Columnist Ron Kantowski: Two wins haven’t cured UNLV’s myopia

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 1999 | 10:21 a.m.

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

In the manner of Baylor running back Darrell Bush on the last play of the game, UNLV sure has dropped the ball when it comes to appeasing fans of its resurgent football program.

First, the athletic department lacked the foresight to arrange for television coverage of Saturday's road game against the Bears. As a result, Rebel fans were deprived of witnessing the most incredible finish to a sporting event since Roy Hobbs knocked down the stadium with a home run in "The Natural." At very least, it was an early nominee for play of the year in college football.

Forget about snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat. With his 101-yard fumble return, Rebels defensive back Kevin Thomas had to reach into the large intestine of Mr. Setback to turn a certain loss into a shocking victory.

If Thomas' 101-yard dash isn't nominated for an ESPN Espy, it's only because the ground-level replay -- the only commercial footage available because neither side chose to air the game -- does not do it justice.

Perhaps UNLV couldn't foresee that John Robinson's team would be so captivating just two games into his tenure. But now I'm convinced the athletic department must be looking at life through Mr. Magoo's glasses.

Why else would it not switch the starting time for Saturday's home opener against Iowa State to the afternoon or even 3 or 4 p.m., given it will go head-to-head with the De La Hoya-Trinidad fight?

Because of the university's lack of foresight, many local fans will have to choose between live football and pay-per-view boxing Saturday night.

The only legitimate reason UNLV could have for staying with the late start is that it will need every minute prior to kickoff to tidy up the luxury suites and put other finishing touches on the $18 million expansion project at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Otherwise, just credit UNLV with another fumble.

* THE ICEMEN GOETH: About 7,000 fans turned out for Saturday's Kings-Coyotes NHL exhibition at the MGM Grand Garden -- a decent crowd for what would turn out to be another indecent hockey game.

There were more fights than goals. The biggest rumble was touched off by Shayne Toporowski, the kid brother of former Las Vegas Thunder lunatic -- er, enforcer -- Kerry Toporowski. The younger "Topper" received two minutes for instigating, five minutes for fighting, a 10-minute misconduct, a game misconduct and a partridge in a pear tree for acts of hooliganism with the Kings' Dion (He's No) Darling.

Why does that not surprise me?

* VALLEY BOYS: Thanks to the Rosh Hashanah religious holiday, I covered my first high school football game in 10 years last Thursday night -- and it was a truly pleasant experience.

The last time a coach actually thanked me for coming out had to be ... well, 10 years ago. But that's just what Valley's Greg Sellers did after his Vikings' come-from-behind 20-16 victory at Green Valley.

Given his players' deportment during the second half of the game, Sellers' kind words should not have been a surprise.

I spent the second half walking the Vikings' sideline, to take in a little atmosphere and to "hear some leather pop," as one of my high school coaches used to say about a hard hit.

The Valley kids played hard but were respectful of the opposition, their coaches and even more importantly, each other. They seemed like a classy bunch with lots of character.

I have to admit there have been times during an outing to the Boulevard Mall (smack dab in Valley's stomping grounds) where I have spotted a bunch of young toughs headed my way and ducked into the food court for an Orange Julius.

But if they were Sellers' kids, I'm sure I had nothing to be afraid of.

* AROUND THE HORN: It's great that Channel 13 thinks enough of the preps to send a helicopter around to every football game on Friday (or in the case of a holiday, Thursday) night. But one of these nights, a wide receiver is going to jump offside in a crucial situation because he can't hear the snap count over the deafening whirr of the chopper. ... The squeaky wheel gets the grease -- or at least a better seat for the upcoming BYU-UNLV football game. The disgruntled UNLV fan who wrote to the Sun last week, saying he was boycotting the football program because he could not a get a decent seat despite calling for individual game tickets on the day they went on sale, is back in the fold. Longtime Rebel supporter Jim Giuffre said Terry Cottle, UNLV's associate AD in charge of sports marketing, called him after receiving Giuffre's letter and said he would woul d work on upgrading his BYU tickets. ... According to a radio spot that aired this morning, it turns out UNLV is not opposed to moving the starting game of the Iowa State game. The spot was hawking tickets for Sunday's Rebels home opener against the Cyclones. The game, as far as we know, is still set for Saturday night. ... And finally, I see where a judge has dismissed a lawsuit by adidas to keep the NCAA from limiting the size of commercial logos on uniforms. But I say let let adidas -- or whoever BYU's shoe supplier is -- have its way. That way a gigantic logo could be used to cover up those horrid new Cougars football jerseys.