Duly Noted for Nov. 5, 2005

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 | 8:17 a.m.

PULLING THE PLUG ... AGAIN

To nobody's surprise, Brian Bedol, co-founder of College Sports TV, which recently paid the Mountain West Conference $82 million and change to become its de facto flagship station, has unloaded the cable sports network like a deuce-seven in a game of Texas hold 'em.

Following the MWC's lead, Bedol and his partners have decided to take the money and run. CBS Chairman Les Moonves announced Thursday that the network had acquired CSTV for $325 million, or about $200 million more than Bedol and his pals had invested in it.

Supposedly, CBS' acquisition of CSTV will not effect the MWC in a negative way, although the best tactic might be to wait and see.

After all, the Classic Sports Network actually used to show classic sports before Bedol sold it to ESPN in 1997. Now, it mostly has become an outlet for so-called "Instant Classics," i.e., games you watched last Saturday, and those two brothers cracking wise on old "Battle of the Network Stars" reruns.

TRIBUTE FOR A KING

Longtime Las Vegas broadcasters Bob Blum and Ken Korach were among the invited guests at a memorial service Tuesday eulogizing Bill King, the legendary voice of the Oakland Raiders, Golden State Warriors and Oakland A's.

Blum said the list of dignitaries included former Warriors owner Franklin Miueli, Raiders owner Al Davis and dozens of Bay Area sports legends, including Rick Barry, Nate Thurmond, Al Attles, Tony La Russa, Tom Flores, Jim Otto and Ben Davidson.

"If a bomb had been dropped on the Oakland Arena, it would have wiped out sports in the Western United States," said Blum, whom King replaced as radio voice of the Raiders in 1978.

"You don't replace a Bill King," said Korach, who partnered with King for the past 10 years in the A's radio booth and will inherit his play-by-play duties. "You just move over to where he sat and do a few more innings on the air."

LIKE A RHINESTONE COWBOY -- ER, 49ER

Prior to last week, when he was listed as a fourth-string quarterback from the University of Washington, not many 49ers fans had heard of Cody Pickett, who will get his first start for San Francisco against the Giants on Sunday.

But National Finals Rodeo fans could probably tell you all about him. Pickett competed in the youth NFR from 1997 to '99 and his father, Dee, was a fixture at the NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Dee Pickett played quarterback at Boise State before hitting the rodeo trail. He was the world champion all-around cowboy in 1984 and was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs in 2003.

PHOENIX RISES FROM LV ASHES

In 2004 Robert Sarver paid an NCAA record $401 million for the Phoenix Suns and says he owes all of it (although not literally) to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

"I was visiting Mayor Goodman about getting a franchise for Las Vegas," Sarver, 43, said in an interview with Kevin Rademacher of the Sun's sister paper, In Business Las Vegas. "I went back and met with (David Stern) and the commissioner explained to me that at this point we weren't in a position to do that. He mentioned to me why don't you talk to Jerry Colangelo in Phoenix, because he's looking to do something, and I ended up buying the team.

"I think at some point -- and I don't know when that will be -- Vegas will end up getting a sports franchise."

FORWARD BYPASS

Top five rejected sports-influenced names for the new Henderson interchange:

5. The Poulan Weed Eater Bowl.

4. The Business Casual Attired Freeway.

3. The East-West Shrine Lanes.

2. The Flyover/Under

1. The Tom Osborne Quadruple Bypass.

By the Numbers

7,574,975

The Las Vegas Stars/51s all-time attendance total for 23 seasons at Cashman Field.

The number of players in NCAA Division I-A history who have had four 1,000-yard rushing seasons. (New Mexico's Dontrell Moore became the sixth last week.)

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The Sam's Town Bowling Center's ranking among the nation's top bowling alleys as judged by Bowling Center Management magazine. The Orleans bowling center ranked No. 7.

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Nevada-Reno football coach Chris Ault:

"It was one of the most embarrassing games I have ever been a part of. It makes me sick to my stomach."

on UNR's 49-14 loss at Boise State last week