Excuse the Interjection

Friday, Dec. 23, 2005 | 8:48 a.m.

WHAT IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE DATE FOR THE LAS VEGAS BOWL?

* Since its inception in 1992, the Las Vegas Bowl has been played on Dec. 18, Dec. 21, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and now Dec. 22. Where does it belong?

JEFF HANEY'S TAKE: I'm disappointed the Las Vegas Bowl never caught on as a Christmas Day tradition. You have beautiful wintertime desert weather for the live audience, and with not much else on the sports slate, a captive TV audience in the East and Midwest. I only wish I could have tuned it in all those Christmas afternoons when I was stuck with the Blue-Gray game.

RON KANTOWSKI'S TAKE: Now you've done it. Dissing the Blue-Gray game. Where else could you watch all those stars from Indiana and Baylor line up against a wide receiver from Shippensburg State? But you're right about Christmas and the LV Bowl. Nobody thought it would draw, but with the right teams (USC and Utah) it did surprisingly well. Christmas Eve, on the other hand ...

JH: This opinion is as popular as the Grinch, but Christmas Eve would be my second choice. I attended the Dec. 24 Las Vegas Bowls in 2003 and 2004 as a fan, not a sports writer, and thought the holiday setting gave the game some personality, some character. On the 21st or 22nd, it tends to get lost in the long shadow cast by the likes of the Poinsettia Bowl.

RK: But that's why ESPN likes it. We might talk as if the local bowl committee has a say in what day or time the game kicks off, but that's all up to ESPN. Let's face it, if the all-sports juggernaut didn't need to fill a time slot after the Poinsettia Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl might be pushing up daisies. Or at least Astro Bluebonnets.

JH: Certainly TV interests drive major college sports. But I'd like to think the bowl game can also be an organic part of this community, rather than just a reality show conducted by and for outsiders on what's essentially a soundstage. Is that too idealistic?

RK: No, but there can only be one Humanitarian Bowl. Seriously, it would be nice if the local community would get behind the game. But if the local community can't even fill up the Thomas & Mack Center on the night the court is named for Jerry Tarkanian, what chance does the bowl game really have closer to home?

JH: Maybe a fighting one, if the teams invited to Sam Boyd Stadium put on some high-scoring, action-filled shows that compel Las Vegas locals to get up from their video poker machines and take notice.

RK: Amen to that. Maybe all that's preventing the Las Vegas Bowl from becoming Son of Holiday Bowl is a 56-49 overtime thriller. And a whale tank for Shamu.