Columnist Ron Kantowski: UNLV drags feet in hiring new baseball coach

Tuesday, June 19, 2001 | 11:23 a.m.

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

It's a good thing that when it came time to appointing somebody take out the trash, my old man didn't set up a committee or hem and haw the way UNLV is doing in filling its head baseball coaching vacancy.

Because it would have gotten awfully rank under the sink.

It has been a month since Rod Soesbe was fired, yet UNLV only now is getting around to perusing resumes. Given there are 70 of them to look over, by the time the Rebels get around to naming a new coach Rick Ankiel will have regained his control.

More importantly (unless you are a Cardinals fan), if UNLV doesn't hurry up, all of the good college baseball recruits will have been signed, sealed and delivered to other schools.

Over the weekend, a concerned parent of one of the current Rebels called to say that UNLV hasn't signed a single player for next year.

Insiders say getting such a late start on recruiting and fund-raising is one of the big reasons CCSN coach Tim Chambers decided not to pursue the UNLV job, although he seems tailor-made for it.

There's nothing wrong with a democracy when it comes to running a nation. But when it comes to operating a college athletic program, Rebels A.D. Charlie Cavagnaro might have been better off to set up a committee of one to name his new baseball coach.

Just as he did with the basketball opening.

But where were the up-close-and-personal cameras when Huish got busted and then convicted for selling drugs in California?

Huish, 25, last week was sentenced to four months in jail for peddling marijuana from his Simi Valley home.

Too bad that in real life Huish isn't as straight as his arrows.

If there ever was a player destined to spend his career in Milwaukee, it's Nick Bierbrodt (pronounced BEER-brat).

Irishman Derek Daly, the former Formula One/CART/Indy 500/IMSA GT/24 Hours of Le Mans racer who operates a driving school out of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, apparently has found a gig that only requires him to go 30 seconds instead of 200 mph.

I wonder what's taking the Irish Spring folks so long to look him up.

Actually, it wasn't that hard to outfit Lady Liberty, as Padres hit meister Tony Gwynn was kind enough the donate his batting practice jersey.

"I wouldn't say Astroturf is dead," Baltimore Orioles head groudskeeper Al Capitos told the St. Louis Post Dispatch, "but it's pretty close."

Artificial turf is said to cause more player injuries, but the biggest reason it is going the way of day-glo clothing is that it doesn't fit with the "retro" look favored by all these new ballparks.

That would be like putting a BMW in an Amish guy's driveway.

The other seven just look good in a leotard.

In case you are wondering, Laker Girls make about as much as Jack Nicholson tips the courtside beer vendor at the Staples Center -- $85 per game.