Columnist Ron Kantowski: Let’s be ‘firm but fair’ in judging new AD

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2003 | 9:38 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

All right, Rebels fans. Can we agree to a cease-fire on the angry phone calls and e-mails? At least for now?

Mike Hamrick is here, and judging from the size of the billboard on Paradise Avenue that welcomed him to town Monday, my best guess is he isn't going anywhere for at least three years, the length of his contract.

Last week, it was established in this space and elsewhere that the new UNLV athletic director wasn't the most popular guy on the East Carolina campus, from whence he came.

Indeed, when a member of your own board of trustees describes your tenure as a "mixed bag," you can assume the bag contained about 75 percent negative stuff to 25 percent positive. Because when was the last time you heard anybody in a politically correct position, such as the board of trustees at a semi-major university, say anything untoward about anyone upon his departure?

Hamrick officially was introduced to assorted UNLV faculty, coaches and local media at the Thomas & Mack Center board room Monday, and once the floor was opened for queries, the line of questioning got a little rugged.

I've seen bratwurst at the Wisconsin State Fair get off with a lighter grilling than what Hamrick faced from some of my colleagues, and given that Monday's affair was supposed to be a chance to shake hands with the new man rather than interrogate him, perhaps some of those questions should have been reserved for a one-on-one setting.

In fact, when UNLV sports information director Andy Grossman intervened to cut the baited questioning short, it served the same purpose as boxing referee Joe Cortez stepping in to spare a fighter from unnecessary abuse.

What is it that Cortez says to the fighters just before instructing them to touch gloves in the middle of the ring? "I'm firm but fair."

That should be the approach in judging Hamrick.

As the man himself said during his remarks, "Anytime you go into a new job, time will tell."

In keeping with that theme, I'm sure Rebels fans and other skeptics would like to remind him that as of Monday, he's officially on the clock.

In a nutshell, the study concluded that virtually every NCAA school regularly loses money on sports, and spending more on them does not guarantee winning more. More specifically, the study showed that increased spending on football and men's basketball during an eight-year period did not result in higher winning percentages or revenues.

So, Mike, how about knocking off $5 on the price of that jacked-up $13 end zone seat so I can afford to take my wife to a Rebels game?

It might play like real grass, but the alternating kelly/pine green color scheme, patterned after the University of Oregon's Autzen Stadium, looks about as real as Rip Taylor's hair.

Certainly, it will prove to be more durable than the real thing, but my first thought upon seeing the new carpet is how inviting the soccer fields across the street looked.

In reality, thanks to the partnership with its landlord, the Orleans, beers at Wranglers game will be moderately priced at $3.25. In the long run, that should mean more to the club's success than helping the Calgary Flames groom some left winger from Moose Jaw for a spot on the checking line.