Columnist Ron Kantowski: Dickel needs no assists from scorekeeper

Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

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

Now that Mark Dickel has finally moved ahead of Oklahoma State's Doug Gottlieb atop the NCAA assists chart, inquiring minds -- or at least suspicious ones -- may want to know if the Rebels' fancy passer is getting a break from the Thomas & Mack stat keepers.

Well, there's no hard evidence that Dickel's assist total isn't legit.

According to the stat sheets, he has had good assist games (11 vs. North Carolina at Charlotte, 11 at Air Force, 10 at Wyoming) on the road as well at home. So there goes that theory.

But I raise the question because at the recent Colorado State game at the Mack, I couldn't believe it when I looked up at the scoreboard with a couple of minutes to go and saw that Dickel had accumulated nine assists.

For what it's worth, I'm a Dickel fan. When it comes to distributing the basketball, the kid is more unselfish than Mother Teresa at a Wilson Sporting Goods garage sale. That said, I was surprised to learn he had nine assists against CSU.

Part of that may be the definition of an assist -- any pass that leads directly to a basket -- leaves a lot of room for interpretation. In terms of gray area, it's like the hull of a battleship.

For instance, if Dickel drives the lane, draws two defenders to him, jackknifes in mid-air, and dishes to Kas Kambala for a dunk, it's an assist in anybody's book.

But if Dickel throws the ball to Trevor Diggs on the wing and Diggs cans a three-pointer, Dickel may or may not get credit for an assist, depending on who's keeping the book and their interpretation of the play.

In the subconscious of whoever is tracking the assists, maybe Dickel gets credit for that one based on his reputation where perhaps Danny Brotherson wouldn't.

But even if the stats are a little skewed, there's no question that Dickel's ability to dish and drive is not just a passing fancy.

* FEISTY FIGHTERS: It's only February, but unless the MGM Grand can match John Rocker vs. Name Minority Group Here sometime before the end of the year, it's going to be tough for another promotion to surpass the excitement of Saturday's Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera 122-pound slugfest at Mandalay Bay.

Watching on TV, my only complaint was judge Dalby Shirley having Morales (who took the bigger beating) ahead by five points prior to Barerra's 10-8 round in the 12th.

Prior to the fight, Barerra had complained about getting a fair shake from Duane Ford, one of the three Las Vegas judges assigned to it. But Ford was the only judge who scored the fight for Barrera.

That might have just been coincidence, or perhaps Ford was subconsciously favoring Barrera.

Or maybe it was that he and I watched the same fight.

* FLUTIE'S GANG: The Flutie Gang, which is what Bills quarterback Doug Flutie calls his rock 'n' roll band that includes his brother Darren and some of their musically inclined buddies, will play a gig at Sunset Station on Friday, March 10. Tickets are $25, $20, and $15.

No word from Club Madrid on whether The Flutie Gang would be replaced by Rob Johnson's Band for the second show if the first doesn't go as planned.

* UNPACK THE MACK: That "Pack the Mack" promotion for the Lady Rebels' game against New Mexico over the weekend really went well, didn't it?

A grand total of 1,152 -- just 17,348 shy of a sellout -- paid just $2 each to watch the Lady Rebels whip the Lobos 65-50.

Perhaps "Pack Section 112" would have been a better idea.

* NASCAR CRYBABIES: It amazes me that every time somebody gets an edge and / or Dale Earnhardt complains, NASCAR changes its rules. I speak of Sunday's Daytona 500, where it was obvious the Ford teams had a better aerodynamic package than their GM counterparts.

But rules are rules and they should not be changed in the middle of the season. If Earnhardt wants a better handling car at Daytona, he should tell Chevy to build him one.

What Earnhardt is suggesting would be like the NCAA making the Cincinnati basketball team take the court with four players (except against Xavier and Temple) because it has a distinct advantage in the corners, on the straightaways and on the backboards.

As Earnhardt himself would say: "That ain't right."

* AROUND THE HORN: Too bad for Las Vegan John Williams of Las Vegas that Ricky Rudd led the first lap of Sunday's Daytona 500 instead of the last one. If Rudd would have won the race, Williams would have pocketed $1 million after he was chosen at random for the Winston No Bull 5 program, a promotion in which five fans are assigned to five drivers at five Winston Cup tracks -- Daytona, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Darlington and Talladega. The million went to a woman named Melissa Brown, who drew Dale Jarrett. Brown said she and her husband hold down three jobs, which means they probably had just enough money to purchase a couple of grandstand tickets to Sunday's race. ... Although the Cox Communication empire, which controls the horizontal and vertical on Las Vegas' bazillion-dollar cable TV industry, has purchased the rights to a franchise in a new women's pro s occer league that will begin play next spring, it's doubtful Las Vegas will figure in the equation. Sources said San Diego, where Cox also has a huge prese nce and where there are more Spanish-speaking soccer fans to draw from, would be the more likely home for its franchise.