THE ELEVATOR

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 | 8:09 a.m.

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

GOI NG UP

Empty seats for the NBA

The Thomas & Mack Center was nearly half-empty for Friday's Lakers vs. Kings NBA exhibition on the same day that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman announced the door still was open for an NBA team to move here. Yeah, I know, Kobe didn't play, and it'll be different when the Grizzlies move here.

Chris Mark

Now I know what happened to the tight end UNLV has been lacking since Greg Estandia went to the NFL: He's playing at New Mexico. Mark, above at right, a 6-foot-5, 257-pound behemoth who prepped at Bishop Gorman High, caught a touchdown pass and two-point conversion Thursday night in the surging Lobos' come-from-behind victory over Air Force.

The turf at Wembley Stadium

Actually, coming up is more like it. Now British fans know what a soccer pitch would look like if Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur favored 350-pound center backs. By the time the Dolphins and the Giants were through on a rainy Sunday, Wembley looked like the Eastern Front after the Battle of Kursk.

GOING DOWN

Grand ol' flags

The only thing the Rebels weren't penalized for Saturday at Wyoming was filing their tax return late. Continuing a trend that began with the first game and has neither ceased nor desisted, UNLV was flagged 14 times for 113 yards in a 29-24 defeat.

The volume on UNLV vs. Wyoming

Fans who attended Saturday's Meet the Rebels basketball scrimmage at the Thomas & Mack Center were told they would be able to watch the UNLV-Wyoming football game on the Redd Vision scoreboard. Midway through the second quarter the sound was cut. At halftime, the picture was cut, telling everybody to go home. One guy sitting upstairs actually seemed upset.

Scott Boras

Do you think it was just coincidence that before Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek could even tuck the last pitch of the World Series into his back pocket that Alex Rodriguez's agent declared his client a free agent? I don't.