Columnist Dean Juipe: Bittersweet parting for UNLV, coach

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, May 14, 2003 | 8:58 a.m.

Even in the best of times, the UNLV softball program is going to lose money.

Good teams, bad teams ... intriguing schedule, cream puff schedule ... new stadium or old -- no matter what, there is no money to be made in Las Vegas with collegiate softball.

Yet, that said, a coach can only go so many consecutive years with a losing record and empty bleachers. And Shan McDonald had reached her limit.

Let go as coach of the Rebels this week after completing still another disappointing season, McDonald departs after 17 years and a respectable overall record of 511-469.

But she also hadn't had a winning season since 1996 and the opening of a new stadium a year ago hadn't produced the bump in victories or attendance that was rightfully expected.

She seems to be going quietly and not protesting a decision that athletic director John Robinson appears to have privately made at least a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the lead item in my April 30 column addressed McDonald's precarious position and included my interpretation of comments from Robinson on the subject.

"Ominous" is the word I used, realizing that Robinson had clearly failed to give McDonald anything resembling a vote of confidence.

That her contract is not being renewed is surprising only to the extent that she could have argued that she deserved one more year, given that her 2003 team didn't have a single senior on the roster.

But Robinson had seen enough. The Rebels were 21-39 this season and no coach can have seven consecutive losing seasons and feel as if he or she was unfairly let go.

The trouble for McDonald is that her program had becoming increasingly less relevant. There were seasons, years ago, when this newspaper made an effort to cover every UNLV home game, but those days have long since passed and in recent times the Rebels played to very little fanfare.

It's not a chicken-or-the-egg thing. If UNLV had been winning and reaching the NCAA playoffs as it was doing in its early '90s heyday, the media would have continued to be accommodating.

Personally, I used to enjoy seeing the softball team and there was a time when I would go to a handful of games a year. But I haven't seen a game now in at least three or four years, which is the direct result of the teams' records and the program's losing ways.

Yet McDonald, who I was unable to reach Tuesday, remained personable throughout. We had talked about the pressure of moving into a new stadium and she was aware of the potential down side of the transition, as she could no longer say her inability to recruit top-notch players was the direct result of an inadequate facility.

I feel bad for her in a way. For years she campaigned for a new field and spoke optimistically of what it would mean to her program and UNLV, but, in truth, getting that new ballpark and continuing to lose led to her losing her job.

She implies that she's through with coaching. She's 43 and sounding as if it's time for a career change.

Synonymous with UNLV softball for a very long time, she departs, no doubt, with at least a few pleasant memories. But it's bittersweet, isn't it, when the good times were so long ago?