Columnist Ron Kantowski: Will the General stake out hire ground at UNLV?

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000 | 10:35 a.m.

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

Two years ago, when UNLV was looking to inject some life into its moribund football program, it turned to a coaching icon one year removed from being fired from one of the nation's pre-eminent programs.

You see where I'm going with this?

That's why it's crucial UNLV's Bill Bayno win some basketball games this season. A lot of them.

While hiring former Southern Cal football coach John Robinson to right its listing football ship was the perfect move for UNLV, let's hope athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro and the basketball program's influential boosters aren't getting way ahead of themselves and concocting scenarios where Bob Knight could return to the hardwood as coach of the Rebels.

It's not that I'm against kids going to class, high graduation rates, playing by the rules, winning national championships, setting screens away from the ball, basketball shorts that fit and recruiting players that don't look like Hell's Angels, all of which should have been Bob Knight's legacy.

But were I brave enough to second-guess him, I would rather not face flying furniture the next time I show my face at the Mack.

Bayno's teams haven't won as much as they should, given all that NBA talent (Keon Clark, Tyrone Nesby, Shawn Marion) he has had and that his schedule isn't exactly as tough as Duke's (or for that matter, even Continental Trailways').

But say this for Bayno. He may not care for criticism (who does?) but at least he takes it in stride.

There's an axiom in sports writing that states there's no cheering in the press box. But nobody ever said anything about pulling for the home team from section 221 in the Thomas & Mack Center.

Just to be on the safe side, if Bob Knight's still unemployed by December, that's probably where I'll be.

Around the horn

Let's see, controversial but revered and legendary coach gets fired by school president whose stature is dwarfed by that of his basketball coach. Sound familiar?

If Bob Knight's successor at Indiana doesn't think he's in for a rude awakening, I would suggest he dial Rollie Massimino's number at Cleveland State. ...

Hey, Harvey, what's up? A transfer, that's what.

If Kent Harvey, the 19-year-old freshman who most around the Indiana campus are holding responsible for Knight's dismissal following their altercation last week, has any hopes of getting a college education in the Hoosier State, he had better enroll at Purdue for the spring semester. Gene Keady will probably let him have a seat on the Boilermakers' bench. ...

No slight to Mike Anderson, the former Utah battering ram and most valuable player of last year's Las Vegas Bowl, but it's time the Broncos' offensive line get some/much of the credit for Terrell Davis' success and that of Olandis Gary, who stepped in for the injured Davis last season. Anderson's 131-yard effort in the Broncos' 42-10 blowout of Atlanta Sunday was the best debut by a rookie runner in NFL history. ...

First there was Jamal Anderson, then Kevin Dyson and now Mike Anderson. For all the NFL stars the University of Utah has been cranking out, the Utes should be able to do better than a Las Vegas Bowl berth. ...

Speaking of the LV Bowl, Fresno State, which came in second in last year's postseason "classic" at Sam Boyd Stadium, had seven graduates -- er, alums -- on the field at Sunday's Colts-Raiders game. So maybe the Bulldogs are guilty of a little underachieving themselves. ...

Congratulations to Las Vegan Tasha Schwikert, who has been elevated from second alternate status to a performing role with the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team in Sydney. But as Ricky Ricardo used to tell Lucy, Team USA coach Bela Karolyi has some es-plainin' to do to Alyssa Beckerman and her parents.

Beckerman allegedly was the No. 1 alternate going into the Games but was bypassed for Schwikert when Morgan White came up lame. Schwikert is considered strong in the vault, which apparently is the reason she'll be in the lineup.

Hits and misses

JOHNNY OATES: When the Texas Rangers' manager decided to let utility man Scott Sheldon become just the third man in major league history to play all nine positions in the same game last week, he did it without fanfare and on the spur of the moment -- in the third inning and on the road, at Chicago. Had it been the Las Vegas Stars (who had Keith Lockhart and Kevin Higgins perform the feat in the same game several years ago) or any baseball organization run by a guy named Veeck, the stunt would have been announced weeks in advance, hoping it would put a few more butts in the seats. HIT.

SOMETHING CALLED THE NATIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE: Boston businessman Jon Diamond has put together an amateurish press kit announcing the formation of the National Baseball League, which claims it will begin competing with Major League Baseball for players when it begins playing ball in 2004 (or whenever hell freezes over). Of course, Las Vegas has been identified as one of the 16 cities that will have teams, so we've got that going for us. Says founder Diamond: "Each team has only two or three legitimate stars." Boy, where do I get tickets? MISS.