Ron Kantowski

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Grey Cup stirs memories of Posse: With the old Las Vegas team’s quarterback finally getting a championship, a few looks back at that brief, amusing run; Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009; It seems like a lot of years since Anthony Calvillo made his pro football debut with the Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian Football League.
Now, Rebels must build on big Louisville win: Happy but humble team that beat Cardinals has another test coming in Arizona; Monday, Nov. 30, 2009; Most everybody agrees UNLV’s 76-71 come-from-ahead victory over No. 16 Louisville at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday was big. But how big? It was big enough game that the student body was in full force despite it being on a holiday weekend. But when it was over, when Oscar Bellfield finally put his foot on Louisville’s collective throat, there was a hesitation. Do we rush the court or not?
Make a bid in Sun holiday auction, help a youth: These unsolicited gifts to the Sun could be yours; Friday, Nov. 27, 2009; ’Tis the holiday season, a time for giving and receiving. It’s time to make a bid (or two) in the 12th annual Las Vegas Sun Holiday Auction, which helps teach kids arts and crafts and the words to campfire songs through the auspices of the Sun Camp Fund.
Thankful for a post-Thanksgiving feast of sporting events: UNLV-Louisville hoops the main course of a bountiful weekend; Friday, Nov. 27, 2009; If there’s one thing that Tonto, Tarzan and Frankenstein could agree upon on the old “Saturday Night Live,” it was that Thanksgiving was good, and that fire was bad. They said so in so many words. Actually, they said so in few words. “Thanksgiving, good. Fire, bad.”
NASCAR running an uphill race with seasons that are too long: Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009; Counting his days in stadium and other forms of off-road racing and the time we rented a convertible to travel to the NASCAR race at California Speedway “in style” (snowed on while going over the Cajon Pass near San Bernardino), I probably have seen Jimmie Johnson race an off-road truck, buggy or full-fledged Cup stock car about 25 times in person.
Schumacher adds star power to go-kart finals’ horsepower: Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009; When I heard from an old racing pal that Michael Schumacher would be racing go-karts on the parking lot at the Rio this weekend, I told him I wasn’t interested, because I was covering Tiger Woods’ putt-putt match against Phil Mickelson. Then it was over to the Laughing Jackalope where U2 was playing a benefit for a school chum who had lost it all by hitting a hard 16. And after that, Pele said he’d give me a chance to get even on the foosball table.
The Elevator: Sanford edition: Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009; Sounds like an old Saturday morning cartoon, doesn’t it? When Steve “Chopper” Jones and freshmen Anthony Marshall and Justin Hawkins checked into the game in the second half against Nevada-Reno on Wednesday night, UNLV trailed by 12 points. When they went back to the end of the bench, the Rebels led by seven. Heavens to Murgatroyd, Snagglepuss!
Tina Kunzer-Murphy won't be next UNLV athletic director: Kunzer-Murphy might make a great athletic director for UNLV, but now is not the time; Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009; Tina Kunzer-Murphy is out of the running to become UNLV’s next athletic director before the real running even begins.
Two paths to improvement for UNLV's football team: One way, but maybe not the only way, is to spend millions more; Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009; The hills are alive with the sound of ... well, that isn’t exactly music now, is it? It’s the cacophony of UNLV football fans suggesting cures for what has ailed the program since the advent of the face mask and two platoons.
The Elevator: Arum back on top of boxing after being written off: Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft. For those who wrote Las Vegas promoter Bob Arum off boxing’s relevant list a few years back, do you know he has the contracts of both Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, the antagonists in this year’s Fight of the Century, in his hip pocket? Don King would be proud. And envious.
Gondo’s pal tries to ﬁll void on Rebels air: Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009; The final chapter of Glen Gondrezick’s career as a UNLV Rebel was written Tuesday night, 104 feet beneath where his jersey hangs from the rafters at the Thomas & Mack Center.
A name for those who want to see Sanford gone: UNLV could do a lot worse than a 10-time national champion; Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009; Should Mike Sanford be fired as UNLV’s football coach, one name already has surfaced in conjunction with the potential opening.
Rebels’ win raises a few what-ifs: Imagine what would happen if UNLV were to win its last two scheduled games; Monday, Nov. 9, 2009; As I sat in the Bono seats — the rickety bleachers at the summit of the stadium, which, with rare exception, get occupied only when U2 is in town and never, ever get occupied when the UNLV football team is in town — I had a thought that might be frightening to whatever devoted Rebel football fans remain.
A venue for all types of pros: Even if a big corporation does build an arena downtown, that’s no reason to pursue a sports team. Is it, Mayor?; Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009; One more reason why I love Las Vegas: I can get the mayor on the phone even when I don’t leave a message.
