Columnist Ron Kantowski: UNLV doing well in spite of itself

Thursday, Oct. 21, 1999 | 11:20 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is sports editor of the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at ron@vegas.com or 259-4088.

The UNLV athletic department must be living right. It continues to make dubious decisions in regard to the marketing of its football program, yet so far has come up smelling like a rose.

But one of these days if it comes up smelling like Pete Rose instead of the kind with petals, it will be understandable.

First, the Rebels opened the season with a refurbished stadium that wasn't quite totally refurbished, a scenario that can be traced to a contracting dispute months ago. But a prudent decision was made to leave the finishing touches in the press box and luxury suites for last. The other improvements to Sam Boyd Stadium were so dramatic that the Average Joes sitting in the stands didn't seem to notice the place still could have used a hand from Bob Vila.

With new coach John Robinson pulling rabbits out of his hat and his team pulling fumbles out of mid-air en route to a 2-0 start, there were more Average Joes than usual for the home opener against Iowa State. But they probably would have sold the place out had the game started earlier and not stubbornly gone head-to-head with the much-ballyhooed Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad welterweight title fight here the same night.

You would think the Rebels might have learned from that mistake.

This week's marquee matchup against 19th-ranked Brigham Young was scheduled for a 4 p.m. start. That seemed liked a weird time to kick off, but I guess the guys who make those decisions couldn't decide whether the weather was going to be nice or nippy. Hence the compromise between the afternoon and evening starting time.

OK, I can live with that. Given the weather variable, it even seemed to make a little sense.

What didn't make sense was pushing kickoff back to 7:30 p.m. That's even a half-hour later than UNLV's usual evening kickoff time.

The switch supposedly was made to accommodate the SportsWest television broadcast and the Brigham Young TV audience. How accommodating of the Rebels. Move the game to the evening so more visiting fans can watched you get smoked from here to the Paiute Smoke Shop.

But here's the one that is even more mind-blowing than Chuck Knoblauch not being able to throw to first base. The Rebels are going to pick up the SportsWest feed and show the game on local TV. That's wonderful for the fan who wants to sit at home and channel surf. That's terrible for a still rebuilding program that needs to sell that fan a ticket -- and a hotdog and a couple of beers as well -- to help balance the football budget.

There's even more. By moving the game from 4 to 7:30 p.m., it now is up against the Mike Tyson-Orlin Norris fight at the MGM Grand. And up against Game One of the World Series.

I haven't checked my local listings, but I wouldn't be surprised if Geraldo Rivera has plans to open somebody's secret vault at about the same time the Cougars and Rebels will be kicking off.

Amazingly, given these questionable administration decisions, the game could still sell out, as more than 29,000 of the 36,000-plus tickets have been spoken for. Credit Brigham Young -- both the man and the football team -- for that. Clark County has a significant Mormon population, and even Notre Dame fans can appreciate a national caliber football program, which BYU certainly is.

But if it doesn't sell out, you will understand why.