Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental

By Ron Kantowski

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 | 5:34 p.m.

NOW:

The grounds keeper finds him early Christmas morning spread eagled across the still visible Las Vegas Bowl logo stretching laterally across the chewed up turf in the center of Sam Boyd Stadium.

That's the first sentence of "The Bagel King," a mystery novel written by E.A. Vovsi, a Las Vegas author and my favorite Bradley Braves fan. Although I just call him "Ed."

The story begins with an opinionated Las Vegas sports writer winding up dead with a bullet behind his ear a few hours after Washington State and Wyoming finished playing football.

In a series of columns leading up to his death, the cranky old scribe "attacked what he saw as the entire system of greed driving major college football," it says on Page 10.

"Why would any sane person schedule a noon kickoff in late August in Las Vegas when temperatures hover at 105 degrees. Obviously, it's because ESPN2 needs a 3 p.m. game on the East Coast."

Hmmm ... I seem to recall remember writing something like that when Northwestern and the Rebels kicked off at 5 p.m. on a hot August night when John Robinson was coach -- which may or may not be the reason Ed sent me a copy of "The Bagel King."

Upon further review, what I really meant to say (especially after reading the first page of Ed's book) is that kickoffs at 5 p.m. on a 105-degree day aren't such a bad idea after all.

And then, on Page 11:

"The Las Vegas Bowl can't draw flies unless Brigham Young is playing. For $75 a pop and upward, folks don't seem to be thronging to see two third-rate teams do battle during Christmas week."

Well, what can I say? I stand by that.

Anyway, I was relieved to read on the page across from Ed's dedication that "all characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental."

Whew.

All coincidences aside, there are a lot of twists and an equal number of turns -- and a ton of fun Las Vegas references -- in Ed's second novel, which revolves on a plot to obtain gaming and casino-resort development rights in Baja California.

You can buy a copy of "The Bagel King" by clicking here.

THEN:

At the end of the day, if I had to choose between curling up with a book or curling up with the remote control, I'd choose the book. Unless they were showing "Hogan's Heroes" on TV. Or the book was written by Jose Canseco. Or if you were in Canada. Then you'd just be curling.