The Elevator: On (TV), Brave Old Army Team

By Ron Kantowski

Saturday, July 25, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft:

GOING UP

On (TV), Brave Old Army Team: Nobody expected the Mountain West to put together a TV deal as attractive as Notre Dame’s. But playing second fiddle to Army? Working together with broadcast partners CBS College Sports and ESPN, Army has announced a five-year deal that will result in no fewer than eight of its football games being broadcast on national TV this season.

Harmon(y) at Turnburry: One of the first persons Stewart Cink thanked after winning the British Open was golf guru Butch Harmon, who operates the Butch Harmon School of Golf at Las Vegas’ Rio Secco Golf Club. Though you, too, can arrange for a lesson from Harmon, there’s no guarantee you will win the Claret Jug on the Firth of Clyde — or even get your pants wet like Jean Van de Velde at Carnoustie.

Jumping through hoops: As expected, the West Coast Conference exercised an option to return its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to the Orleans Arena through 2012. So welcome back, Gonzaga and those other schools. Leave the light on for the WAC when you leave.

Taking the fifth: When the UNLV football team was picked for fifth place in the Mountain West preseason poll this week, people around here actually got excited. Some people, anyway. OK, a few guys with Randall Cunningham throwback jerseys with nothing better to do on Saturday nights in the fall. But it’s still better than being picked 10th in a nine-team league.

GOING DOWN

NASCAR ticket prices: For the first time since opening its gates, Las Vegas Motor Speedway will offer a limited number of $49 tickets for next February’s NASCAR race. The speedway also will discount all weekend packages and Sunday-only tickets. “Obviously, these are challenging economic times,” speedway President Chris Powell said. On the other hand, it may not take as long to empty the parking lot next year.

Money for (almost) nothing: If newspapers are losing money and TV stations are losing money and college athletic departments are losing money, then why does each keep spending more money to send reporters and coaches and players to Las Vegas for two days of conference meetings when the news generated by such an event could be covered in a 15-minute conference call? This is why guys who work in steel mills and on assembly lines don’t really care to hear about other people’s problems.