Columnists

Team USA's Canada tune-up won’t be much to talk a-boot: Ron Kantowksi foresees gold, even if observers are tuning in for an implosion; By Ron Kantowski; Our Olympic basketball team is going to play Canada at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday night in an exhibition game that might be interesting only if the Canadians were allowed to play on skates and Wayne Gretzky weren’t busy.

Ron Kantowski thinks it’s swell The Mtn. finally has a national TV hookup, but wishes the wind would stop knocking the camera around: Wednesday, July 23, 2008; By Ron Kantowski; In keeping with the spirit of the weekend, I thought it would have been really cool if Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson had made his annual State of the Conference address dressed as the Joker.

‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ an anachronism: Wednesday, July 23, 2008; Guest Columnist:; Aubrey Sarvis; Today a House armed services subcommittee will begin the first serious examination in 15 years of the federal law commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and its effect on our clearly overextended military’s ability to fight two wars in the Middle East. The law prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in our armed forces.

Jeff Haney learns of the pluses of World Poker’s new network deal from the tour’s founder: More drama in less time, and an innovative TV ally: Wednesday, July 23, 2008; By Jeff Haney; Even the founder of the World Poker Tour acknowledges a quirk, an inherent flaw, in the presentation of the organization’s made-for-TV tournaments to date.

Pro hoops with a little Seoul: Monday, July 21, 2008; That's what Ron Kantowski found after traveling all the way to Paradise Road to take in the Korean Basketball League draft; By Ron Kantowski; It is 5,983 miles from Las Vegas to Seoul, so I suppose holding the Korean Basketball League draft in Las Vegas, which they did Saturday afternoon, makes perfect sense.

Jeff Haney has it straight from an authoritative source, oddsmakers, that Notre Dame is to improve the most: Friday, July 18, 2008; ODDS ’N’ ENDS:; By Jeff Haney; After suffering its worst season since 1963 last year, Notre Dame emerged in early preseason chatter as a prime candidate to become college football’s most improved team. This week it became official ... or at least as official as it gets in Las Vegas. Oddsmakers set a line, and gamblers can bet into it.

Ron Kantowski creates a quiz to test whether fans are tuned in to the NBA’s Vegas Summer League: Friday, July 18, 2008; By Ron Kantowski; Summer League, Summer League, Sum-Sum-Summer League. Twenty-one teams. Ten days. Fifty-three games.

Ron Kantowski says for him the 2008 All-Star Game, Yankee Stadium’s last, will be most memorable for the appearance of a Las Vegan and UNLV alum: Thursday, July 17, 2008; By Ron Kantowski; This is what I will remember most about the final All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. That Ryan Ludwick, a kid — make that a 30-year-old man — from Las Vegas made the All-Star Game, and Joe Buck, the son of a Hall of Fame broadcaster and one of the best in the business himself, couldn’t explain that development any better than the rest of us.

Jeff Haney says despite lopsided betting lines, expect the welterweight title fight between Cotto and Margarito to be among the best bouts this year: Thursday, July 17, 2008; ODDS ’N’ ENDS:; By Jeff Haney; For a boxing match righteously hyped as a fight of the year candidate, the gambling action in the July 26 welterweight world title bout has been decidedly lopsided in favor of Miguel Cotto.

Elko Embarrassment No. 3 may be coup de grace: Wednesday, July 16, 2008; By Jon Ralston; What happens in Elko doesn’t stay in Elko for Jim Gibbons. Three years ago, he unleashed a maniacal, frothing vituperation against liberals that was first noteworthy for its hyperventilating rhetoric and then infamous because it was pilfered from, of all people, an Alabama state auditor. Elko Embarrassment No. 1.

And then there were nine: Wednesday, July 16, 2008; THE INSIDE STRAIGHT: Jeff Haney wonders whether World Series’ 117-day hiatus is too long; By Jeff Haney; After 11 days of play in the World Series of Poker main event, the starting field of 6,844 players in the game’s premier tournament has been whittled down to ... nine guys you never heard of.

Contented, yet still hoping for another shot: Wednesday, July 16, 2008; Ron Kantowski says former Wyoming star has had quite a run, even if he doesn’t get back into the NBA; By Ron Kantowski; “If it ended tomorrow, I’d be satisfied,” said Josh Davis, a former Mountain West standout now playing in the Vegas Summer League. “I got to play in the NBA ... And yet I’m not satisfied, because I want to get back there.”

Practice packs them in: Monday, July 14, 2008; Ron Kantowski sees interest in pro basketball growing in Las Vegas, as evidenced by Summer League crowds; By Ron Kantowski; A funny thing happened on the way to the mini-Forum — er, Cox Pavilion — Saturday afternoon.

How two trades affected World Series odds: Monday, July 14, 2008; By Jeff Haney; Betting odds on the success of the Milwaukee Brewers in baseball’s postseason play took a hit in the past week after the team’s big trade for left-hander C.C. Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians.

How the sinking Republican ship could take Bob Beers and Joe Heck down with it: Sunday, July 13, 2008; By Jon Ralston; As Democrats here gush about their ever-widening registration advantage, the chances for Barack Obama to win the state and Dina Titus’ opportunity to erase Jon Porter from Congress, the conventional wisdom on the party’s ability to take control of the state Senate has been less sanguine and very simple: It is virtually nil.

Calendar

Comedy with a Scottish accent. (9 p.m. MGM Grand)

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