Columnist Ron Kantowski: Kansas adds some speed with NASCAR deal

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2002 | 8:54 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.

Note to Fred MacMurray: If you've got any unused flubber laying around the old laboratory, I know a bunch of Absent Minded NBA all-stars who could use some.

Anyway, keep your helmet on. Here's a look at the good, the bad and the ugly in the week of sports:

The Good ...

KANSAS ADDS SPEED: Maybe it was a knee-jerk reaction to watching UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas outrun its defense on Saturday night, but Kansas on Monday added a little speed to its ranks. KU, in concert with Phillips 66, will serve as sponsors of Casey Mears' Busch Series car when NASCAR invades Kansas Speedway this weekend.

Kansas' Jayhawk mascot will adorn the hood and rear quarter panels of Mears' car, which will be painted in crimson and blue, the KU colors.

You see where this is going. I'll bet if UNLV asked really nice it might be able to get car owner Jack Roush to paint native Las Vegan Kurt Busch's car red and silver for next spring's Winston Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

While it might be a little cheaper to advertise over the stadium public address system or on a soft drink cup at 7-Eleven, I don't know of too many 7-Elevens that service 140,000 customers on a Sunday afternoon.

KANSAS FANS: Its football team might be a 3-point underdog to Dorothy, Toto and the Cowardly Lion, but give Kansas fans credit for supporting it. More than 4,000 Jayhawk backers made the trip from Lawrence for Saturday night's game against the Rebels.

Of course, you also have to factor in the Las Vegas quotient. For instance, I'm not sure how many of those 4,000 plan on making the trip to Waco when the Jayhawks go against Baylor on Oct. 5.

Still, I bet it'll be more than follow the Rebels to Corvallis, Ore., this weekend to watch UNLV tangle with Oregon State of the Pac-10. A UNLV spokesman said fewer than 100 tickets locally have been purchased for the nationally televised (TBS) battle against the Beavers.

LAS VEGAS 51s: Thanks to being raided like Tommy Lasorda's refrigerator by the parent Los Angeles Dodgers, the 51s came up a little short in the PCL playoffs. But next to that one day it rained, their franchise-record 85 wins was the highlight of the summer around here.

Thanks, too, to the 51s for illustrating what I've maintained all along -- that winning doesn't necessarily translate to success at the box office, at least not at the triple-A level in Las Vegas. Attendance was stagnate at best at Cashman Field this summer despite the team's unparalleled success.

When it comes to baseball in the bushes, bobbleheads and fireworks will always beat a six-game winning streak.

FAMILY FUN ZONE: Kudos to UNLV for establishing a family section at UNLV football games. Not only is it a good deal (for $38 you get four tickets, four meals, souvenirs and other goodies) but it'll keep the kids out of the abundant R-rated sections of the stadium.

To wit, this is what I saw from my seat on the 5-yard-line Saturday: At least three guys refer to Jason Thomas as a ... well, not a very good quarterback, a girl in a halter top give a lap dance in the student section, fans play keep away with every football that was kicked into the stands and, in the biggest upset of all (given their $5 price tag), three full beers hurled through the goal post when the Rebels were whistled for a questionable pass interference penalty.

While it's nice to see them filled, the end zone seats at the closed end of Sam Boyd Stadium are sort of like a party at Charlie Sheen's house:

Enter at your own risk.

The Bad ...

TV WOES: The Indy Racing League is foolish for going against the NFL on Sunday afternoons in the fall, at least when the objective is TV ratings. But there might be hope were Andre Agassi willing to drive a race car.

Sam Hornish Jr.'s three-inch victory over part-time Henderson resident Al Unser. Jr. Sunday was one of the most thrilling Indy-car races of all time, yet it pulled a meager 0.6 rating in Las Vegas. That's because most TV sets around town were tuned to the Jets-Bills (8.5), Vikings-Bears (10.9) and Rams-Broncos (13.6) while the Indy guys were driving around in circles.

But the U.S. Open final between native son Agassi and Pete Sampras carved a solid 10.7 niche in the local ratings.

Who said men's tennis is in trouble?

The Ugly.

SEAHAWKS NEW UNIFORMS: Steve Largent and Jim Zorn wouldn't be caught dead in Seattle's new XFL-looking outfits.

Instead of the players' names, they should have just put "Fubu" and "05" on the back. The Seahawks' new jerseys look like something you'd buy off the rack at Miller's Outpost.