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StumbleWhy UNLV won’t kick off this season in Minnesota
Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Coverage
Beyond the Sun
Before you criticize UNLV for scheduling an opening-night football opponent whose logo resembles that of a supermarket chain, consider that the ... uh ... um ... Hornets, of Sacramento State, played Colorado State of the Mountain West tough before losing 23-20 last year.
Also bear in mind this was the week UNLV originally was scheduled to play at Minnesota.
OK, now you can go back to criticizing UNLV for not renewing that series against Baylor from years back.
I’ve heard from several UNLV fans who aren’t happy with the choice of opening-night opponent. One guy left a voice mail saying that if the Rebels wanted to play a bigger patsy than Division I-AA Sac State they’d have to exhume Lee Oswald’s corpse.
But you can’t lay blame for this one on outgoing Athletic Director Mike Hamrick (for once) or anybody else within the department.
This was supposed to be the weekend the Rebels and Golden Gophers christened TCF Bank Stadium, Minnesota’s beautiful new 50,000-seat football palace. But that was before Floyd of Rosedale reared his snout.
Floyd of Rosedale is the pig that Minnesota won for beating Iowa in football in 1935. Floyd was the brother of BlueBoy from Will Rogers’ movie “State Fair.”
Bear with me on this one.
Interim Athletic Director Jerry Koloskie, who negotiated the home-and-home series between UNLV and Minnesota roughly five years ago, said he remembers getting a call that the Rebels and Gophers couldn’t play on the weekend of Sept. 5 because, “if memory serves, there was some other big event in the city that weekend.”
The big event was the Minnesota State Fair, one of the nation’s “largest and best-attended agricultural and entertainment events,” next to a Willie Nelson concert.
So the Gophers told the Rebels, “y’all come back now, ya’ hear.”
Or something like that.
Actually, after the home-and-home series was rescheduled, it will be Minnesota that comes here first, in 2012. The Rebels will go to the Twin Cities in 2013, unless Pat Boone and Ann-Margret plan on filming “State Fair III” that weekend.
So it’ll be another Mountain West team that forces the first Minnesota fumble in the new stadium. Air Force agreed to take UNLV’s place.
“We knew how significant it would be to have a respected opponent, not only on the playing field, but also in the integrity of the program,” Gophers Athletic Director Joel Maturi said at the time.
Read into those comments what you will, but don’t forget they were made in 2007. The Rebels weren’t exactly very respected or, for that matter, full of integrity a couple of years ago.
When the Minnesota game fell through, UNLV tried to schedule another game against somebody such as Utah State, probably because Florida wasn’t available (cough). But the Aggies make their schedule in advance, too. Koloskie said Sacramento State was looking to upgrade its schedule so it became a marriage of convenience, more or less.
I sort of compare it to Julia Roberts having too much to drink and bumping into Lyle Lovett just before last call.
But you just never know about these things. For every Lyle Lovett, there lurks an Appalachian State, waiting on bended knee.
Discussion: 48 comments so far…
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I've criticized Florida and others for their patsy schedules, but that is the way they continue to win BCS berths. Most of the top 10 play schedules which include teams of sub-par importance as their out of conference foes. This year UNLV has enough though competition; Sac St will help pad a won-loss to get us into a bowl. (I hope)
ok, let's get a few things straightened out here. a logo that looks like a supermarket chain? how about a logo that looks like yosemite sam, a prospector, or even the patriarch of an all you can eat buffet?
as for the snarky comments about the mn state fair, i would challenge you to come out to the "great minnesota get together." people travel from all over the state to go to this great event. it's a large step above your rodeo.
as for willie nelson, i don't know the last time he played here, but i will tell you that mn ranks second only to NY city in the arts and theater. oh i forgot - you've got celine dion and elton john. there's also this place called the mayo clinic that people travel to from all corners of the globe.
i take solace that my kids won't see a billboard or a cab advertisement for a strip club on our way out to dinner.
i know nothing sac state's team, but i hope they wallop the rebels, and that the gophers do so again in 2013. bring a coat.
mnishiishi - let's get ONE thing straightened out, WE DON'T CARE!
mnishiishi, are you the Sac State fan that keeps impersonating fans of other schools just so we take your Sac State smack seriously?
...because, I didn't see much of a jab at MN in that article. You're transparent.
