2007 LAS VEGAS SPORTS CALENDAR

Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.

Feb. 18 The NBA All-Star Game. The game itself will be an impossible ticket unless you have solid corporate connections or serious scratch (brokers are selling good seats for $6,000-plus). But you can catch the stars up close at the All-Star Jam Session, which begins Feb. 15 at Mandalay Bay.

MARCH 6-10 Mountain West Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments. The real March Madness, say party-hearty Wyoming fans and the media assigned to cover the Mountain West postseason tournaments, is that the conference moved them from the Thomas & Mack Center to Denver's Pepsi Center, where they burped due to indifference. But the hoop fests are back where they belong. Don't you know that UNLV coaches Lon Kruger and Regina Miller are happy about it?

MARCH 11 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. The Brothers Busch may be hated elsewhere on the NASCAR circuit, but Kurt and Kyle are our hometown heroes. Or you can root for last year's defending champ - Jimmie Johnson, who also won at Daytona, Indy, Talladega and Martinsville and took home the Nextel Cup. Either way, you'll be hanging out with 150,000 of your closest friends.

APRIL 8 Vegas Grand Prix. Move over, Monaco. Stand in line, Long Beach. Open-wheel racers flying through the streets of Las Vegas on Easter Sunday. The race opens the Champ Car season, which journeys outside the U.S. with races in China, Canada, Australia, Mexico and (tentatively) Belgium and the Netherlands. Promoters are calling this "a three-day festival of speed," which also includes three other races, a boxing match and an outdoor concert. We call it a party.

MAY 5 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Oscar De La Hoya. This fight between two popular boxers is already being hyped as the match of the year. But it might be closer than people predict. Mayweather may be the best fighter in the world right now, but he's jumping up in weight. No way does De La Hoya want to end his career on a losing note. But Las Vegas is the big winner just by landing this Cinco de Mayo bout, which was rumored to be headed for Los Angeles.

JUNE 1-JULY 17 World Series of Poker. The poker boom lives during this six-week tourney. Every Friday night poker player dreams of getting to the final table. Maybe he can become the next Chris Moneymaker. Or get a broken promise from a Hollywood agent. At the very least, it's a chance to see your poker heroes in the flesh - for free.

AUG. 22-SEPT. 2 FIBA Americas Championship. We got only one exhibition peek at Coach K and Team USA during last summer's training stint in Las Vegas. This summer, we'll get a chance to see the U.S. stars play for real against Argentina, Canada, Brazil and Puerto Rico. The tourney features 40 games and 10 national teams.

NOV. 13 Wendy's 3 Tour Challenge. This unique tournament teams players from the PGA, LPGA and Champions (the old Seniors) tours. The players take a midweek break from their regular schedule to benefit the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. You can watch it on TV around Christmastime. Or play hooky and watch them live - for free.

NOV. 1-4 Pro Bull Riders. All bull, all the time. No offense to the folks at the National Finals Rodeo, but this is the best ticket in rodeo. No calf roping, no barrel racing, no steer wrestling. Just eight seconds of fury as a man tries to stay on a bull who'd rather stomp him into the floor. And you don't have to inherit these tickets to see the action.

DEC. 20 Las Vegas Bowl. You know a bowl game has finally arrived when the locals look around two weeks before game day and discover it's sold out. BYU reminded fans just how well a Mountain West football team can play last month. Plan early if you want to go this year and pray the Pac 10 sends a team that's still interested.

JANUARY

Championship Bull Riding, Jan. 5-6, South Point, www.southpointeventscenter.com

Las Vegas All-American Classic, college football, Jan. 15, Sam Boyd Stadium, unlvtickets.com

PBA Motel 6 Classic, Jan. 24-28, Strike Zone at Sunset Station, www.pba.com

Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship, Jan. 26-27, Bally's, www.drf.com/nhc/2006/nhc.html

FEBRUARY

NBA All-Star Game, Feb. 18, Thomas & Mack Center, www.nba.com

Nevada Prep Boys and Girls Basketball Championships, Feb. 20-25, Orleans Arena, www.orleansarena.com

Pride Fighting Championships, Feb. 24, Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com

Tennis Channel Open, Feb. 25-March 4, Stacy and Amanda Darling Memorial Tennis Center, www.tennischannelopen.com

MARCH

Mountain West Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, March 6-10, Thomas & Mack Center, themwc.cstv.com

Sam's Town 300, NASCAR Busch series, March 10, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, www.lvms.com

UAW DaimlerChrysler 400, NASCAR Nextel Cup series, March 11, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, www.lvms.com

Las Vegas Gladiators, home opener vs. New Orleans Voodoo, March 18, Thomas & Mack Center, www.lvgladiators.com

Monster Jam World Finals, March 24, Sam Boyd Stadium, unlvtickets.com

Big League Weekend, Chicago Cubs vs. Seattle Mariners, March 30-31, Cashman Field, www.lv51.com

NHL Alumni & Celebrity Classic, March 31, Orleans Arena, www.orleansarena.com

APRIL

U.S. National Wrestling Championships, April 4-7, Las Vegas Convention Center, www.lvsports.org

Vegas Grand Prix, April 8, www.vegasgrandprix.com

Summit.com NHRA Nationals, April 12-15, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, www.lvms.com

Las Vegas 51s, home opener vs. Salt Lake City Bees, April 13, Cashman Field, www.lv51.com

FEI World Cup, show jumping and dressage, April 18-22, Thomas & Mack Center, www.worldcuplasvegas.com, unlvtickets.com

World Poker Tour Championship, April 21-27, Bellagio, www.worldpokertour.com

MAY

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Oscar De La Hoya, May 5, MGM Grand, mgmgrand.com

Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP / Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series, May 5, Sam Boyd Stadium, unlvtickets.com

World Series of Golf, May 13-17, Primm Valley Golf Club, www.worldseriesofgolf.com

Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament, May 22-26, Wilson Stadium, UNLV, unlvtickets.com

JUNE

World Series of Poker, June 1-July 17, Rio, www.worldseriesofpoker.com

USA Wrestling World Team Trials, June 9-10, Las Vegas Convention Center, www.usawrestlinglasvegas.com

PBA Senior U.S. Open, June 17-22, Suncoast Bowling Center, www.pba.com

JULY

Las Vegas Desert Classic VI, darts, July 2-8, Mandalay Bay, www.bullseyenews.com

SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Cup, July 19-21, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, www.lvms.com

AUGUST

FIBA Americas Championship, basketball, Aug. 22-Sept. 2, Thomas & Mack Center, www.usabasketball.com

SEPTEMBER

Primm 300, Sept. 7-9, off-road course near Primm, www.score-international.com

Las Vegas 350, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Sept. 22, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, www.lvms.com

OCTOBER

Frys.com Open, Oct. 11-14, TPC Summerlin and TPC Canyons, www.pgatour.com

NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals, Oct. 25-28, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, www.lvms.com

NOVEMBER

Pro Bull Riders World Finals, Nov. 1-4, Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com

Wendy's 3 Tour Challenge, Nov. 13 (TV broadcast Dec. 22-23), Reflection Bay Golf Course, Lake Las Vegas, www.wendys3tour.com

DECEMBER

National Finals Rodeo, Dec. 6-15, Thomas & Mack Center, nfr-rodeo.com/

New Las Vegas Marathon, Dec. 9, www.lvmarathon.com

Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 20, Sam Boyd Stadium, www.lvbowl.com

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