Columnist Ron Kantowski: Tide has changed at squeaky-clean UNLV

Tuesday, March 11, 2003 | 9:07 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.

Perception and reality are different things, except to the college basketball media.

For example, there was this, from the Birmingham (Ala.) Post-Herald's Ray Melick, on the checkered past of Georgia coach Jim Harrick, part of Melick's commentary on the checkered current status of the game. In the past week alone, the programs at Georgia, St. Bonaventure and Villanova have been sullied, and the one at Fresno State sullied some more.

"Don't forget Harrick also brought Lamar Odom to Rhode Island, a player so embroiled in controversy that even UNLV, the haven of second chances, couldn't get him into school," Melick wrote.

Not that the Rebels didn't try. In fact, it was the shameless recruitment of Odom under Bill Bayno's watch that got UNLV put back on NCAA Double Secret Probation.

But that was then and this is now. Although the Rebels have yet to win so much as a conference championship under Charlie Spoonhour (that's not easily done with Rick Majerus as a coaching rival), at least they are winning their share of games.

And they've done it without so much as a single player flunking out, turning in a ghost-written book report, dumping a chocolate shake on the guy manning the drive-up window at Jack in the Box, or sitting in hot water with a convicted sports fixer.

At least not that we're aware of.

If these Rebels aren't careful, they might actually restore some credence to the notion that it's not a matter of winning and losing, but how you play the game.

There are so many playground-type players on each side that this game belongs on asphalt, not hardwood. Certainly, neither side has been accused of running the "Picket Fence" offense.

The Rebels should beware. If this shake-and-bake SDSU team catches fire, it is capable of turning Thursday's game into a Nike commercial -- or did you forget last year's MWC title game?

UNLV's J.K. Edwards had a similar problem against San Diego State on Saturday. Edwards, who was sick to his stomach most of Friday, had a relapse during the second half. Let's just say that when Edwards left the game, it was because all his problems were behind him.

Edwards' pregame meal consisted of a western bacon double cheeseburger that obviously didn't sit very well, with obvious being the key word.

"I have to be quite frank with you. I don't know what the American Hockey League is," Goodman said of professional hockey's top minor league. "I never heard of them."

After Goodman served a two-minute penalty for hockey ignorance, he slightly thawed to the prospect of pro hockey downtown -- provided the investors have deep pockets.

"I'm happy to talk to anybody," he said. "To make it perfectly clear, we could have had the arena at Main and Stewart. All we had to do was put up our full faith and credit (but) we weren't going to do that. It's that simple. We're not going to jeopardize our taxpayers."

When Forbes magazine released its annual list of the world's billionaires last week, Smith apparently was miffed that his name was not on it.

But a spokesman said Smith is living comfortably in Billionaire Acres.

"No representative from Forbes has ever contacted Mr. Smith regarding his assets," said Jerry Gappens of Speedway Motorsports. "What they are not taking into account is his private holdings."

Last year, the Charlotte Observer reported that Smith's public holdings were worth $1 billion. But because Smith dropped off the list, the magazine did not publish the value of his holdings this year.

And to think, he has made all that cash despite being the only guy in NASCAR who doesn't have his own souvenir trailer.

Get ready for the Greens of Las Vegas, an upscale putting facility patterned after some of the most famous greens in professional golf. The project is on the drawing board for the swatch of land at Tropicana and Paradise that previously was home to an ill-fated driving range. ... Some of the events you'll most likely see in the first six months of the soon-to-open Orleans Arena: Golden Gloves boxing, ultimate fighting, pro boxing, BMX bicycle racing, stadium motocross racing and horse jumping. Jim McKay would love this place.