Great line K - Julia Roberts having too much to drink and bumping into Lyle Lovett just before last call!! Funny stuff!!
So, exactly how much money do we LOSE playing this game??
There can't be 5,000 people who pay cash for a ticket to this game. And if between 15,000 - 18,000 live bodies show up, it will be a minor miracle.
There's no TV. Shocker.
Not seeing any revenue generated by this game? Not seeing either how we can possibly break even either?
It makes sense for Florida or Ohio State to schedule these games because those teams could sell 85,000 full price tickets to watch the Gators or Buckeyes play Ron K and NYR.
Which I guess is the business model the UFL is counting on for success?
But for UNLV, we have to be paying out more than we make back to host this game?
How can Rebel athletics can lose money on home football games AND have an overall budget 'surplus' with the basketball team playing in the NIT?
Enron tried that clever bit of accounting wizardry and it worked ... for a little while.
you MUST not care, if you live in vegas.
and if you don't care, then why take up valuable print space in your paper on the subject of playing a patsy like sac state? heck, you could have advertised another buffet, a strip club, more foreclosed home sales, or that billy joel is performing with elton?
come on out when your manufactured lake dries up, we've got over 11,000 of them.
@ nyr
I will be there with my two sons and three other friends. We paid cash. Thus, we know that at least 6 people paid cash for their tickets.
@ mnishiishi
When all is said and done we live in Las Vegas and you live in MN. Talk to me in 2 months when it is 75 degrees and your highs are in the 30's. Then talk to me in 5 months when your your highs are in the single digits and I can wear a light sweater. You only have two more pro team championships than we do...and we don't have a pro team. You border IA, WI, ND, SD and Canada. We border AZ, Utah, OR, CA...Ok, I'll give you we border ID. Your state looks like a gay frenchman's boot. Your state turns upside down/media circus when an over the hill Brett Favre comes to town. If Brett came to Vegas it wouldn't even be covered by the local media. Al Franken? Seriously? Reid sucks as well, but the only senator worse than Reid is Al Franken. Finally, don't mess with Hey Reb. Ya'll are the Gophers; actually I guess the only way to make the gophers better is to make him golden. However, at the end of the day he is still a rodent.
first of all UNLVREBELX, not much of a jab at MN in the article? read on:
talking smack about the MN state fair, willie nelson references, y'all come back now hear, filming of state fair III, and picking on floyd of rosedale. by the way, in 2008 Rivals.com named Floyd of Rosedale the top rivalry trophy in all of NCAA football. MN and Iowa first played in 1891, when Vegas was, as it is today, nothing. When MN beat IA for Floyd, it was their second consecutive National Championship. And speaking of NCAA Football National Championships, MN is ranked #5 of all time with SIX of them. how many does UNLV have?
and MR REAGAN21, the gamecaller for the infamous MN/IA game for the pig was...Ronald Reagan. don't blame me for Franken, I voted for Coleman.
and i could care less who borders MN. if you have to rely on who borders your state, rather what the state has to offer, well, yer hurtin'. ever heard of 3M, General Mills, Medtronic, Rollerblade, United Healthcare, Polaris, Lund Boats, Honeywell, Mayo Clinic, et al. yep, this sure is back country.
what fortune 500 companies started in NV, Lawry's?
as for weather, take yours. we are outside all year around, swimming, skating on lakes, hunting, fishing, skiing, ice fishing, biking. we also have a real big freshwater lake, it's called lake superior. it's way east of idaho, about a week by wagontrain. and we got ourselves a big river too, but i doubt you could pronounce it. our lawns are green (not a rock quarry) and our trees have leaves, not spines. heck, even the indians had enough sense to leave nevada years ago...
your guys' options are to go to your one lake (which is drying up quickly), a casino, or a buffet.
and if you understood the intense rivalry and hatred between the vikings and packers, THATS why the favre acquisition is a big deal in the papers. we're happy because the packer backers are pissed.
@ mitsubishi:
First of all, we're a basketball school, genius. If our football program has wins, that's called a bonus. Otherwise, personally I don't care.
Secondly, you're trying to upstage Vegas with Minnesooduh? ROTFL! When's the last time your state was relevant, Purple Rain? Or was it Coach, maybe? MN is a tick above Fargo for destination desirability.
