Columnist Dean Juipe: Is new ABA team coming to Las Vegas?

Dean Juipe

Monday, Nov. 3, 2003 | 9:46 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 supposedly is a fact even if it reads like fiction.

Improbable as it seems, what with nothing said or written and little done toward getting the team off the ground, according to the American Basketball Association's website, Las Vegas is about to get a new professional team that will begin play later this month. The ABA, which did not compete last season, is indicating that Las Vegas is one of seven teams in its rejuvenated league that will open the season Nov. 22. We do know the owner of the team, Roy Hammonds, has made some preliminary inquiries pertaining to a site for his team's games, but with no players on the roster and the league on such shaky ground he might be better served just saving his money. A Las Vegas team in the same league played at the Cox Pavilion two years ago before capitulating.

After years of deriding the habit of making political appointees -- as opposed to selecting an occasional unbiased ex-fighter, trainer or manager -- to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, I have come to the conclusion that it's really not such a bad idea to fill the panel with businessmen and doctors as picked by the governor (as has been routinely done for many years). And the outgoing commission chairman, Luther Mack, agrees. "The fact that it's political gives you some type of support," he said. "The commission is a business and it's important to run it as a business. You have to vote your own conscience and you occasionally walk a very thin line, but it's an elitist board with a lot of clout. The Nevada commission is very much on the cutting edge, and part of that is the result of having a membership that is capable of making business decisions." ... I was surprised to see the sports book at the Orleans not posting a line on Wranglers games. I wouldn't think the ECHL wou! ld object, so maybe the host site will start putting a number up after it gets a little more familiar with the mammoth hockey league and the local team.

Arnold Palmer is getting married! Arnie, 74, is engaged to Kit Gawthrop, 65, but no date is set. It'll be his second marriage, as first wife Winnie died in 1999. ... That was a nice win for the UNLV football team at New Mexico, but how schizoid has the Mountain West become? Nothing is predictable and there are no good teams. ... Hats off to KLAS sports anchor Dave McCann, who invariably does a good job as an occasional play-by-play man for the Rebels on TV. He was excellent at Albuquerque. ... What's with football teams holding hands in the huddle? I'm all for team unity and stuff like that, but holding hands -- as some teams, including UNLV, are required to do by their coaches -- is going a little too far. ... I like Indianapolis in the AFC after the Colts improved to 7-1 Sunday with their 23-17 win at 5-3 Miami.

Unfortunately I didn't see this until after the supposed tryout was held, but in a blatant scam someone in town was trying to get money from local basketball players to attend what was labeled as an NBA tryout camp. A flyer to that effect was posted by the courts at the Desert Breeze park and here's how it was worded: "Expansion NBA franchise holding tryouts Oct. 25 for next season." Well, there is no NBA expansion team on the drawing board and if there was it wouldn't go about acquiring players in this manner. Several slips of paper with a phone number to call were partially torn and attached to the flyer, and some of the slips were ripped off. I suspect some of the guys were too, as repeated calls to the number (at all times of the day and night) continue to go unanswered. ... Former UNLV women's basketball coach Jim Bolla is back in Las Vegas and servin g as the director for BBQ Oasis, which, as the name implies, specializes in custom-made barbecues. It's probably not a bad ! job and Bolla says he likes it, but for a guy who went 300-120 in 14 seasons as coach of the Lady Rebels and is still only 51 years old, I, for one, wish he had stayed in coaching.

I would have claimed Manny Ramirez while he was on waivers from the Boston Red Sox and worried about the compatibility and salary issues later. It's hard to imagine that there's not a single major-league team that would take him, even for nothing, as he was being offered last week. ... Congratulations to Craig Barlow and Robert Gamez for solidifying their pro golf careers this season. Gamez had been out of the PGA Tour's totally exempt top 125 for four consecutive years before regaining his card last year, while Barlow perennially went to the wire in an effort to keep his card -- as shown by his No. 124, 122 and 124 finishes in three of the previous four years. But both of the local pros had solid seasons on tour this year and can now play next year when and where they want.

The UNLV club boxing team held a fund-raising dinner Friday at the Palms and 192 guests enjoyed the evening, which included six exhibition bouts. "We had a lot of skepticism about this coming in, but this is as good as any of us could have asked for," said an elated Skip Kelp, who coaches the Rebels. ... Among those in the crowd at the Palms that night was rookie running back Larry Johnson of the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, who had a bye this past weekend. ... Missing from that same function, however, was a key member of the UNLV team's support staff, Paddy Ryan. He suffered a pair of heart attacks last month but said Sunday he was recovering and doing well. "I'm so used to being active, but when you're 75 and have two heart attacks it slows you down," he said from his home. "I was told they almost lost me there, but I'm doing much better now."

And finally, consider this story about two guys who were lifelong baseball fans. They made a pact, agreeing that whichever one died first would somehow report back to the other on whether or not there is baseball in heaven. It turns out that Joe dies first, leaving Bob to wonder and wait. Eventually, Joe -- appearing as an angel -- comes to Bob and says "I have good news and bad news." Bob asks for the good news and Joe says "Well, there's plenty of baseball in heaven." Bob then asks for the bad news, to which Joe replies "You're pitching Tuesday."