Columnist Ron Kantowski: Problems with thinking that the grass is greener

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005 | 8:14 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

As far as conference commissioners go, Craig Thompson of the Mountain West is more accessible than the UNLV end zone. That's the reason why almost everybody in the media likes him.

He also knows how to make a quick buck. That's why his constituents, the Mountain West presidents and athletic directors, like him. Watching Thompson get into the pockets of College Sports TV for $82 million over seven years was a thing of beauty when you've got a budget to balance.

I don't know how Thompson sold CSTV on the value of having the MWC as its temporary flagship conference. But he did. It must have been like watching Mr. Haney work an audience in Hooterville.

But when it comes to slapping wrists over matters of discipline, Thompson is more like Oliver Douglas. He needs to loosen his tie and put away the pitchfork. Same for the rest of these heavy-handed money-making machines disguised as athletic conferences.

The Mountain West on Friday publicly reprimanded TCU women's soccer coach Dan Abdalla for remarks that were "critical of a fellow member institution and its administration."

The fellow member institution was UNLV. The administration was also UNLV's, although Abdalla's biggest beef was with the groundskeepers at Peter Johann Field, for letting the once pristine soccer pitch fall into disrepair before the recent Mountain West women's tournament.

The field, once an emerald jewel, has turned into a brown and yellow eyesore. There are bare patches and uneven spots galore. It looks like the prairie in "Dances With Wolves" after about the fourth take of the buffalo hunt scene.

"I thought it was horrendous," Abdalla said of UNLV's Field of Screams. "Maybe (UNLV) just doesn't have the knowledge to take care of the field. It's comical."

Having spent 12 years running up and down the field as a player, assistant coach and head coach of the UNLV women's team before moving to a ... well, greener pasture at TCU, Abdalla should know. He only repeated what the other coaches had been complaining about all weekend.

His mistake was repeating it to the Sun's Rob Miech when the red light on his tape recorder was on.

You can't say an opponent's field looks like a cow pasture when the red light is on. That's a violation of the Mountain West's censorship -- er, sportsmanship -- policy.

"The membership has made clear its commitment to the consistent and firm enforcement of the provisions of the sportsmanship policy," Thompson said in a statement. "It is simply unacceptable for one representative of the MWC family to publicly disparage another. Clearly, addressing issues and concerns through the appropriate internal channels is more productive."

He's right about that. But if those in the internal channels aren't willing to listen, what good is it gonna do?

So by airing his complaint in public, Abdalla now has a tersely written letter in his file. Don't worry about it, Dan. Elaine on "Seinfeld" had a few of those herself. And they didn't stop her from getting a plumb job with J. Peterman.

The red welt on Abdalla's wrist soon will go away. Then he can take solace in that because he exercised his First Amendment rights, somebody at UNLV almost certainly is going to inquire about the cost of a couple of bags of Turf Builder before next year's tournament.