You may be home to Fortune 500 Compnaies but yet your economy is one of the worst in the nation. Even with our foreclosure problem and slumping taxable sales, NV earns more of US GDP per capita than MN.
See below.
http://www.mn2020.org/index.asp?Type=B_B....
Neighboring states have a lot to do with it. Haven't you ever heard of location, location, location. If I want to drive 4 hours I can get to the best snow on earth, the beach, Zion National Park, fishing, hunting, hiking, Red Rock, Mt. Baldy, Big Bear, Mammoth etc.
You got me on Fortune 500 companies we don't have any huge corporations...oh wait I forgot about Harrah's Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Sierra Pacific Resources, International Game Technology, Boyd Gaming, Las Vegas Sands, Amerco, Southwest Gas and Sierra Health Services. I have heard of Honeywell; that's the stock I sold to buy my first new car.
Leaves on trees? I guess you have never heard of Great Basin National Park. You might want to take a trip there. It's roughly 78,000 acres of trees with leaves on them.
I am not saying Nevada is the best place to live, but it is much better than MN.
P.S. I do understand the rivalry between MN and Green Bay. What I don't understand is breaking news on all stations of a helicopter camera follwing his car from the airport to the practice field. He "improved" your team from 10 wins to maybe 11 wins, but with or without him there is no superbowl in the future...additionally, you have to pay him at least $12 M to do that. Smart economic decision.
C'mon MN was good in the 19'teens and the 1930's. Since then, although you did win the championship in 1960 despite losing your bowl game (the championship was awarded pre-bowl games back then) you have not done much; i.e., you won less than 7 games for almost 35 years. UNLV is no football powerhouse but MN has not been a good program for almost 50 years. You should have just said, "my crap doesn't stink as much as your's does." Our .490 lifetime career winning percentage is not far behind your .580. Congrats every 10 years you win 11 more games than us. Well done.
Bottom line: it's too cold there, you border Canada, and the most famous Minnesotan is Prince...one of the most overrated singers of all time. Raspberry Beret? Seriously?!?
humpback4life:
a basketball school known for scandals, woo hoo! how many of your star basketball players are home grown? and if you personally don't care about football, why write about it?
i know you're preoccupied with being upstaged with all the stages and brass poles in your town.
about relevance...how about the last Republican National Convention, new Twins ballpark, new MN football stadium, fairly new hockey arena for the Wild, recent senatorial race, author of recent movie Gran Torino, Jakob Dylan (and his little known dad), Garrison Keillor, Governor Jesse Ventura (not my choice), first artificial heart valves, heart stents, top notch medical school, international diabetes center, countless NCAA hockey titles, a guy named Herb Brooks,VP Mondale (not my choice again), Hubert Humphrey (probably too old for you to remember).
oh, and there's this little thing called agriculture that we do out here, shipping food all over the country to places that cannot support themselves.
what relevance does nevada have since hoover dam was built? reno 911, or all the episodes on cops? yer one notch above Winnemuca, so there.
my dad can beat up your dad...... and bro.. minnesota blows.... call me in january when we are at the strip clubs with elton john and about to go to mayo clinic... youll be shoveling snow with kirby pucket wishing your mascot wasnt a small pest of a rodent. the rebels will lace them up with any team in the great state of 10,000,000 mosquitoes i mean lakes. stay off our message boards.
Calm down. What's with the complex to begin with? Do you have warmth envy? Do you really think that every writer who writes in the state that he resides speaks for everyone who lives there? I don't know almost anything about Minnesota other than it's cold as hell and that UNLV has beaten their university twice in the last 3 years in basketball. And don't give me that crap that it was at our place either, we went on the road without our best player and beat Louisville last season.
Some of us Rebel fans actually do care about football, we're just humble enough to recognize that UNLV's football team has only existed for approx. 40 years. Minnesota, what...100 years? That we have no winning tradition or tradition almost at all in football speaks to our lack of longevity. What's your excuse lately in either sport?
i'd love to see that, you and elton at thunder down under.
yep, you all must be proud of your economic prowess which offers the world gaming and prostitution. nevada's a real contributor to the betterment of mankind. stand tall you rebels!
wow, and i checked out that great basin national park, what a gem! it only took until 1986 until someone stumbled upon it and thought it was cool. why would i want to drive 290 miles through the desert to see bristlecone pines, which don't have leaves?
