THE ELEVATOR

Saturday, June 2, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

Who's going to the penthouse in local sports and beyond - and who's getting the shaft:

GOING UP

Al La Rocque

Love him (local media) or hate him (Bishop Gorman fans), the longtime Durango High boys basketball coach is stepping down after posting a 380-227 record over 32 years. But more than all those wins, the back-to-back state titles he won in the mid-1990s and all he did for summertime basketball in Southern Nevada, the thing I'll remember most about La Rocque is his ability to get fans at arch-rival Gorman stirred up. "We're not Gorman, so we won't do a national search" for La Rocque's replacement, David Ziegler, Durango's assistant athletic director, told the West Valley News, a Sun sister publication.

"He Hate Me" Again

Eccentric Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants to put a team in a new pro football league consisting of middle-round draft picks in Las Vegas by 2008. As the XFL proved during its four-week existence, outdoor minor league football might work here. As the Las Vegas Gladiators have proved during their five-year existence, indoor football most assuredly doesn't.

Salt Lake City

John Amaechi, the first former NBA player to openly acknowledge he is gay, calls Salt Lake City "the hippest, gayest place east of San Francisco" in his recently published memoirs. Not that there's anything wrong with that - in fact, it's downright progressive for a city I had pegged as anything but. But I think most Jazz fans were thinking more along the lines of "Home of the 2007 NBA champions" for the welcome sign outside of town.

Ken Howell

The 51s' pitching coach has been named pitching coach for the Pacific Coast League team for the upcoming Triple-A All-Star game in Albuquerque. This is a good thing. I think.

GOING DOWN

Matt Kemp's equipment bag

The Dodgers' top outfield prospect missed two games on the 51s' current road trip when his equipment bag was lost when the team had to change planes because of mechanical problems. This is why when I was in high school, the equipment managers always packed an extra jersey.

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