Letting the good ol’ times roll: Roller derby on banked track returns to valley, bruises and all, after decades-long hiatus; Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009; They got started late, and when the recording of “The Star-Spangled Banner” kept malfunctioning, I thought the couple sitting in the front row dressed out of “A Clockwork Orange” was going to sing Jim Croce’s “Roller Derby Queen” — the roller derby national anthem — so the match could get under way. Or assault somebody.
The Elevator: Halloween edition: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009; A special Halloween edition of who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft: One stale Zagnut bar — To Mayor Oscar Goodman, who is and always will be the one Las Vegan I would most like to party with. That said, the next time he pitches an idea about a 20,000-seat downtown arena during an economy that is softer than the University of Florida’s nonconference football schedule, he must do it wearing fake nose and glasses, lest somebody take him seriously.
Rolling with the punches: Despite setback, derby to skate in this weekend; Friday, Oct. 30, 2009; The last time anybody saw the banked roller derby track in Patrick and Lali Outhoummountry’s back yard in northwest Las Vegas it looked like a pretzel, or an ampersand with twisted metal hanging from it. It was virtually destroyed by a mighty wind storm in June 2008.
Agassi's book puts ’97 in perspective: Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009; I don’t know Andre Agassi, the Las Vegas tennis legend and, as of Tuesday, admitted former crystal meth user. But I have liked him since the day he started losing his hair and responded by shaving it off.
5-foot-1, 90-pound pitcher manages to make bigger hitters helpless: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009; Ryan Popowcer does not a throw a baseball with a great deal of velocity like Nolan Ryan, Don Drysdale or Roger Clemens did, mostly because those guys stood 6-foot-2, 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-4 respectively, and weighed 200, 216 and 220 pounds.
The Elevator: College GameDay edition: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft:
If the Rebels can’t win this one ...: Coach Sanford can’t possibly stay at UNLV, unless he can; Friday, Oct. 23, 2009; For those Rebels fans who haven’t moved on to basketball practice season — all four of you — this column is for you. It’s about how this game Saturday against winless New Mexico, quite possibly the worst college football team in the land, if not the entire solar system, is the most crucial game in the UNLV coaching career of Mike Sanford. Provided, that is, he wants to stay on as Rebels coach. Perhaps his spread offense would play better on Pluto.
For a spot with Yanks, he’ll take a little hazing: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009; During September, Cimarron-Memorial graduate Mike Dunn appeared in four games for the New York Yankees, and once as The Riddler from “Batman.”
Members of UNLV's 1984 football team converge for reunion: Monday, Oct. 19, 2009; At a little before 7 Friday night the old Rebels began to congregate in the banquet area at South Point.
The Elevator: Uniform edition: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft:
Hockey on a budget: Wranglers open season with the economy a continuing challenge; Friday, Oct. 16, 2009; In a few hours they will drop the puck on their seventh consecutive campaign of slashing, high-sticking and roughing at the Orleans Arena, thereby breaking the defunct Las Vegas Thunder’s record of slashing, high-sticking and roughing longevity in Las Vegas, which stood at six seasons.
Ten questions on Justin Timberlake’s annual golf tournament: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009; If this is Las Vegas and it’s the third weekend of October, it can mean only one thing.
UNLV's Mike Sanford running out of excuses: Fifth-year coach drops to 13-40 overall with Saturday's 59-21 loss to BYU; Monday, Oct. 12, 2009; To paraphrase Spike Lee, it’s gotta be the socks. One of the exasperated fans who wrote on the Sun’s Internet site more or less blamed the Rebels’ latest humiliating football defeat, a 59-21 demolition by Brigham Young at Sam Boyd Stadium Saturday night, on the Rebels’ black socks. Really. Their socks. You gotta give this fellow named Gregory some credit. He may have come up with the one excuse that UNLV coach Mike Sanford has yet to use.
Instant analysis: Loss to BYU leaves Mike Sanford hanging by a thread: Cougars rack up 613 yards of total offense on way to 59-21 victory over UNLV; Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009; I suppose it was never a matter of whether UNLV was going to beat Brigham Young tonight but whether the Rebels would play well enough for embattled head coach Mike Sanford to keep his job another week. Hmmm. I suppose that remains to be seen.
The Elevator: Failing football editions: Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft:
A card, gala with a cause: When boxing legends are honored in December, retired fighters down on their luck will benefit; Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009; I went to the “World’s Greatest Ever Boxer” news conference at Paris Las Vegas on Tuesday afternoon, mostly to hear what Mike Tyson thought about being one of those so nominated.
Meditations on UNLV’s beleaguered football coach: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009; Here are 773 thoughts — one for each yard UNLV allowed in the 63-28 debacle at Nevada-Reno on Saturday — about Mike Sanford’s tenuous status as Rebels head football coach.
