Columnist Ron Kantowski: Finally, you’ve got to pay for Rebel home games

Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2002 | 8:46 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.

What do you get when you turn down the sound on the golf matches from England and pop some house-cleaning classic rock into the CD player?

At my house, you get the Mitch Ryder Cup.

Not sure where he was when the (Detroit) Wheels fell off the American side at The Belfry Sunday, but here's a look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the week in sports:

The Good ...

UNLV 'BLACKOUTS': Under former athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro, the UNLV football team was on TV more often than Steven, that Dell computer dude. Even when it played at home.

But Saturday's game against Nevada-Reno will mark the second time in three outings at Sam Boyd Stadium that Rebels fans actually will have to buy a ticket if they want to see the game.

Cavagnaro believed it was better to give away home games on free TV than take the chance fans would stay home to watch Alabama play LSU, and he engineered/agreed to a contract with SportsWest to reflect that.

Successor John Robinson, on the other hand, has a far more traditional approach that in the long run will be better for business: Show every road game where possible but black out home games.

As it turns out, SportsWest wasn't scheduled to televise the Reno game or the Kansas contest Sept. 7. But Robinson probably would have pulled the plug on them regardless.

A university spokesman said the only UNLV home games that will be aired live henceforth are those carried by ABC or ESPN. That's why fans were able to watch the Wisconsin game from the comfort of their living rooms.

Of course, that one sold out anyway, so it was a no-brainer.

AMOS OTIS: Three things you may not know about Amos Otis, the former Mets and Royals center fielder:

The Bad ...

FORMULA ONE: Ferrari Formula One teammates Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello are even-Steven following Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Schumacher, who had led the entire race (except for pit stops), pulled over at the finish line on the last lap to "let" Barrichello win -- just as Barrichello had for Schumacher early in the season in Austria, when the latter still was battling for the points championship.

While most American racing fans find these tactics about as honorable as an Alderman in Mayor (Richard) Daley's Chicago, F1 is more of a team sport than NASCAR or Indy-style racing where the drivers -- and not the teams that pay them -- are the biggest stars.

Thus, I don't have a major problem with Ferrari deciding which of its drivers should cross the finish line first.

It's like touchdowns in football: If Mike Ditka wants Refrigerator Perry to score from the 1-yard line in the Super Bowl instead of Walter Payton, that's his business.

It still counts six points, regardless of who carried the ball.

The Ugly.

LAVAR ARRINGTON: The former Penn State star, now with the Washington Redskins, returned to Happy Valley Saturday to patrol the sidelines as the Nittany Lions battled Iowa. Arrington did the requisite interview with the tanktop-wearing sideline bimbo -- er, reporter. But a couple of series later he was ejected for berating the officials.

Now you might expect that at Miami or Nebraska. But Penn State?

What's next? A drive-by in Mayberry?

RANDY MOSS: While I am sure that Randy Moss did not receive the same level of parental guidance that I did, I am also certain that there is absolutely no way he could have figured that pushing a meter maid down the street with the front bumper of his Lexus was going to turn out well.

Saturday night on the way to KFC, I listened in amazement as a radio talk show host, a couple of callers and a psychologist concluded that Moss' actions were premeditated and those of a tormented, misguided soul "calling out for help."

I guess his cell phone wasn't working that day.