Columnist Dean Juipe: Hunt added to rivalry with Arizona

Dean Juipe

Friday, March 7, 2003 | 10:06 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Notes today, leading off with one that the participants were able to keep secret and out of print for 12 years -- or until now.

It was the afternoon of March 17, 1991, and the UNLV men's basketball team had just defeated Georgetown, 62-54, in a West regional playoff game at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The Rebels, who were en route to the Final Four in defense of their national championship, were feeling frisky as the traffic cleared from the locker room they were using, which ordinarily housed the home Wildcats. Exploiting the rivalry between Arizona and UNLV as well as his own background from the streets of Detroit, Rebels guard Anderson Hunt amused his teammates by picking the lock on a glass-enclosed case within the locker room that contained an old ball from the 1930s that Arizona players traditionally touch before every home game. After Hunt snagged the prized possession, the Rebels went a step further and defaced it with their own autographs before returning it to it s case. When the prank was discovered, Arizona coach Lute Olson was livid and wrote a nasty letter to UNLV, which, best we ! can tell, ignored the missive and laughed again at Hunt's ingenuity.

O.J. Simpson apparently was all over town last weekend, but I literally bumped into him at the Roy Jones fight last Saturday at the Thomas & Mack when he suddenly stopped for a fan who was requesting a photo as we were leaving the arena. "God bless you," the man said to the former football star. "He already has," Simpson unabashedly replied. ... Congratulations to former UNLV star and current PGA tour standout Chris Riley, who recently married LPGA tour player Michelle Louviere. They're living in Las Vegas, although she's taking a break from the LPGA tour to travel with Chris on the PGA tour.

The major pro sports leagues like to keep their distance from Las Vegas, but the NFL -- in an effort to streamline its Super Bowl obligations -- once sent a team of administrators to Caesars Palace to study how the casino handled its distribution of media credentials for a big fight. ... "Boxing's one of my favorite sports," mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday, throwing his weight behind the national collegiate boxing championships, which will be April 3-5 at UNLV's Cox Pavilion. "It's good to have friends in high places," said UNLV coach Skip Kelp in appreciation of the mayor taking time to meet with team and tournament reps.

One of pro wrestling's biggest stars from the '60s and '70s recently died at the age of 78, although you won't recognize him by his given name. Edward Farhat made a living by acting deranged and forcing rivals to succumb to his notorious "camel clutch" hold as he masqueraded as something he really was not, The Sheik. ... Rich Rose, who has a long connection to sports in Las Vegas and is working as a consultant for the Arena Football League's Gladiators, is back in good health after having heart surgery late last year.

Former pro boxer Vinnie Pazienza was recently arrested in Connecticut for passing bad checks in Las Vegas. ... Centennial High basketball star Rachael Schein has signed with Arizona, depriving UNLV of a badly needed local recruit. On the plus side, now we can get her to look into the Anderson Hunt ball caper and report back to us on her findings.