Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rudd rooter hopes to be millionaire

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000 | 10:46 a.m.

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

Who wants to be a NASCAR millionaire?

For starters, there's John Williams of Las Vegas.

If you think Ricky Rudd's wife will be nervous on Sunday if her husband is hooked up in the lead draft with one lap to go at the Daytona 500, let your eye wander to the grandstand where Williams, a card-carrying member of Local Teamsters No. 631, will be sitting -- er, standing.

He'll be the guy clutching the rabbit's foot with the No. 28 on it.

If Rudd wins -- and from his starting spot on the outside of the front row, he definitely is considered a threat to do so -- Williams may pass Linda Rudd and Miss Winston on the high side to plant the first kiss on the veteran driver in victory lane.

That's because Williams will become an instant millionaire if Rudd wins the race.

The odds against Williams' name being drawn for NASCAR's No Bull 5 $1 million promotion were astronomical. Put it this way: Williams' chances were only slightly better than Michael Waltrip's in Sunday's race.

He filled out just nine entry blanks for the sweepstakes, in which five fans are assigned to the drivers -- Rudd, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt, Wade Burton and Kenny Wallace -- who finished 1-5 at Talladega last fall, in the last of five events (Daytona 500, Las Vegas 400, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500 and Winston 500) that comprise the No Bull 5.

On Jan. 14, the Winston folks left a message with one of Williams' friends that his name had been drawn. Williams thought somebody was pulling his leg. Make that both legs.

"I got one of the two guys I wanted," he said after reality set in, noting that he's usually a Dale Jarrett fan.

It's an all-or-nothing deal, which means if Earnhardt decides to punt Rudd into the wall (about a 50-50 chance), about all Williams will have to show for the weekend is a torn ticket stub, a race jacket, autographs from the No Bull drivers, and a nice suntan from a five-day, four-night stay in sunny Florida.

Come to think of it, he said that's a lovely consolation prize, if that's what it turns out to be.

But Williams said if it is Rudd who has the best Sunday drive, he would use the money to send his two daughters and son to college and set up his own business.

* GENDER INEQUITY: UNLV this week sent out a press release trumpeting the progress it has made in the area of gender equity. According to the 1999 Gender Equity Monitoring Report, the percentage of women student athletes in comparison to men at UNLV has risen from 33 percent in 1995-96 to a current high of 47.8 percent.

The goal, an admirable one, is to be at an even 50-50 by 2002.

But one of these days, it might become difficult for UNLV to justify spending all that money on women's sports when local interest in them seems to be at an all-time low.

For instance, it wasn't that long ago when the Lady Rebels basketball team would pack the South Gym when a marquee team such as Long Beach State or Louisiana Tech came to town. But the team now is so devoid of fan support that the school is resorting to gimmicky promotions such as Saturday's "Pack the Mack" campaign for a game against New Mexico.

Tickets are just $2 and packing the Mack really isn't the goal. Heck, even the men Rebels can't do that. Breaking the Lady Rebels' single-game attendance record -- a modest 3,387 -- is the real objective.

* FREE PUCKS: But when it comes to papering the house, not even Wallpaper to Go can top the Tampa Bay Lightning. According to a news report, the Lightning gave away 103,834 tickets during the first half of the NHL season. That's nearly as many as it sold (106,000) over the same span.

For a game against the Vancouver Canucks last Oct. 19, there were 14,159 in the house. The team has admitted to giving away 13,828 tickets to that game.

And here I was going to goof on the Silver Bandits for letting guys who dress up like Elvis in for free.

* DOWN THE TUBES: One of these days, it's going to dawn on media critics that viewers now have about 300 channels to choose from instead of just four or five. Perhaps then they will stop making such a big deal about decreasing ratings for TV sports.

In addition to cable and satellite TV, sports are also having to battle the personal computer for the viewer's attention. The Dish and the Internet are relatively new players in the entertainment game and their emergence will continue to skewer the shares and percentage points.

Throw in "The Beverly Hillbillies" on Nick at Night, at it's no wonder the NBA All-Star game is slipping in the ratings.

* AROUND THE HORN: If you don't think UNLV point guard Mark Dickel has improved a ton -- make that about 16 tons -- since his sophomore season when he was booed off his home floor, consider that it is his jersey number -- 11 -- that adorns the replica Rebels jerseys you can buy around town. That treatment is usually reserved for the home team's best and/or most popular player. ... Everybody can make a mistake, but the one made by pro golfer Jaxon Brigman was a doozy. After surviving six grueling days at PGA Tour qualifying school to obtain his playing privileges, Brigman turned in an incorrect scorecard -- signing for a score that was higher than he actually shot, no less. So instead of Pebble Beach and Bay Hill, it's another year of beating the bushes on the Buy.com Tour. Ouch! ... Speaking of mistakes, I noted in this space Tuesday that given Bill Bayno was sitting out a one-game suspension when the Rebels lost at home to BYU, he was the Mountain West Conference's lone undefeated coach. In reality, Bayno d idn't stay behind in his hotel room the night UNLV was blown out at Wyoming -- it just seemed that way. ... And just to clarify matters, the UNLV sports information office points out that former Rebel Sidney Green's Florida Atlantic team is only winless (0-22) as it pertains to the RPI ratings, which do not reflect victories over Division II schools. Atlantic has one of those so if you're scoring at home, it is 1-22.