Columnist Dean Juipe: Kambala has found new calling

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2000 | 10:18 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

When he showed up on the campus of UNLV almost four years ago, Kaspars Kambala was focused on basketball.

The native of Riga, Latvia, had been in America only a short time. Between finishing his high school studies in Wisconsin and making himself available for assorted prep all-star games, Kambala was here on a mission.

He wanted to refine his game, which brought him to Las Vegas, with an eye on a professional career following his stay with the Rebels.

He worked with some diligence toward his goals, emerging as a decent scorer and an adequate rebounder for UNLV teams of varying ability.

Fans found him to be a durable player and a key addition to the program. He was well-liked and well-received within the community.

But times change and a young man's interests, and tastes, can change with them. Whereas Kambala initially concentrated on improving his somewhat stiff and robotic style on the basketball court, in recent days he appears to have found a new calling.

Forget basketball. Kambala's updated future will accent his culinary expertise and take advantage of his menacing, 6-foot-9, 250-pound, presence on the small screen of national television.

Dining With Kas is sure to be a hit.

The first two installments -- the test pilots, so to speak -- of what could evolve into a snappy weekly series have already been shot. Maybe you read a little bit about them: In the shocking premier, Kas has dinner at a fancy restaurant with the last man you'd expect him to be seen in public with, disgraced UNLV fan and benefactor David Chapman; and in a tense and unpredictable follow-up, Kas uses his imposing physical stature to threaten and scare the bejabbers out of a pizza-store manager who had the audacity to refuse to replace a pie that arrived on Kambala's doorstep with a stray wire poking through the crust.

With Kambala reduced to being a late second-round NBA draft pick in most scouts' eyes, he needs to think in terms of dupes -- not hoops -- when assessing his future. The TV show not only has promise, it has room for a regular supporting cast, including UNLV A.D. Charlie Cavagnaro as a homespun yet fit-to-be-tied administrator and head coach Max Good as a bumbling but endearing character similar to how "Coach" was portrayed on Cheers.

Imagine the wacky scenarios and belly laughs as Good slaps his head in mock frustration upon learning Kas is dining with the exiled Chapman mere days after Good's predecessor, Bill Bayno, was fired for allowing Chapman too close to his team. Consider, too, the humorous prospects not only as to who really paid the $100 dinner tab but as Good wavers between suspending Kas from the basketball team, as any disciplinarian would do, and letting him off with an all-knowing wink.

Likewise, there will be roles for policemen, such as those called to calm the pizza-store uprising, and an array of chefs, cooks and servers who cross paths with the volatile yet lovable host.

Dining With Kas will mix daring themes with slapstick and bravado. It has the recipe for success.

Watch for additional on-set tomfoolery in a neighborhood near you.