente, Luis Miguel, and the Iglesias siblings as a performer. ... Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are a sure bet to fill the MGM Grand Garden Arena, also at 8 o'clock. The Augustus and Nevada Societies of Italian-American Lawyers' Columbus Day Ball is Saturday, Top of the Riviera.

Free concerts: Ernest A. Becker Middle School Strings, 2-5 p.m. Saturday and LV Philharmonic String Quartet, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Sunday, celebrating the new LV Philharmonic season, sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue and the Fashion Show.

Don't miss the Cunninghams with the Mike Montano Trio, 2 p.m. Sunday, Winchester Center; jazz singer duo, successors to Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Jackie & Roy and Manhattan Transfer, in that genre. ... See you next Thursday.