Columnist Ron Kantowski: Letterman at Indy: Now that’s a Classic

Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002 | 10:21 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Part of the reason I subscribed to satellite TV was ESPN Classic -- I just can't get enough of grainy footage and dated graphics. Unfortunately, there's more Stuart Scott than Curt Gowdy on Classic, as most of the programming seems to have originated in the 1990s.

I don't know about you, but I don't consider Smashmouth a classic rock band. In any sense of the word.

That's why I was delighted to go channel surfing (with The Dish, it's more like a three-hour cruise) on Saturday and stumble onto the original broadcast of the 1971 Indianapolis 500.

The only thing more amazing than the length of Jackie Stewart's sideburns was hearing him and Jim McKay express concern over the high speeds the cars were traveling -- the late Peter Revson took the pole at 178 mph, a speed at which today's cars warm up.

But the highlight was when McKay switched to Chris Economaki in Turn 4, who had collared Mario Andretti for a live soundbite (practically unheard of in those days) after he had crashed out of the race.

Only it wasn't Economaki doing the questioning. It was some gangly guy with a shaggy haircut whose voice sounded awfully familiar.

When McKay came back on, he apologized for his mistake.

"That wasn't Chris Economaki," he said. "That was actually Dave Letterman in Turn 4."

Letterman, an Indianapolis native, was working as a TV weatherman in Indy and had joined the ABC crew on race day, becoming one of the first TV pit reporters.

Too bad the producers of "The Late Show" didn't have access to that footage, because it would have made a great segue last week to Letterman's interview of Andretti some 31 years later.

Because it has played such a weak schedule -- UNLV ranks a paltry 177th in strength of schedule, lower than any team ranked ahead of it -- the Lady Rebels stand only 52nd in the all-important Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

Two Mountain West teams -- Colorado State at No. 21 and New Mexico at No. 33 -- are ranked ahead of UNLV in RPI, one of the determining factors in setting the tourney field which incorporates Division I winning percentage, strength of schedule and strength of opponents' schedule.

Three things going for the Lady Rebels in their bid to make it into the NCAA Tourney for the first time since 1994 are the Mountain West's overall strength (No. 6 among 31 conferences), that they've already beaten New Mexico twice and -- last but not least -- that the conference tournament once again will be played on their home floor.