THE ELEVATOR

Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | 7:31 a.m.

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

GOING UP

Kevin Love

The son of former first-round NBA draft pick Stan Love - and nephew of Beach Boys lead singer Mike Love - called a news conference Tuesday at Foothill High to confirm he plans to have "Fun, Fun, Fun" playing college basketball for UCLA. That ended Oregon coach Ernie Kent's dream that Kevin Love would be true to his old man's school.

Vegas Grand Prix

Don't be alarmed. That high-pitched whine coming from the vicinity of the Adult Superstore at Main Street and Bonneville Avenue well, isn't what you might think. It's just a bunch of 750-horsepower Champ Cars zipping around Turn 3 in preparation for next April's big auto race downtown.

Natalie Gulbis

Last week, when she finished second in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, it was about the golf for the fetching Lake Las Vegas resident. This week, it's back to being about the image. Canon USA has announced it will sponsor Gulbis for the remainder of the 2006 LPGA season.

GOING DOWN

Takefuji Classic

Actually, going away is more like it. The demise of another LPGA tour stop combined with that of the Senior Tour and a PGA event that is hanging on by a thread is a pretty good indicator that when it comes to golf, people who live here would rather play it than watch it.

The price of Gladiators season tickets

Local arena football fans have until Tuesday to renew their season tickets for next year and receive a 5 percent discount. That means instead of $120, a season worth of cheap seats will cost $114 - a savings of $6. Ooooh. Six whole dollars. Which means that four season-ticket holders could pool their savings and hire TV tax attorney Roni Deutch to settle their IRS debt for $20 - and still have enough left over for half a bottle of beer at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Million-dollar fishing lures

The three-pound solid gold fishing lure covered with 5,000 gemstones that was unveiled at the American Sport Fishing convention can mean only one thing: Somebody at Mac-Daddy Fishing Lures Inc. has broken into Mark Cuban's tackle box.