Columnist Ron Kantowski: Jealousy at UNLV prompted bogus report

Tuesday, March 20, 2001 | 10:09 a.m.

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

In keeping with the theme of the month, call it nothing but net. Or at least nothing worth reporting on The Net.

Last week, anonymous e-mail implicating UNLV football stalwart Jason Thomas in the theft of a computer from the Rebel football offices was sent to members of the local media. Considering the e-mail was unsigned, the incident transpired a full year ago, Thomas and others in the football program have vehemently denied the quarterback's involvement in the caper (former Rebel recruit Larry Shyne later returned the computer in question) and UNLV police are not commenting, most in the local press chose to ignore it.

But the Sun has done a little digging of its own. Independent sources at the university said the person(s) trying to discredit Thomas and the football program are aligned with one of UNLV's minor sports programs. According to the sources, the little guys are upset that the big guys (John Robinson and the football program) are receiving more attention when it comes to funding and the like.

Note to disgruntled coaches and players standing in front of empty bleachers at minor sports venue: That's the way it works on every major college campus. Football and basketball are the cash cows. Everybody else is just a calf feeding off the revenue sports.

According to a report in the "Chronicle of Higher Education" newsletter, Ralph Englestad, the controversial owner of Las Vegas' Imperial Palace resort, made it easier for UND president Charles Kupchella to decide whether to change the school's nickname from "Fighting Sioux" to something more palatable to Native Americans.

Englestad, a former goalie for the Fighting Sioux, informed the North Dakota Board of Higher Education that he would withdraw his $100 million pledge to single-handedly fund UND's new hockey arena if the team's nickname was changed.

It wasn't.

The Ralph Englestad Arena, which will seat 11,4000 fans and include 48 sky boxes, is expected to open its doors this fall when the seven-time NCAA champion Fighting Sioux skate against the University of Minnesota.

Down in Phoenix, where the Indy Racing League was opening its sixth season, a crowd estimated at 30,000 was on hand. Yet more than one media report from the race termed the turnout "disappointing." (And maybe when compared to the 116,000 the rival CART series drew to its season opener in Mexico and the throng at any given NASCAR race, it was.)

But even an XFL game between the Outlaws and Rabid Dogs -- er, Birmingham Bolts -- in Las Vegas outdrew the basketball game, and by a 2-to-1 margin at that.

The only way to justify the difference in perception is this: If nobody's watching on TV, it apparently doesn't count.

In the men's tournament, every once a while a Hampton will sneak up on an Iowa State. In the women's tourney, a bottom bracket feeder such as Long Island University couldn't sneak up on a noted power like UConn walking tippy-toe in Fred Astaire's loafers.

UConn defeated Long Island 101-29 in a first-round East Regional game. Suffice it to say it was the worst blowout since George Clooney and those poor New England fishermen ran into "The Perfect Storm."

Or put it another way: If you took Long Island plus 71 points, you still lost.

And finally, forget about a disciplinary hearing, due process and all that other stuff. The high school basketball coach in New Jersey who has been charged with smoking marijuana with four students before a state playoff game should be fired for being a fool.

Any NBA player and even the coach at Cheech Marin High knows you don't get that way until after the game.