Tuesday, June 25, 2002 | 9:57 a.m.
Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
Last week in this space, while noting that a throng of 6,500 local soccer fans/insomniacs showed up at midnight to watch the U.S. soccer team beat Mexico -- or given their allegiance, to watch Mexico lose to the U.S. soccer team -- at the Orleans, I wrote that I hoped Las Vegas Events president Pat Christenson was paying attention.
Turns out he was -- even before the column appeared in print.
On that very day, Christenson, whose chief responsibility is luring king-sized crowds to Las Vegas, had discussed the idea of a USA-Mexico soccer match with Rich Rose.
Rose is a local sports promoter who during his reign as president of Caesars (Palace) Sports was instrumental in bringing the World Cup draw to Las Vegas in 1994. As I recall, more people showed up to watch names pulled out of a hat than attended the entire season of UNLV football games that year.
Christenson agreed that a "friendly" (exhibition match) between Mexico, with its rabid following here and in Los Angeles, and the U.S., whose popularity is booming given its strong showing in this year's World Cup, would be the ideal soccer vehicle for Las Vegas -- provided he could import the mass quantities of Tecate beer it would take to keep the Mexican fans buzzing.
But he said if logistics precluded bringing the national sides together, he and Rose would work on an alternate soccer event, most likely focusing on international club teams.
In the meantime, he said local soccer fans who need a live fix might want to consider the Copa Coors Light Road to Las Vegas event at Sam Boyd Stadium July 14, featuring Chivas and Atlas, two of the top club sides from Mexico.
"We're very interested in soccer," Christenson said. "We just have yet to hit on an event that will draw 25,000-40,000 (spectators)."
A CONCACAF club tournament, featuring top teams from Major League Soccer, Mexico and Central America, drew only modest crowds to Sam Boyd two years ago, perhaps in part because ticket prices were more out of whack than a Senegal shot at goal.
But Christenson, who was operating the stadium then, suggested that had the event been marketed to the right demographic group -- or had the right demographic group made arrangements to travel to Las Vegas for the tournament -- the price of tickets wouldn't have been a deal killer.
Whitney Arthur Ridenour Jr., was driving his modified Corvette at an estimated 200 mph -- that's right, 200 mph -- when a tire blew, flipping the car several times on U.S. Highway 93-A, about 13 miles north of Wendover.
Ridenour was 64 years old. Most guys his age forget to turn off their blinker after getting on the interstate at a fraction of the speed at which he was traveling.
While it cannot be assumed that a younger man would have had the reflexes to prevent/survive the accident, there's a reason A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and Richard Petty are content to watch from the pits these days.
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