THE ELEVATOR

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 | 7:23 a.m.

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

GOING UP

South Florida Bulls

Isn't that the team Mac Davis and Nick Nolte played for in the movies? Before this wacky football season started, the University of South Florida was probably best known as the alma mater of Tony La Russa and Lobo, the singer-songwriter. But Me and You and a Dog Named Boo are going be stunned if these guys wind up running the table and playing for the national championship.

UNLV's wrestling past

Former Rebel wrestling coaches Dennis Finfrock and Pat Christenson are being honored by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla. Finfrock will receive the Medal of Courage Award for his battle with Parkinson's disease, while Christenson, a former NCAA champion at Wisconsin, is this year's Outstanding American from Nevada. Outstanding Southern Nevadans Larry Barnson, Jerry Wager and Jim Duschen will receive the Lifetime Service Award for their contributions to the sport.

GOING DOWN

Indecent exposure

The Rebels' football game against Colorado State will be shown on the mtn. 2 this week, with Wayne handling the play-by-play duties, Garth serving as analyst and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler as sideline reporter (all three would be an improvement over the crew assigned to the UNLV-BYU game). The showdown between the winless Rams and the 2-5 Rebels is so unappealing that the mtn. has instead decided to show a water polo match pitting the San Diego State women against Todd Christensen's kids. So even if you do get the mtn. (ha!) you won't be getting the Rebels in your living room this week.

Whistlin' Dixie

If the brainiacs in the UNLV athletic department decide to play another Rebels home basketball game in St. George, Utah, they might find a rival logo on the court - the Dixie State trustees are pushing for an official affiliation with the University of Utah. If the proposal goes through, the school that produced former UNLV stalwarts Marcus Banks and Keon Clark would be renamed the University of Utah-St. George. It also would drop its "Rebels" nickname for something more appropriate, such as the Walkin' Utes or the Fighting Majeruses.

Household nameless

In case you didn't get your fill of small-time golf at the TPC Summerlin over the weekend, the Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge at Lake Las Vegas has announced its PGA team will consist of Chris DiMarco (who occasionally finishes second), Carmen Villegas (who used to pitch for the Twins, I think) and Bubba Watson (John Daly, minus the personal issues). Yes, I will have fries with that. And you had better throw in one of those Frosties, too.

Scott Linehan

The St. Louis Rams are 0-6 under the former UNLV assistant. The last time the Rams started a season 0-6, they wore horrid gold jerseys, Zeke Bratkowski was their quarterback and John Kennedy was dodging Cuban missiles.

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