and if location is the key, the majority of those great recreational meccas are in california. why not move there, why drive 4 hours? can't afford it, or are there not enough indian casinos there to demonstrate your blackjack dealing prowess?
it must make you all proud to live in a contrived 'green' city made by damming a river. btw, in a 2008 report on the status of Lake Mead, scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography predict there is a 50% probability that Lake Mead will be completely dry by 2021.
we don't shovel snow, we use snow blowers. kirby died a few years back, and prince is in the rock and roll hall of fame. that wayne newton is a real talent - tiny bubbles...
and by the way, now that i have been warned to stay off "your" message boards, you'll see more of me.
i wished this even made sense. lets stick to sports and not state bashing. the golden rodents ducked the rebels in lou of the falcons. its cool, apparently there is some relationship between minnesota state and unlv because we have played you a lot in basketball and i think you know how that turned out. either way, we get to play you 2 more times in the next several years. hope you get to make the trek out here, especially since you seem to know so much about vegas.
mnishiishi seems to be obsessed with stripper poles, strip clubs and prostitution. Methinks the lady doth protest too much...
I think someone needs a hug....
Mitsubishi:
You know what's funny? Half the girls on 'stages' and 'brass poles' are from, you guessed it, Minnesota. Wow, what character. Wonder what kind of village raises your daughters? Hmmm...
The NCAA paid Jerry Tarkanian $2.5 million in a harassment lawsuit 11 years ago. Greg Anthony, a native of North Las Vegas, was the starting point gaurd on our national championship squad and played 10 seasons in the NBA (insert foot into mouth here).
Your sports teams are jokes, the Twinkies haven't won in 18 years and your livable climate lasts 2.5 months. Awesome. Please, stay for dinner because we will whip you all night long on these boards. And, by the way, twinkie..it's called dinner, not supper.
wow, was that your UNLV senior project, trolling and polling strippers? and i bet the next questions were 'do you have a boyfriend?', and 'what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?', and 'do you want to go out for a drink after your shift?' you're the one with such character to know such 'facts'. perv.
and gee is this greg anthony dude nevada's only success story? and poor little tark, trouble just seems to follow that guy from long beach to fresno and then vegas. poor little lamb.
and since you know so much about our liveable climate, you'll know that it almost snowed when the PGA was here a few weeks ago.
and for the record, we call it dinner, the farmers call it supper, and you call it buffet.
I was at a strip club last month and I did run into two girls previously from MN. Ironic and funny.
Don't dignify this troll mnsisishhisisi with responses. Like I said earlier WE DON'T CARE. What we do care about around here is the Rebels!
I can't remember reading something so funny and pathetic at the same time! This is like watching a hippy and Eric Cartman argue about who's less of an underachiever. 'Course Minnesota being the oblivious hippy and UNLV being the delusional Cartman.
Here's how I see it- if Las Vegas was any dumber it'd be easily parted from its money by women with plastic bodies and air-filled heads... oh, wait a minute...
...and if Minnesota was any flatter it'd need help to stop it from slipping into Iowa. And I'm sorry, but they lack aggressiveness to the point that baby fur seals look assertive.
As for the weather factor, sorry, but it's the tougher soul who sticks the brutal cold out and the more poetic one that can appreciate all four seasons. How about the lovely weather in Las Vegas yesterday. 109 and... wait for it... smoke?! I felt like I was in a Cormac McCarthy western (some Minnesotans will probably get that one, Nevadans, not so much. Book. No pictures).
In the final analysis, Minnesota routinely beats Nevada in quality of life measures across the board and has a vastly superior education system. The people of a state that elected Harry Reid to 4 terms casting aspersions on Al Franken's state... really? Pro sports teams in Minnesota=4. Pro sports teams in Nevada=0. Nevada, I'm sorry to say has a long ways to go.
Now, as for Minnesota being second to NYC for art and theater... yeah. I guess you've never heard of Los Angeles or San Francisco, or for that matter Denver, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago- all ranked higher for arts and theater than Minneapolis-St. Paul. Let's not even mention highly concentrated centers of art with minimal populations like Santa Fe, Sedona, Cedar City, Aspen. And that little dig at the rodeo? The Minnesota State Fair draws people from all over the state and precisely how much TV coverage? NFR and PBR both draw people from all over North America and get extensive national coverage.
