Columnist Ron Kantowski: UNLV caught in the meddle of fact and friction

Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001 | 10:33 a.m.

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

At last report, UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro was on his way to Miami in an attempt to talk Rick Pitino into a long-term contract to coach the Rebels' basketball team.

Which means by now the deal is probably off.

Welcome to Indecision 2001.

I thought I had seen it all several years ago when Jerry Tarkanian announced he was rescinding his resignation (of course he later changed his mind) as Rebels coach following a revival at a North Las Vegas Baptist church.

But Cavagnaro, Pitino, UNLV president Carol Harter, Steve Wynn, Tom Wiesner, Dick Vitale and every other meddling booster, administrator, friend, confidant, advisor, soothsayer or swami to any of the above who may or (if you are foolish enough to believe them) may not have been involved in the Pitino-to-UNLV negotiations should be taken to the woodshed for the way they have mishandled them.

But why did this have to be so difficult?

On the day they overreacted and fired Bill Bayno, Harter and Cavagnaro were adamant that Max Good would serve as Rebels coach until the end of the season, at which time his and the program's status would be reviewed.

That almost made sense. Which is why you just knew that UNLV would screw it up somehow.

On Monday night, Cavagnaro was so dazed and confused that he and his wife couldn't even decide if he was out of town or in the next room.

When reporters tried to contact Cavagnaro in a futile attempt to separate fact from fiction regarding Pitino, Mrs. Cavagnaro said her husband was out for the evening. Then when another reporter called a few minutes later, Cavagnaro could be heard talking in the background.

And here you thought Pitino was having trouble getting his story straight.

Around the horn

The Rams have fallen on hard times since fast-talking Jim Harrick bolted for Georgia, and a booster apparently contacted Good to gauge his interest in the Rhode Island job -- provided it were open.

Good's response, perhaps a jab at Rick Pitino, was that so long as Jerry DeGregorio is employed as Rams coach, it's a moot point. But given Good saw more snow than Bob Beattie during the former's tenure at Maine Central Institute, he probably wouldn't be all that interested in coaching at Rhode Island under any circumstances.

* HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL (NOT): Let's hope Las Vegas 51s and city officials who hoped to lure the Los Angeles Dodgers here as the primary tenant for a pie-in-the-sky Major League Baseball spring training complex have learned a lesson about being gullible.

As if there were any doubt, the Dodgers made it official last week in a quiet (fortunate for the overly optimistic locals) announcement that if there's ever going to be a spring training complex in Las Vegas, they won't be a partner. The city of Vero Beach, Fla., the Dodgers and Indian River County have finalized a deal that will keep the Dodgers at Dodgertown for at least the next 20 years.

But at least the Dodgers gave Las Vegas a lovely consolation gift by agreeing to move their triple-A digs from Albuquerque, N.M., to Cashman Field during the off-season.

The first belonged to Channel 8 sports anchor Dave McCann, who does a nice job as a play-by-play man for the SportsWest network in his spare time (even if he refuses to give the Sun credit for breaking local sports stories). The second was none other than NBA Hall-of-Famer Rick Barry, who worked the game as McCann's analyst.

The outspoken Barry seemed to be enjoying himself on a smaller stage than what he is used to. His biggest gripe was understanding how anybody could miss a free throw, but his lack of tolerance in that area isn't surprising, given Barry's NBA career free-throw percentage of .900 is the second best of all time.