Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

As basketball’s greatest player, Michael Jordan still confounded by golf; Experience opening’s a mob scene

Michael Jordan 2011 Celebrity Invitational

Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Michael Jordan at the opening press conference of the 10th Annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas on March 30, 2011.

Michael Jordan 2011 Celebrity Invitational

Michael Jordan at the opening press conference of the 10th Annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas on March 30, 2011.  Launch slideshow »
Click to enlarge photo

Michael Jordan at the opening press conference of the 10th Annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas on March 30, 2011.

Click to enlarge photo

Michael Jordan at the opening press conference of the 10th Annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas on March 30, 2011.

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The Las Vegas Mob Experience VIP grand opening at the Tropicana on March 29, 2011. Launch slideshow »

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Holly Madison at the Las Vegas Mob Experience VIP grand opening at the Tropicana on March 29, 2011. Launch slideshow »

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James Caan at Las Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana on March 28, 2011. Launch slideshow »

In Las Vegas, you never know how you’re going to start the day.

Today, it was with Michael Jordan asking, “Have you played golf?”

“Yep,” is the answer.

“Have you ever played where you didn’t at least bet a dollar?” he asks.

“I’ve played often when I’ve lost lots of dollars,” is the next answer.

Jordan’s response was to a question about one of golf’s most time-honored traditions: friends and competitors betting skins during a round to sort of spice up the competition.

“That’s what the game provides,” Jordan said, seeming bemused at the idea of his famous celebrity friends from the worlds of entertainment and sports making side wagers as the 10th Annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational at Shadow Creek Golf Course tees off Thursday morning. “It provides a lot of competition between the golfers.”

However, he was quick to add: “But we’re not encouraging it. It’s part of the process.”

Jordan’s tournament, previously held at Ocean Club Golf Course in The Bahamas, moves to Las Vegas for the first time. More pertinent, the tournament is the first open-to-the-public event in the 22-year history of Shadow Creek Golf Course, envisioned by Steve Wynn, designed by Tom Fazio and managed today by MGM Resorts.

Aria is the event’s host resort, and Jordan said today that the event will be held at Shadow Creek for the next three years. Tickets are on sale at the hotel’s “Viva Elvis” box office, the Aria Web site and the Michael Jordan Invitational site. Tickets are $25 for general admission Thursday and Friday, $50 for general admission passes Saturday and Sunday and $100 for general admission passes for all days. VIP passes are offered, too, which affords ticketholders to view the course from a hospitality deck overlooking the par-5 18th hole. (For additional tournament and ticket information, call 877-253-5847)

The event is a major charity fundraiser, with celebrity players donating their winnings to the organization of their choosing. Jordan’s own James R. Jordan Foundation, which aids underprivileged children, is a chief recipient.

The list of celebs who are scheduled to attend this year’s tournament and/or red carpet events are Jordan, Marcus Allen, Anthony Anderson, Jonathan Antin, Gabriel Aubry, Brian Baumgartner, Jerome Bettis, Drew Brees, Sophia Bush, Brandi Chastain, Chris Chelios, Roger Clemens, Larry David, Richard Dent, Shannon Elizabeth, Julius Erving, Jamie Foxx, Janet Jones-Gretzky, Wayne Gretzky, Ken Griffey Jr., Bill Guthridge, Penny Hardaway, Hill Harper, Kevin Hart, Dennis Haysbert, Brett Hull, Toby Keith, Jana Kramer, Toni Kukoc, Spike Lee, Mario Lemieux, Greg Maddux, Danny Masterson, Paul O’Neill, Michael Pena, Mike Piazza, Maury Povich, Salli Richardson, Stuart Scott, Bruce Smith, John Smoltz, Alan Thicke, Chris Tucker and Winky Wright.

If there were a golfing version of “Surreal Life,” this tournament would be it. Jordan was asked about the list and joked, “Marcus Allen’s on it. I don’t consider him a celebrity. But he is a friend.”

Thinly looming over the podium, Jordan appeared in top condition, still, at age 48 and eight years after he played his final NBA game. He took questions for about 15 minutes at Shadow Creek.

Some other tidbits from the news conference:

• At various times, in responding to questions, Jordan compared golf with basketball and baseball (which he famously played at the double-A level during a break in his NBA career). “My passion for golf is the same as my passion for basketball. As a kid, I played basketball before golf, thank goodness. If I played golf first, I probably would have been a golfer. That’s how much passion to excel I have to conquer this game.”

Comparing golf with baseball, a sport in which he was not nearly as successful as hoops, he said, “I would say golf (is more difficult). Baseball is a game of motion. You get a rhythm. Golf is a game where certain parts are not moving. In baseball, to some degree, you’ve got a ball coming at you, and you can react. Golf is totally the opposite, you’ve got to make the ball go. … Golf is a lot harder than baseball, unless I’m looking at a curve ball.”

• As one might anticipate, Jordan said the move to Las Vegas has helped bolster the celebrity field for the event. “It’s more of a centrally located area to appeal to celebrities and athletes. We changed the time frame from January to March to take advantage of the great weather. … Everybody is very happy. A lot of them have never played Shadow Creek, and it’s one of the biggest attractions. I think that’s what celebrities are going to love, the opportunity to play it.”

Are we Experienced?

The Las Vegas Mob Experience formally opened not with a bang, but with a crush, on Tuesday night at the Tropicana. The mass of at least 1,500 guests who RSVP’d to the opening of the Jay Bloom-fronted attraction made the Experience experience a genuine mob scene.

Everyone asks, “How was it?” Frustrating, frankly. This was not the environment to gauge the nuances of the mob-themed walking tour. One-on-one interaction with the hired cast members representing mobsters and assorted organized crime types was often impossible. The audio from the hologram celebrity guides, including James Caan and Mickey Rourke, was muffled. The pacing was off, as groups meshed and dispersed randomly as they took the tour. The attraction simply isn’t equipped to handle that volume of people, en masse. I’ll give it some air before returning to see how it plays, for real, more than three months after its targeted opening date. (The Sun is involved in a cross-promotional agreement with the attraction in which it shares photo and video content in exchange for brand placement, including a replica of Hank Greenspun’s office.)

That said, my favorite moment in the tour is encountering actor Joey Ciccone as the enforcer who asks visitors what he should do with a guy who has been nabbed while trying to cheat a blackjack dealer. The Louisville Slugger he is wielding, repaired by black electric tape, gives you an idea. What the Mob Experience does offer is the first attraction of its type for tourists and even locals curious about the history of mob activity in this country. That quality alone should draw those ardently curious about how Las Vegas came to be.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.

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