Between square heads and flat land, you couldn't pay me enough to live in Minneapolis, and I'm barely paid enough to remain in Las Vegas. This is like #49 calling #50 a loser! What a hoot!
@sushi
Man you really are a loser. You've been on here since 8 this morning arguing with anyone and everything. Nothing else to do Mr. still livin' in mom's basement, pissed off cuz I don't have enough cash to leave MN, mustard sandwich guy? I don't care about your moronic state, fortune 500 companies, gender confused musicians or national parks. What I do want to know..... is why you never responded to the fact that UNLV has beat you down twice in the last 3 years.
When and if you beat us, then you can talk smack...until then, close the freakin' book and your fat mouth.
Say twinkie, you've got that line of questioning down pat. Looks like you're the one frequenting strip clubs. And, so you know, the Minnesooduh girls were passing out fliers to their strip club to "pay tuition" and I told them no thanks.
Anthony is far from the only success story, do some research before you spout off at the keyboard. And, way to prove my point about your livable climate, scholar.
Green Dragon, you're in Vegas so what does that say about you? I'm a native, I take pride in my home. Transplants like you are the ones who degrade this place.
ok, kiddies, take it from someone who has lived in both places.
Nevada, in general is a cesspool compared to Minnesota. As the Green Dragon guy stated;
"In the final analysis, Minnesota routinely beats Nevada in quality of life measures across the board and has a vastly superior education system."
Nevada has a tanking Las Vegas, and if you drive for 8 hours through a vast wasteland, you can go see Pa, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe.
But then there IS the weather factor. And it is a HUUUGE factor.
Now I gotta go. Denard Span is up and the Twins are on the air!
green dragon and gmag39, i appreciated your responses. better senses of humor that some other posters lack.
and i just love the openess and welcoming that grayback4life gave green dragon: "Transplants like you are the ones who degrade this place."
you are absolutely right - it's not the strip joints, the gambling, cheating, and being named Sin City - it's those damn transplants!
but to each their own on where they choose to live. the people who live here love it here, just like anywhere else. maybe even in a remote desert where no neighborhood is older than 1940.
the newspaper article slammed mn a bit and i stood up for it. and i said come on out to mn for a football game and bring your coats. i guess by some of your posters that when mn travels to UNLV we'll have to bring a stack of dollar bills and some rubbers to protect all of our minnesota sisters or daughters who are pole strippers...yah, you betchya!
ok mn.... im going to give you a little credit and assume you are somewhat intelligent. think about this when you are talking crap about strip clubs casinos buffets so on and so forth......
LV MAKES ITS MONEY OFF TOURISTS.... thats right.... people like you, from your beloved minisoda go drop all of your money in our casinos and buffets so when you come down here to watch the game be sure to bring alot of singles so the wife doesnt see the ATM receipt from the rhino ok bud.... and if you see your neices/daughters in there please take her home, unless of course you sent her here to pay the family bills.....please keep donating the state of nevada economy...
in the words of apu thank you, come again.
you're right vegas is a tourist mecca, people travel there for the vegas experience - lights, excitement, jackpots, the high end shopping, the faux opulence, and for some people, they partake in the flesh. whatever, i don't care. people choose to vacation or live in vegas for their own reasons. i just choose not to. from the dam, to the water, power grid, the casinos, suburban overbuilding, lights, energy consumption, the architecture and everything - it's contrived. all of it. made up and perpetuated for over 70 years in a desert.
just like here in mn, there's the mecca to shopping called the mall of america. i avoid it like the plague. still busloads of iowans and cheesehead come to spend, and business layovers go there too (old metropolitan stadium for the twins and vikes was sacrificed for this mall). i don't get it.
so i try to spend my life and money where there is at least a sense of realness, neighborhoods are old, people are less transient, and towns have some history.
it just won't be in las vegas.
Look shishi, you came here talking crazy...and I quote,
"i take solace that my kids won't see a billboard or a cab advertisement for a strip club on our way out to dinner.
i know nothing sac state's team, but i hope they wallop the rebels, and that the gophers do so again in 2013. bring a coat."
People here, especially me, aren't going to lay down and not defend the homeland and subsequent sports teams. Don't sling it if you can't take it.