For Rebels, loss to UNR a new low: Humiliating loss renews calls for coach’s ouster, but trading up would be no small task for program; Monday, Oct. 5, 2009; It was just three weeks ago that the UNLV football team almost beat Oregon State of the Pac-10. Two weeks ago, it did beat Hawaii. Both games were close, and exciting. Sure enough, the defense looked suspect. The defense always looks suspect at UNLV.
The Mtn. vexes fans who’d like to watch UNLV: Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009; What does it say when Bishop Gorman has a better TV deal than UNLV? Friday night’s Gorman-Green Valley High game was televised nationally by CBS College Sports. Today’s UNLV-UNR game in Reno will not be televised. Last week’s UNLV-Wyoming game in Laramie was not televised. And even if it were, how many would have seen it? The Mtn., the Mountain West Conference’s almost around-the-clock TV network, has roughly the same number of viewers as the public access channel in Aurora, Ill., that carried Wayne’s World.
The Elevator: Fremont Cannon edition: Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009; A special Fremont Cannon edition of who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft:
Bowl game luncheon has variety fit for Vegas: Friday, Oct. 2, 2009; To paraphrase the old joke, I went to the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl VIP Community Ticket Kickoff Luncheon on Thursday ... and “The Ed Sullivan Show” broke out.
Easing away from coaching: Final season to hold new thrill: Helping his son’s team in game on national TV; Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009; When he started coaching high school football at Bishop Gorman, Dave Gerber probably never imagined a day when the Gaels would be playing football on national TV.
After 20 games, fans at Detroit Lions bar in Las Vegas can celebrate: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009; They start rolling in to Meatheads, a watering hole at West Charleston and Decatur that used to be one of those Kenny Rogers Roasters, around 9:30 every Sunday morning during this time of the year.
Truck racing: So crazy it just might work: Whoever decided that racing pickup trucks would hold fans’ interest might have had a lug nut loose, but here we are, 15 years later; Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009; It’s hard to fathom that men (and a few women) have been racing pickup trucks for 15 years and getting paid for it, as they will at tonight’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Elevator: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Las Vegas 350 edition: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009; A special NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Las Vegas 350 edition of who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft.
Maybe numbers don’t lie, but statisticians do: Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009; There’s a lot of gray area with sports statistics, especially when it comes to subjective matters such as whether a ground ball to the shortstop was too hot to handle or a pass from a point guard led directly to a basket. I recently came across a story on the Deadspin.com Web site in which a former NBA statistician admitting to fudging numbers, sometimes even with the organization’s blessing.
Frustrated UNLV football fans reveal what keeps them from stadium: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009; If Mike Sanford builds it, will they come? Well, apparently not if the parking lots aren’t paved.
UNLV coach Mike Sanford deserves credit for game adjustments: Monday, Sept. 21, 2009; This one is on Mike Sanford. And that’s a good thing.
Instant analysis: What goes around, comes around: Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009; That's entertainment. That's Omar Clayton to Phillip Payne in the corner of the end zone. That's a game-winning touchdown. After losing one they could have won in the closing seconds last week against Oregon State, the Rebels won one they could have lost in the closing seconds Saturday night against Hawaii.
UNLV’s building it; why aren’t they coming?: Friday, Sept. 18, 2009; During his remarks after UNLV’s 23-21 loss to Oregon State on Saturday, Rebels coach Mike Sanford talked about the great crowd that turned out for the game.
Would Hemingway like this farewell to arms?: Bullﬁghts had no weapons, no blood, but did include a favorite pastime of Papa’s: Drinking; Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009; I wonder what Hemingway would have made of the bloodless bullfighting Monday afternoon at the South Point Equestrian & Event Center.
Rebels made mistakes in a game where they couldn’t afford to …: ... but also showed a winning season is theirs for the taking; Monday, Sept. 14, 2009; If Oregon State is the 24th-best team in college football, that would make UNLV the 25th-best team in college football, based on the Rebels’ 23-21 snatch-a-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory performance on late-night television Saturday.
Instant analysis: Close game with Oregon State something to build on: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009; Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, drive-in movies -- and games against nationally ranked opponents during the second week of the college football season.

Oregon State, ranked No. 24 in the land, needed a field goal on the next-to-last play of the game to beat the upset-minded Rebels 23-21.
The Elevator: Mountain West double jeopardy: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft.
Las Vegas 51s’ season ends in whimper: In Triple-A, it’s a cyclical slog; Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009; The end of a baseball season should always come on an afternoon when the shadows are long and the weather is crisp. Long shadows and crisp weather on a baseball diamond in late September can make one feel melancholy. The 51s ended their season in Portland, Ore., on Monday. The shadows weren’t long, the weather wasn’t crisp. Yet I sensed a bit of melancholy.
Three locals who might be in the running for UNLV AD job: Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009; There’s still no official list of candidates for the vacant UNLV athletic director’s job and probably won’t be until spring.