THE ELEVATOR

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007 | 7:03 a.m.

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

GOING UP

The Phabulous Phillies

Las Vegas resident Aaron Rowand and former Las Vegas 51s player Shane Victorino helped Philadelphia win 13 of its last 17 games to sneak by the Mets into the playoffs. New York is the first team to blow a seven-game lead with 17 left to play.

Top Dragon

Preston Goroff won only six of his first 20 games as Del Sol High's football coach. However, with Friday night's victory over Green Valley, the Dragons have won 15 of their last 18 games. They're 5-0 this season behind hard-charging senior running back Bryan Grenier.

Rebels futbol

UNLV men's soccer is 4-3-2, its best record after nine games since 2002, when it started 6-3. Mario Sanchez had a tough debut season as coach in 2006, when the Rebels went 1-15-2. He's turned it around quickly, with help from junior striker Lamar Neagle and sophomore keeper Calvin Bailey.

UNLV men's golf

The 16th-ranked Rebels were the only team to finish under par, at 12-under 840, last weekend in defeating 15 opponents at the Shootout at Angel Park. Seung-su Han, a junior, led UNLV with a 5-under 208. Jarred Texter (2-under 211) and Ji Moon (212) also paced the Rebels' effort. The team plays in a national tournament this weekend in Birmingham, Ala.

GOING DOWN

ESPN

For airing its news channel on its main channel last Friday, when it had been promoting San Diego's baseball game at Milwaukee. Locals were deprived of watching longtime Las Vegas resident Greg Maddux keep the Padres in the playoff race. It's illogical, to say the least, that any big league team can claim Southern Nevada in its market, resulting in such blackouts.

USC football

The Trojans don't look so super anymore, do they? Their offensive line is suffering a spate of injuries, and Associated Press poll voters were so underwhelmed by their 27-24 victory at Washington on Saturday that they dropped USC to No. 2, giving Louisiana State the top spot.