The bottom line is: You CAN raise a family here, there ARE values, there ARE suburbs, community mentality exists, and great people reside here. You don't want to come to Vegas, fine. I choose not to live in a place like MN where I would stab myself in the eye because of sheer boredom. We're even.
i can certainly take it, i've slung it all back at your whole board.
again, grayhair, after the article took swipes at mn, i stood up for it, took the pig and rodent jokes, the whole deal. and in light of an upcoming game, i said i hoped the gophers and hornets (or any other team) kick your butt.
that's right, people choose to live and vacation where the values, neighborhoods, and the people suit them. again, just not me.
i don't want to live in a stucco house with a rock lawn and a palm tree.
boredom...let's go look at the dam, gee the lake has a real bathtub ring this year, while you're here getting gas i'm going inside to play some slots, let's go see the fountain at the bellagio, haven't been to the Liberace Museum in a while...wishing you the best.
"The Bottom line is; you CAN raise a family here, there ARE values, there ARE suburbs, community mentality exists, and great people reside here."
Where do you live, Red Rock Country Club or Tournament Hills?
go away thumper... you bring nothing to this arguement. racists like you can stay in minnesota.
Where do you live gmag? Northtown or the west side? Perhaps Naked City?
thumper, i can't top that, that's gold.
mn was first called a cow town, pig lovers, then rodent lovers, then strippers, and according to unlvrunrebs, now we're all racists...
you've pretty much run the table, as you say.
grayback...I live in Summerlin.
Sorry if I offended you, but the riff-raff is becoming INESCAPABLE here. I'd like to move to Boulder City, but Real Estate is pricey there.
mnishishii...
Thumper is a petulant child. and UGLY. Do NOT try to pet the little guy; he bites.
and greyback, what is "naked city"...
been here 4 years, never heard the term.
UNLV fans- I'm very sorry that one or two of the dozen or so "hardcore" Goofer fans have decided to show up and take exception to this article.
Please understand, they haven't won a Big Ten title since 1967, and your school had only been around for three years when they last won a National Championship. So they're a little touchy to begin with, because they keep thinking they matter some how. And they do in a sense, because teams like North Dakota State know they can beat them and get some glory for the FCS teams.
And when this article mentions Floyd of Rosedale, they instantly had flashbacks to the 55-0 whipping Iowa laid on them last year to keep the pig where it belongs. It still pains them. Just say 55-0 and they glaze right over.
You guys gave Wisconsin (Minnesota's other rival) everything it could handle a year or two ago, and I've enjoyed watching this program get better and better over the past few seasons. You'll be able to hang with the rodents, trust me.
It's really too bad you couldn't hand them the first of their many, many loses up in Too Cold to Fill (We've-Completely-Sold-Out-to-a) Bank Rink (stadiums have more seats than that thing). Oh well...
Cheeseheads. sheesh.
@Sergio the Profit & Greyback4Life-
It is so typical of the natives to defend low expectations.
Sergio, while your support of UNLV athletics is commendable and should be exemplary for the rest of the community, unfortunately for the image of this "community" it is the exception rather than the rule. There are three other schools in UNLV's conference with population bases that are a fraction the size of Las Vegas' and you'd be hard-pressed to get season tickets for either football or basketball in any of them. The old saw that there's "nothing to do in those places" doesn't fly as all three schools have large populations of hunters and the football season clashes with hunting season, yet their stadiums are full. There are, at minimum, 6,000 students at every football game at each of these schools, in places where there are two mountain bikes in every dorm room; 3,000 students at every basketball game in spite of skiing and snowboarding student populations. At two of the schools, the weather from October on can be iffy at best, and there are still 30,000 fans in the stadiums in Lambeau-like weather. A fourth school, in Colorado, has about half Las Vegas' population and foul fall weather, but solid attendance at both basketball and football games. The college bar scene in these cities is real, not the anti-social gaming scene found in Las Vegas, and are located in scenic historic downtown districts that ooze tradition and culture. Like I said, Nevada has a long way to go, although I'd have to say UNR has a pretty good leg up on UNLV in this respect.
