Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 | 2 a.m.
The Rebel Room
UNLV in Ely: Day 1
The first installment of the 2009 Rebel Room in Ely has Ryan Greene bringing you highlights from the first day up in the mountains for UNLV, including freshman receiver Mark Barefield making a statement, the secondary creating some noise and the extended absence of Marcus Sullivan.
More from fall camp
- Notebook: Barefield loses his stripe on Day 1 in Ely (8-13-09)
- UNLV football notebook: With pads in play, defense shines (8-11-2009)
- Saint Preux creating a buzz after redshirt season (8-10-2009)
- UNLV football notebook: Childers finding his way in UNLV secondary (8-10-2009)
- Wild and crazy Bell ready to make his presence felt (8-9-2009)
- UNLV football notebook: Staying healthy no longer a concern for Clayton (8-8-2009)
- Despite Kiper’s praise, Wolfe focused on task at hand (8-6-2009)
- ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. taps UNLV football as a sleeper in 2009 (8-6-2009)
- UNLV football notebook: ESPN mention begins exciting morning for Rebels (8-6-2009)
- Now or Never: UNLV on ESPN, the start of fall camp and my new haircut (8-6-2009)
The shrill chirp of coaches’ whistles split the air at Broadbent Park as the UNLV football team began its annual summer training camp Wednesday in the relative isolation of White Pine County.
Each August the Rebels pack everything from tackling dummies to goal posts into a truck and head up to this beautiful but remote mining town. They give up their familiar practice surroundings and artificial turf at Rebel Park for the Spartan facilities and natural grass in Ely. They dress in the armory behind the park and shower in a mobile trailer.
But they trade the bright lights and distractions of Las Vegas for the cool mountain air and quiet nights of Ely.
Here’s a look at the Ely camp by the numbers:
8: Days of practice
12: Practice sessions
1: Scrimmage, from 10:00 to 11:45 a.m. Saturday
291: Miles from Las Vegas to Ely on U.S. 93
4: Places for the players to be in Ely — Broadbent Park, where they practice; White Pine High, which the Rebels use for morning meals, tape jobs and meetings; the motel (UNLV players and coaches are spread among a few of them); and the Ely Convention Center, which serves as a mess hall
0: Frills (and distractions, coaches hope)
2: Brothels (though the Big Four and Stardust Ranch are off-limits to players)
6,350: Feet in elevation in Ely, almost a mile higher than Rebel Park on the UNLV campus
86: High temperature in Ely on Wednesday
105: High temperature in Las Vegas
4,008: Residents in Ely, according to the most recent estimate from the Census Bureau
1912: Year that Pat Nixon, wife of former President Richard Nixon, was born in Ely
6: Stories in the Nevada Hotel. The Ely landmark was built in 1929 and was the tallest building in Nevada into the 1940s.
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