Ron Kantowski

Story Archive

Can it be three years since Andre lost to B. Becker?: Monday, Aug. 31, 2009
Why UNLV won’t kick off this season in Minnesota: Monday, Aug. 31, 2009; Before you criticize UNLV for scheduling an opening-night football opponent whose logo resembles that of a supermarket chain, consider that the ... uh ... um ... Hornets, of Sacramento State, played Colorado State of the Mountain West tough before losing 23-20 last year.
The Elevator: Crash Test Dummies: Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft.
Let's hope this isn't a bad omen: Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009
Mountain West’s TV strategy: Remote control hide-and-seek: Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009; When I think of the great disasters of modern television history, the first one that pops into mind is “My Mother the Car” starring Jerry Van Dyke. The second one that pops into mind is the Mountain West Conference’s current TV deal.
It's always something in those central Russian regions: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009
Former Utah player blasts Majerus again in his book: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009
School's in, and Wranglers brass is on the phone: Monday, Aug. 24, 2009
In arena football, it’s not about the money: Ron Kantowski finds star quality in a wide receiver who’s in the game for the title of a very minor league; Monday, Aug. 24, 2009; As I sat in the wheelchair section atop the Orleans Arena (can you believe they ran out of room on press row at ArenaCup 10?) watching guys catch khaki-colored footballs off fishing nets Saturday night, my first inclination was not that this is a silly game with silly rules played by almost grown men hailing from colleges with directions or a “Kutztown” in their names — which was my first inclination while watching one of the 16 or so indoor football teams that have tried to make a go of it in Las Vegas over the years.
A lad’s Jimi Hendrix Experience: Going to Cubs games: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009; The date was Aug. 15, 1969. It was 40 years ago today that Jimi Hendrix taught all those bands to play. There were 32 in all (if you count the solo acts and Swami Satchidananda, who gave the invocation) and roughly half a million people who came to hear what they had to say at the Woodstock Festival Aug. 15-18 during the Summer of Love. There also was a lot of mud and mind altering that weekend, and a lot of peace was guiding the planets.
Giving something back to Wrigley Field: Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009
Visiting the Ghost of Honus Wagner: Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009
Chicago's storied Wrigley Field truly one of a kind: Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009; It took just 2 hours, 40 minutes for the Iowa Cubs to defeat the Las Vegas 51s 5-4 at stately Wrigley Field on Sunday afternoon.
A vine time at Wrigley Field: Monday, Aug. 10, 2009
51s get glimpse of goal in trip to baseball shrine: Inside look at Wrigley Field’s ivied walls for game against Iowa awes Las Vegans; Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009; Welcome to the Road to Wrigley, which is sort of like the Road to Cashman Field, only with greener ivy. A stiff breeze is rustling the leaves on the ivy-colored walls of one of baseball's most revered cathedrals as the Iowa Cubs and the Las Vegas 51s prepare to do battle in the second installment of the Road to Wrigley, a minor league baseball game featuring one of the Cubs' minor league affiliates.
51s fall, 5-4, at Chicago's Wrigley Field: Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009; CHICAGO -- Welcome to the Road to Wrigley, which is sort of like the Road to Cashman Field, only with greener ivy. A stiff breeze is rustling the leaves on the ivy-colored walls of one of baseball's most revered cathedrals as the Iowa Cubs and the Las Vegas 51s prepare to do battle in the second installment of the Road to Wrigley, a minor league baseball game featuring one of the Cubs' minor league affiliates. It's very warm and the humidity just steamed a few dozen hot dogs. The wind is blowing straight out and from my seat in the press box, you can see the sailboats on Lake Michigan.
Dome rangers going up, early arrivals going down: Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft:
Hardworking Koloskie quietly pushing to be UNLV AD: Friday, Aug. 7, 2009; If Jerry Koloskie were ever forced to blow his own horn, it would probably be a piccolo trumpet — the smallest member of the trumpet family.
Las Vegas' Bryce Harper to be featured on E:60: Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009
51s press box: 96 stories, no elevator: Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009
Ode to doubleheaders: In the bigs, they just don’t schedule ’em like they used to; Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009; When I was a kid — i.e., when pitchers more often than not finished what they started — doubleheaders were a common occurrence. My father, who worked in a steel mill, believed that two baseball games for the price of one were better than one baseball game for the price of one. That is why my brother and I saw a lot of twin bills at Wrigley Field and an occasional double dip at old Comiskey Park.
Arena League and Buick Open(s) fold on the same day: Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009
If Locos win, where will ticker tape fly?: Monday, Aug. 3, 2009
Will the greatest boxer ...: Fans will pick who stands for the titles, with winners to be revealed in Las Vegas; Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009; Go into any bar, tavern, pub, gin mill, saloon, lounge, roadhouse, speak-easy, taproom, watering hole, rathskeller, bistro, canteen, honky tonk or any other place where men gather to imbibe and smoke fat cigars, and invariably the conversation will turn to boxing. And who could beat up whom.
