Ron Kantowski

Story Archive

Bruno's favorite player to oppose Locos: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
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.
Did Mike Sanford really say that?: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009
Broncos go vertical, sock it to Patriots: Monday, Oct. 12, 2009
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.
Casa Grande Football League invades Las Vegas: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
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.
A seven beats the Aces in Silver State playoff: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Crash course in free publicity: Monday, Oct. 5, 2009
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.
Classic cars turn downtown Henderson into Surf City: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009
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.
Remembering Bob Stupak and a pail of confetti: Monday, Sept. 28, 2009
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.
There's nothing quite like a walk-off wild pitch: Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009
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.
You can never have too many giant squid stories: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009
Loco ticket promotion for UFL opener: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009
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.
Giant Cowboys video screen inspired by Celine Dion: Monday, Sept. 21, 2009
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.
Throwin' one back in Philadelphia: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009
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.
Don Bull: A name you can count on (or make up): Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009
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.
Always trust a bar with paneling and Mario Andretti's picture on the wall: Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009
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.
Chewing over UNLV's search for an athletic director: Wisely or unwisely, regent asks opinion of sports writer; Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009; Other than the night during March Madness a couple of years ago when a bunch of fellow scribes and I shamed Mark Alden into buying us a sack of White Castles after the bars closed in St. Louis, I couldn’t remember the last time I broke bread with one of the Nevada system regents.
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.
Rebels easily won season opener — but then, they were supposed to: Monday, Sept. 7, 2009; All I could think about leaving Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday night was Blues Magoos, a psychedelic rock band from the 1960s.
Instant analysis: Rebels sorta impressive, sorta not: Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009; So this is what a New Mexico Bowl team looks like. Or doesn't. It was still a little hard to tell. On a gusty night at Sam Boyd Stadium, UNLV did what it was expected to do. It beat Division I-AA Sacramento State of the Big Sky Conference. It was a competitive game for three quarters.
The Elevator: UNLV athletic department goes up — and down: Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft.
Track discounts NASCAR tickets to fill stands: Friday, Sept. 4, 2009; I had planned to write this column in February, when Las Vegas Motor Speedway officials quietly confirmed that ticket sales for the most recent NASCAR weekend were down 15 to 20 percent.
Honkers if you like baseball: Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009
UNLV-Minnesota column unleashes some territorial passions: Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009; Sometimes, as Bruce Springsteen is fond of saying, you’ve just got to stand back and let it all be.
A hunting jacket about nothing: Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009
Nothing says 'pennant race' like a Raiders-Saints preseason game: Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009
For UNLV football fan, a tradition that ﬁts to a T-shirt: Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009; In four seasons as a UNLV football fan, a kid named Mike Wintermute has accomplished what Jim Weaver could not in 3 1/2 years as Rebels athletic director: