Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Dean Juipe: Arizona has gone to the ‘dogs

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.

Notes today, leading off with the sorry state of football in Arizona.

The Wildcats (1-3 and 15-point underdogs at home against TCU on Saturday), the Sun Devils (1-2 and 6-point underdogs at Oregon State) and the Cardinals (1-2 and 10 1/2-point underdogs at St. Louis on Sunday) have become habitual losers. In the Wildcats' case, it's especially perplexing and it's apt to cost head coach John Mackovic his job. He's 10-17 in two-plus seasons at Arizona and the school hasn't had a winning season since 1998. The Wildcats have also lost 12 consecutive home games to Pac-10 opponents and are the only Pac-10 team which has never been to the Rose Bowl. Arizona and Arizona State are big schools with money and attractive campuses, making their lack of success on the field even more bewildering.

Bob Arum has apologized to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his remarks following Oscar De La Hoya's loss to Shane Mosley, but what else could he do? He certainly didn't have any evidence of misdoing or a conspiracy, which rendered his scheduled Oct. 15 appearance at a NSAC meeting a waste of time for everyone involved. Now he has asked to be excused from the meeting and absolved for casting the sport in a bad light. Some commission members will excuse him more than others. ... I thought from the get-go that Arum's outburst was merely a way to keep De La Hoya fighting and not retiring as he said he would if he lost to Mosley. This way, De La Hoya can (wrongly) claim "I didn't really lose that fight" and come back and fight another day, making him and Arum several more million dollars.

Arum has other problems, too. His second-best meal ticket, Floyd Mayweather Jr., is looking over his shoulder after two men with clubs and guns recently beat two of the fighter's associates as Mayweather stood in the ring at the Top Rank gym. ... Toughman should be run out of business, and maybe it will after relatives of a woman who was killed and a man who suffered a severe brain injury in June bouts in Florida have filed suit against the business and its owner, Art Dore. Toughman, which will never be licensed again in Nevada, has had four deaths in the past year and 10 in its 24 years of existence. Nonetheless it carries on, pitting novice fighters in brutal bouts, and will have a card in Fort Myers, Fla., this weekend.

Tyler Houston has had a decent career as a part-time player in the major leagues, but he could be done at 32 years old after being released by the Phillies earlier this month and subjected to stinging criticism by manager Larry Bowa. Houston, a great high school player at Valley, broke into pro ball in 1989 and reached the majors seven years later. Yet he was released when he criticized Bowa, calling him "negative" and someone who "doesn't respect players." Bowa, in turn, called Houston "a poor clubhouse influence" and "a loser." Ouch. ... "Papa Joe" Chevalier said he's considering a return to Las Vegas (from Chicago) as the host site for his syndicated radio show that's heard here on KENO 1460 AM.

For the sixth consecutive year, the American League East standings will finish exactly the same: New York, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, Tampa Bay. ... It doesn't take much to excite the gearheads among us, as proven by a recent promotion by The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. On this particular night it was paying $500 to the winner of a "fantasy schoolgirl uniform contest" that was to precede the races. Hey, whatever blows your skirt up. ... Former PGA Tour player Edward Fryatt of Las Vegas once again missed the cut in a Nationwide Tour event (last weekend at Boise) and has $0 in earnings this year. Now that's a slump. ... The major pro sports leagues look askance at Las Vegas for its gambling, yet the cash-strapped Florida Marlins were allowed to accept a huge outfield-wall advertisement for the Miccosukee Indian Casino. How's that for hypocrisy?

Manny Abeyta, a longtime amateur baseball scout who has an interest in the Bishop Gorman coaching job, spent part of his summer playing a minor senior golf tour until injuring his shoulder. Nonetheless, he's a scratch player who is likely to attend the Champions Tour Q-School in an attempt to earn his card. ... I also ran into Paudie O'Connor, a former professional basketball player from Ireland -- and the former mayor of Kilarney, Ireland -- who runs packaged golf tours between Las Vegas and his native country. He said he's hoping to arrange a Las Vegas vs. Ireland event for kids if he can get the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association to fund the idea.

Jim Colbert, 62, is past his prime yet the Las Vegan continues to make a decent living as a pro golfer and has banked $321,646 this year on the Champions Tour. He's No. 46 in money won. ... A prediction: Either the NFL makes an exception for him or former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett will win his lawsuit against the league. He's suing because the NFL, unlike other pro leagues, has a rule in which a player can't be drafted until his high-school class has been out of school three years. Despite the well-meaning intentions of the rule, it's a blatant restraint of trade. ... Can fans stand throughout a football game without being ejected by police? Apparently not, given what happened near me at last Friday's UNLV vs. Hawaii game at Sam Boyd Stadium. Four guys who wanted to stand throughout the game were told to sit or be escorted out, so they reluct antly sat. But they really weren't bothering anyone and no one behind them was complaining, so I almost want to stand up fo! r their rights.

I can see why the players in the ECHL, which has a new team in Las Vegas set to debut next month, are on strike. The league expands and gives the impression that it is fiscally healthy, then it cuts the per-team weekly salary cap from $10,000 to $8,000. I guess that's why they call it a minor league. ... Speaking of minor league, one of boxing's lower-rung organizations, the World Boxing Federation, recently sanctioned a title fight in Berlin, Germany, in which one of the participants had never won a fight. The bout, between light heavyweights Lee Osio and Imre Gorka, had mismatch written all over it. Osio was 30-3, while Gorka was 0-3. The fight went six rounds before the Slovakian punching bag was counted out.

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