The Elevator: Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft. Going up — Five media guides (soccer, men’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s basketball and volleyball) produced by the UNLV sports information department have received national and regional honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America. A Lady Rebels basketball poster also received an award, although this elevator operator is still going for the one showing Farrah Fawcett in a red bathing suit.
One pro’s ‘thrill of a lifetime’: Friday, July 31, 2009; Until this week, Henderson’s Wendy Macpherson had done virtually everything there is to do in bowling with the exception of rolling a friendly game against Ralph Kramden and representing her country against the best female bowlers from around the globe in the World Women’s Championships.
Peggy o' my heart is now a grandmother: Thursday, July 30, 2009
Freeway billboards make strange bedfellows ... or something like that: Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Taking a stand on the Las Vegas sports scene: Wednesday, July 29, 2009; An Internet Web site is sponsoring a poll called The Greatest Place to Stand in the United States, which means on Dec. 1, when the poll closes and they place a complimentary copy of USA Today in front of your hotel room door, you will be reminded that you don’t get away nearly enough.
UNLV could use a guy like new LVMS marketing exec: Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Local artists: LVMS has you covered for truck race program: Monday, July 27, 2009
Last of these low rollers: Massive bowling tournament closes in anticlimax after five months and countless celebratory fives; Monday, July 27, 2009; They — the people who tried to find a spot in the parking lot on Fireworks Night at Cashman Field — said it would never end. But it did.
The Elevator: On (TV), Brave Old Army Team: Saturday, July 25, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft.
Even the umps are famous in baseball: Thursday, July 23, 2009
Do we even need an AD?: Six years ago Vanderbilt got rid of its athletic director and rethought its athletic department. It’s worked out pretty well so far. With Hamrick gone, Ron Kantowski thinks it’s a great opportunity; Thursday, July 23, 2009; To show how important an athletic director is to winning and losing at the NCAA level, Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference eliminated the position six years ago.
Money for almost nothing at MWC meetings: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Pacman vs. Cotto -- prepare to get on top of something: Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Let’s be frank: This royal alienator of an A.D. stayed step ahead of ax: Tuesday, July 21, 2009; To anybody who believes that becoming the new athletic director at Marshall University was Mike Hamrick’s idea, I would only say: Enjoy your second day on this planet.
Who might take Hamrick's place?: Tuesday, July 21, 2009; Even before the official announcement that Mike Hamrick was resigning as UNLV athletic director to take the same job at Marshall University, speculation had begun about who would replace him.
Another side of Dennis Finfrock: Monday, July 20, 2009
Former UNLV arena director gave major sports events a place in Vegas: Monday, July 20, 2009; The last time I saw Dennis Finfrock, the ravages of Parkinson’s disease already had the former UNLV arena director and interim athletic director in a three-quarter Nelson, an analogy he would appreciate owing to his wrestling background.
Iron Mike among those getting glimpse of boxing’s future: Monday, July 20, 2009; Besides the free bobblehead dolls and reasonably priced tickets, one of the attractions of minor league baseball is you get to watch the stars of tomorrow on their way up.
Cuban boxers put on a show at Planet Hollywood: Saturday, July 18, 2009; If the performance of the four Cuban exiles on Friday's "Future of Boxing" pro fight card at Planet Hollywood can be used as a barometer, the future of the fistic sport looks promising indeed. Beginning with two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux, the Cubans were like the cigars in their former homeland -- as good as advertised.
The Elevator: How 'I Fought The Law' ... and received two minutes for roughing: Saturday, July 18, 2009; Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft.
A skeptic returns for a day in the life of the NBA summer league: Friday, July 17, 2009; The first thing I notice upon dropping into the NBA summer league on Wednesday afternoon at Cox Pavilion is dozens and dozens of very tall men, most of whom are speaking foreign languages. It is hard to tell whether they are European scouts or Turkish power forwards.
Giant squid invades San Diego -- honest: Thursday, July 16, 2009
An interesting fact about Keith Primeau: Wednesday, July 15, 2009
In the end, Mountain West took the money and walked: Wednesday, July 15, 2009; Money talks, and whatever argument Sen. Orrin Hatch and his constituents from the University of Utah made in front of a U.S. Senate subcommittee, on behalf of the Mountain West and college football’s other have-not conferences for automatic inclusion into the Bowl Championship Series, walks.
Tall list of suspects for Las Vegas sign graffiti: Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Boxing’s Cuba connection: Fighters who escape the island always find promoter Luis DeCubas; Tuesday, July 14, 2009; If you were around in the 1960s, you may remember the Freedom Flights, which from 1965 to 1971 brought 245,845 native Cubans to live in the United States. If you were around in the 1960s, you also may have attended Woodstock, in which case you probably don’t remember the Freedom Flights.