Greyback, you're dead right on two things you said- it is easy for someone who's had experience elsewhere to "degrade" Las Vegas because it's so easy to degrade. I didn't set up the "values" that have DEBASED the city and its natives, but I will continue to DEGRADE it's debauchery. Money justifies everything here. Every city does have its values and the ones here have made Las Vegas what it is and built the perception the rest of the world has of it. Easy money has come at the expense of discipline, education, and culture. To be honest, I'm here for the money, and I spend little of it here. It goes to a better life in a better place, and I contribute to a university athletic program with dynastic fan support and more than a century of tradition.
When I first came here, I thought I would be part of something new and build new traditions of excellence and pride. But after twenty years, it turns out it's all been a rather Quixotic exercise- tilting a thick fog of apathy and ignorance rather than windmills.
Lastly Sergio, you nailed it when you said it's a place many wish they could visit. Most, upon doing so, would do so again, but would never live here.
"It's all about the money, boys!"
-Big Dan Teague (John Goodman)- "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"
I reside in Summerlin as well gmag. I was born and raised in Northtown (Northeast Las Vegas/Rancho High School) and made it out of there. Sorry for coming off defensive; I love my home and choose to look at the glass half-full. I'm aware of the pitfalls this place has, but it's more what you make of it than anything. To answer your question: Naked City is a slum right behind (or under, if you will) the Stratosphere Tower. Don't go there :)
Smiling @ hawk127, thanks for the validation big guy!
Alright GDR, you've got 20 years here and it sounds like you're frustrated with things. I'm sure you've made an impact on your surroundings and that's all you can ask for. The city has grown by leaps and bounds and to catch up with it is like throwing yourself into delirium. So cherish your small victories because they're actually big ones. It's not all bad, and I'm sure you know that.
As far as the fairweather fanbase here, we just don't support losers. I used to complain about it, but I take my individual practice of being loyal no matter what and go from there. In a sense, the fairweatherness kind of attributes to higher standards, not lower ones. If you win, they will come. Coach Tark understood this. Coach Kruger understands this as well. So, there's one thing left to do: win big! As far as Coach Sanford goes...uhhh, we'll see.
GRAYBACK,
RANCHO,RANCHO, RANCHO!!!
You Know!! :)
I live in pack 10 country,sheesh!
Daughters' school is running a sales fundraiser. Plastic cups,all the big conferences,NO UNR but I did get my REBELS!!!!
why did everyone get so mad over whose state is better? I mean really? This article is about football. And we all know UNLV would destroy Minnesota! I would rather play a tougher opponent in Sacramento State than the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It help builds are out of conference ranking. Maybe by 2012 and 2013 minnesota can be as good as Sacramento State! haha!
"What we do care about around here is the Rebels!"
If that were true, there would be a few fans at the game. I mean really... $10 tickets, Beer sold and allowed in the stadium (something the NCAA really doesn't go for), and only a few thousand at the games. If we "cared" about the Reb's as previously stated, maybe "we" would go to a few games.
Winning will bring in more fans. The UNLV product on the field continues to improve, and eventually the community will respond.
Minnesota has trouble filling their stadium as well. That's why their new, pretty stadium has more than 10,000 fewer seats than the Metrodome.
Iowa is believed to be the only road team to get a penalty for the crowd making too much noise (dumbest penalty ever) in the 'dome. We call Minnesota's stadium "Kinnick North" becauce Iowa fans nearly outnumber the home crowd there. The trend will continue with the new digs as well...
Loyal fans don't pop up overnight. They're grown and groomed. You guys will get there!
Go Rebs!
iowa hawk127:
stadium capacities
old U of MN memorial stadium: 52k
new tcf stadium: 50k
metrodome capcity: 64k
u of mn metrodome attendance
highest average in 1985 under lou holz: 60k
lowest average in 1991: 36k
so i don't necessarily agree that we have trouble filling collegiate stadiums - the metrodome was way too big for U of MN, and it just plain sucks, period.
i believe the U of MN just built a new appropriately sized stadium, closer to the size of the old one, integrated into the campus, and in alignment with their past attendance records.
an added fact that you may like: of the top ten attendances for U of MN at the dome, 5 were against Iowa and 3 were against Wisconsin. Proving that both teams travel well, and both like the mall of america.
come on cmon. It's all about context. The transient population of Las Vegas is composed of fairweather fans. The Rebels have to win to put fans in the stands. People do go to Rebel Basketball games, they've been succesfull recently. The "what we care about around here" is referring to this UNLV Sports Section of the Las Vegas Sun. This fan does care and does attend games.