Monday, March 31, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
THE ELEPHANTS ARE BEGINNING to square off.
Maybe life has been so good for our casino industry captains that they feel they have to mess it up a little. Or maybe the chiefs of the gaming giants are just getting bored with the business-as-usual approach that seems to have worked out nicely for the past decade or two. Whatever the reason, it appears that the folks in charge of the world's great gambling empires are getting ready to beat up on each other and that doesn't bode well for the rest of us.
People who pay attention to such things have been amused in the past with the bravado of two of the larger egos in the gambling world. I know Steve Wynn doesn't like to be mentioned in the same breath or the same space as Atlantic City's self-proclaimed wonderment, Donald Trump, but over the years the competitive juices that flow within those two men have given the rest of us a kind of vicarious thrill that would not otherwise be available in the normally staid world of big business.
Lately, though, the fight for gaming pre-eminence has reached a new level with the entrance on the scene of Hilton Hotels Chairman Steve Bollenbach and former Bally's chief and now Hilton gaming czar Arthur Goldberg. Coupled with The Donald, they have been giving the Mirage boss some fits and starts in his quest to sew up the best part of Atlantic City's gambling world.
And, finally, it seems Steve let it all hang out. So much so that he publicly derided the Hilton duo and Trump in a way that left little to the imagination of those who may have believed there was a healthy respect for the talents and abilities of the nation's top gaming entrepreneurs. Frankly, most of us were a bit shocked at the way Steve, who is normally quite cool in the light of public scrutiny, turned up the heat on his neighbors and neighbor wannabes by blasting them with a string of not-so-respectful epithets.
He was reacting to Trump's lawsuit against the Mirage's efforts to move into Atlantic City in a big and very expensive way and the Hilton's last-minute offer to buy the land Steve has sewn up for his multibillion-dollar return to the East Coast gambling mecca. To put it midly, Mr. Wynn was not happy.
There is an old saying that when the elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. In this case, the bulls are squaring off for some kind of fight and the grass, which is all the rest of us who can do nothing more than stand by and watch, is in for quite a trampling.
As is often the case when the public relations experts have their way, much of what we see and hear is for public and political consumption and not meant to have any lasting effect. Let's hope that is the case because the stage is set both here and in Atlantic City for the best-laid plans of a growing industry to go awry.
It's time to tone down the rhetoric and instill some common sense back into this good thing everyone's got going. It would be a shame if the gaming industry itself did what the Christian Coalition, the Republican Congress and the rest of the anti-gambling world have been unable to do together.
If I mentioned Thomas and Mack, everyone in Las Vegas and many outside of our town would immediately recognize the name of the house that Jerry Tarkanian built and the home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels and their new and winning head coach, Bill Bayno.
But when I mention just the name Mack something more permanent and even more meaningful in Las Vegas' colorful history comes to mind. Joyce and Jerry Mack are among a handful of early pioneers who made Las Vegas their home in the days before the big hotels and the population came to town. In those very early days, it was the Bank of Las Vegas and the Mack family that helped create the economic foundation of a community waiting to reach out for its destiny.
Well, thanks to the Macks and their Thomas family partners, Las Vegas has grown and prospered, so much so that we are now trying to figure out how to slow this thing down. At least long enough to catch our collective breath!
Last night, at the same Beverly Hills Hotel that hosted their wedding 50 years go, Jerry and Joyce celebrated their golden anniversary with their family and close friends. I wasn't invited to their wedding but the notion struck me Sunday night that I could have been present, a thought that gave me pause to consider where all that time has gone.
Well, for Joyce and Jerry, the time has been good. Their family keeps growing and their involvement in our community grows as well. There's a certain feeling of comfort and stability in knowing that the people who were here at the beginning are still here watching over our town.
Fifty years is a long time, especially for two people to be together. Those who are fortunate enough to reach that milestone have much to celebrate. Good people deserve good things. I know that all of Jerry and Joyce Mack's friends join me in wishing them a happy 50th anniversary and health, happiness and good things for many more years.
As long as I'm on this family thing, I'd be remiss if I didn't wish my Aunt Belle a very happy birthday. She's going to be upset when she reads this because my aunt has always been content to live a quiet and unassuming life with her family and friends in Las Vegas. That's the way most people live their lives and it has its rewards in a peaceful lifestyle with a modicum of tension.
It is not my intention to add any stress to an otherwise happy day, dear Aunt. It is my intention, though, not to let your milestone birthday pass without the recognition it is due. So, happy birthday to you. And many, many more!
And, finally, to the Final Four.
If it couldn't be the Rebels and if it isn't going to be Georgetown, then Lute Olson's Arizona Wildcats will just have to do. No one gave our neighboring university much of a chance to advance in the NCAA tournament and only the faithful fans gave them a prayer of getting this far. But that's what makes college basketball the emotion-packed sport that it is. A team mentally and emotionally prepared to win can do just that, in spite of overwhelming odds against it.
I am sure Kentucky must be some kind of huge favorite to win the national championship tonight but something tells me that Arizona isn't going to go away as easily as the experts think. Picking basketball games is not my forte but I am prepared to go out on the limb for this one.
I pick the Wildcats to win. Someone prove me wrong!
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