Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rebels’ Thomas gets high grade from guru

Tuesday, July 24, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

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

In that I've never studied yoga, practiced transcendental meditation or pored over the NFL draft selections, I've never had much use for gurus. But in that Mel Kiper has a steady gig on ESPN and he has been talking up one of Las Vegas' own, I'm willing to make an exception.

In his rankings that were released last week, Kiper lists UNLV junior quarterback Jason Thomas as the fourth-best player in college football. That's college football. The whole enchilada. As in Nebraska, Michigan, Notre Dame, Free Shoes U, etc.

Texas wide receiver Roy Williams, Tennessee defensive tackle John Henderson and Virgina Tech runningback Lee Suggs are the only players rated higher than Thomas on Kiper's list.

Says the draft analyst of UNLV's junior triggerman: "A left-handed version of (Minnesota Vikings QB) Daunte Culpepper -- size, arm strength and mobility. The best QB in college football."

Well, Kiper's no Beano Cook. But then, who is?

In a column last Thursday, I suggested there would be a Zamboni in the devil's driveway before a billboard went up to promote the Lady Rebels. Well, get ready to drop the puck. According to a UNLV spokesman, a billboard touting Lady Rebel basketball and UNLV women's volleyball tickets will go up later this week.

A member of the UNLV sports marketing staff said it is doing its job, in that it has sold 47 of these combination season tickets for women's basketball and volleyball.

Maybe that's because last year it sold a grand total of 32 season tickets for the Lady Rebels and the empty set -- zero -- for volleyball.

Lisa Kelleher also called to say that although her title is Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator, she is not (or never was) responsible for directly overseeing the Lady Rebels. She does, however, work closely with the UNLV women's sports foundation, a booster group for all UNLV women's sports.

Kelleher is responsible for 13 of the school's 16 varsity sports. Her fellow associate A.D., Jerry Koloskie, oversees football and men's and women's basketball.

No wonder the Rebels are facing a $750,000 athletic department deficit. If Cavagnaro knew how to balance a checkbook, he would be the first sportswriter since Bat Masterson to accomplish the feat.

The NASCAR race on a flat track in New Hampshire featured only one on-track pass for the lead. The CART race for Indy-style cars on a high-banked track in Michigan produced an incredible 167 on-track passes for the lead (61 official "at the line" ones).

Moreover, the CART guys were running at speeds approaching 220 mph. The NASCAR guys would have had trouble keeping up with David Letterman on his way home from work.

Yet 100,000 spectators were on hand at New Hampshire and only 40,000 at Michigan.

Conclusion: NASCAR knows how to market its product. CART (which, if you can believe this, won't be returning to race at Michigan) does not.