Road trip has special significance for Locomotives coach

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

Las Vegas Locomotives head coach Jim Fassel talks to his players during a timeout against the California Redwoods during the inaugural game of the UFL on Thursday at Sam Boyd Stadium. Las Vegas won the game 30-17.

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 | 4 a.m.

From the day the United Football League issued the schedule for its inaugural season, this week’s game was the one Las Vegas coach Jim Fassel looked forward to.

The Las Vegas Locomotives will travel to take on the New York Sentinels at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Hofstra University’s football stadium. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Fassel, who coached the New York Giants from 1997-2003.

“New York is near and dear to my heart,” Fassel said. “The people here were outstanding to me. I was treated extremely well by everyone — the media, the fans and people in the community.”

Fassel complied a 60-56-1 record for the Giants and took them to the 2000 Super Bowl during his seven-year tenure. Fassel said that 2000 season provided the most vivid memories of his time in New York.

Specifically, Fassel remembers the NFC Championship Game that year against the Minnesota Vikings. He said he had never been in a building with as much energy as Giants Stadium that night, when the Giants beat the Vikings 41-0.

“After the game, nobody left,” Fassel said. “The place was packed. I got a letter from a guy who said his son said, ‘dad, you want to get out of here and beat the traffic?’” He told his son, ‘no, you don’t ever get to experience this. This is a one-time opportunity to see this.’”

This time around, Fassel is fighting to get his team in a different championship game. As long as Las Vegas (1-2) wins its three remaining games, it will face the Florida Tuskers in the UFL Championship.

The Locomotives will likely be favored in each game. They play the Sentinels, who have yet to win a game, twice and the California Redwoods, who they already beat, once.

“In a four-team league, someone’s got to be first and someone’s got to be last,” Fassel said. “There might not be much difference between them.”

Fassel said he arranged to get tickets to Wednesday’s game for all of his remaining friends in New York.

Although the Giants fired Fassel after a rough 2003 season, he has no hard feelings.

“New York can be tough. I saw a lot of guys go as coaches and managers in sports in New York over my time,” Fassel said. “But as much as anything, the way people treated me was I never had an incident with anyone. People were always kind.”