Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.
It has been said that boys will be boys. But unfortunately, when it comes to boys playing high school football, men sometimes will be men.
Apparently, a misunderstanding over a holding penalty caused a dust-up at the end of last Thursday's Bishop Gorman-Western football game that resulted in a Gorman assistant coach being suspended by his own administration.
Near the end of the game, which Gorman won 51-14, there was a blatant hold on a kickoff return by a Western player that sparked an altercation during the postgame handshakes.
According to a report that was corroborated by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, a seldom-used player missed his block and committed the foul, grabbing a Gorman player by the back of his jersey.
The Gorman assistant coach, whose son apparently was the one held, exchanged words with the Western coaches before game officials interceded, preventing the situation from escalating.
One anonymous post on a local prep Web site said the Western player who committed the penalty "hardly ever gets to play." The post added that "everybody loves the kid - it's almost like the movie 'Radio,' " alluding to a popular football movie starring Cuba Gooding Jr., in the true-life story of an introverted high school equipment manager.
Jerry Hughes, the NIAA executive director, said there would be no further disciplinary action taken and applauded the NIAA officials and Bishop Gorman for acting swiftly.
"That's the end of it," he said.
DRESSED TO THE (ZERO AND) NINES
Earlier this year I dedicated a front-page column in the Sun to the Rancho High football team, which does not yet have a home field or home practice field.
The Rams finished 0-9.
I also dedicated another front-page column to the Clark High football team, which does have a home field, replete with gorgeous field turf.
The Chargers also finished 0-9 to run their losing streak to 43 games.
But give the Chargers credit for nearly destroying the Sun's equivalent of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx. In their last game of the season Friday, Clark led Bonanza at halftime and nearly pulled out the victory before having a pass intercepted in the end zone on its final possession to lose 24-20.
THE SHIRT OFF HIS BACK
My story on UNLV "unretiring" Jerry Tarkanian's old college No. 2 so that Lon Kruger's son Kevin could wear it for the Rebels this year spawned a phone call from Lila Carlson and her son, Carl, who wondered whether former Rebel Jarvis Basnight's No. 44 also had been retired.
Basnight was a pretty good player for UNLV during the Armon Gilliam-Freddie Banks years in the 1980s. But not that good.
In fact, Basnight's jersey was retired to an old footlocker that the Carlsons own, having successfully bid on the contents of a storage unit at auction that once belonged to the former Rebel.
"We had his shoes, too," Lila Carlson said. "But we sold them to a man at the flea market."
The Carlsons said the trunk has a lot of old newspaper clippings and basketball photos but that the jersey was probably by far the most valuable item inside.
Anybody interested in making an offer can contact them at 651-1745.
AROUND THE HORN
Mike Accaviti, Dodge's director of racing:
"Did you see those (Colombian) flags flying in the stands? And this was Alabama, man."
On former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya's potential impact on stock car racing
532,000
Number of viewers in the men's 18-24 demographic who watched the Ultimate Fighting Championship bout between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock on Oct. 10
504,000
Average viewers in the men's 18-24 demographic who watched each game of the World Series
10-08-05
The last time UNLV beat a Division I football opponent
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