THE OPENING LINE

Monday, July 3, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

Las Vegas Summer League, Thursday-July 14, Cox Pavilion

The NBA stars of tommorow as well as the stars of tomorrow for European, South American, and Middle East club teams you've never heard of hoop it up in front of a bunch of tall guys wearing short pants with expense accounts (a.k.a. pro basketball scouts).

TICKETS: unlvtickets.com or 739-FANS

ON THE WEB: www.vegassummerleague.com

Night of Fire, stock car racing at The Bullring, 7:30 tonight, Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Super late models, IMCA modifieds, thunder roadsters, legends cars and fireworks. What, no partridge in a pear tree?

TICKETS: lvms.com or 644-4444

ON THE WEB: www.lvms.com

Cave man decision

The way I see it, life is like sitting down with an Etch A Sketch. You should start by drawing a line somewhere.

A good place to draw that line and not cross it would be slapping your wife and dragging her down the street by her hair.

That, according to several eyewitnesses, is what Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 238 pounds, did to his wife, Kim Wickman, who stands 5-foot-2 and weighs 100 pounds, on a Boston street corner last weekend.

Naturally, a day after being arrested, Myers was not only back on the street but back on the pitcher's mound in a baseball uniform. He didn't even miss his start.

Just as naturally, the Phillies' front office made an appointment with the Spin Doctor just as soon as Myers got his five innings in. How were they going to explain this one? The sun got in their eyes? Too much pine tar on the brain?

By Friday, Phillies President Dave Montgomery had come to his senses. He said the team made a mistake by letting Myers pitch the next day.

"The decision to allow Brett to pitch was wrong," Montgomery told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "And the reason I believe it was wrong was that an unintended message was sent that we are somehow indifferent to the matter of spousal abuse."

As they used to say on "Family Feud" - no pun intended - good answer, Dave. Too bad it took a few days to come up with it.

Montgomery didn't make his initial comment until Myers requested a leave of absence through the All-Star break.

The Phillies were roundly criticized for taking the standard "there will be no disciplinary action until our employee is proven guilty" approach. But this wasn't a case of "he said, she said." It was more like "he said, she said, that gal over there said, that guy over there said, that cabbie said, those doormen said, etc.," given the number of witnesses to the incident.

Maybe next time - "I'm not going to let you do this to me anymore," Wickman screamed as Myers dragged her down the street - the Phillies will do the right thing.

Or at least consult their Etch A Sketch.