THE ELEVATOR

Wednesday, July 19, 2006 | 7:40 a.m.

Who's headed toward the penthouse on the local sports scene - and who's getting the shaft.

GOING UP

Natalie Gulbis

Proving she's not just another pretty face, the Lake Las Vegas resident nearly won her first LPGA title before losing to Mi Hyun Kim in a sudden-death playoff at the Cpl. Klinger Open - er, Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. It was Gulbis' best finish on tour and - take note, Danica Patrick - she didn't have to get onstage and shake her groove thing at the ESPYs to add to her popularity.

Kyle Busch

The racing shrub - his brother is former Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch - cruised to his first NASCAR victory of the season in New Hampshire. Even more impressive, the younger Busch seems to have earned the respect of embattled Tony Stewart, the two-time series champion who praised Busch in a TV interview for "racing him clean" before Ryan Newman raced him dirty and put Stewart into the wall.

Joel Anthony's frequent flier miles

UNLV's big man in the middle will be in Bormio, Italy, this weekend and will also play in basketball tournaments in Germany and Slovenia during the next three weeks after being selected for the Canadian Senior National Team.

Anthony, a native of Montreal, will be playing against national teams from Greece, Serbia & Montenegro, Italy, Venezuela, Lebanon, Slovenia and the Dirk Nowitzki All-Stars, aka the German National Team.

GOING DOWN

Price of bobbleheads in China

Las Vegas 51s fans weren't the only ones who received a free Greg Maddux bobblehead doll at Cashman Field Friday night.

The 51s received 2,500 of them for that same price when a Chinese manufacturer put them on the boat with Maddux's alma mater misspelled as "Valley High Scool." Only a few of the dolls with the typos got out before the 51s were alerted and corrected the H-bomb by removing Maddux's old "Scool" with a grinder.

New boxing rules

If the Nevada State Athletic Commission can't get a rule that would permit Gatorade in the corner between rounds to stand up, why do I think those sweeping safety reforms in the lip service stage are going to be a bigger long shot than Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson?

The size of Team USA's basketball roster

Kobe Bryant, out. Paul Pierce, out. Lamar Odom, out. J.J. Redick, out. Argentina plus the points, in.