Doctors: Gondo can stay home for now

By Ron Kantowski

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 | 4:11 p.m.

NOW

----- Finally, a bit of good news for Glen Gondrezick, the UNLV basketball Hall-of-Famer in dire need of a heart transplant. His doctors at UCLA Medical Center said his heart hasn't deteriorated since the last time they saw him meaning he can continue to live at home, rather than check back into the hospital, as he waits on the ultimate gift of life.

"I had a lot of anxiety driving out there," Gondo told me today.

But after a battery of tests, his doctors determined that Gondrezick's heart has stabilized since the last time they saw him on April 30.

It has been 74 days since Gondrezick was placed on the top of the list of those needing a heart transplant. The average waiting period is 2 1/2 months. Or about 74 days.

So he's due, and, as you might guess, impatient.

The Rebel basketball analyst has heard from both of his former NBA employers. The Knicks sent him a check for $5,000. The Nuggets sent him an autographed basketball. An indoor-outdoor basketball. I think you can get one of those at Dick's Sporting Goods for $14.95.

Fans of Gondo interested in expressing a little more generosity can still get a ticket to his benefit dinner and memorabilia auction at the Orleans Arena Friday night. Tickets to "Gondo Night" are $100. Call Bonnie at 434-4923 to reserve a seat.

Those unable to attend can still make a donation by addressing an envelope to the Glen Gondrezick Heart Transplant Fund, 631 N. Stephanie St., Box 450, Henderson, NV 89014.

For more information, click on Gondonight.com.

----- Chris Luscombe, the former Clark High football star who is fighting for his life after being wounded in a drive-by shooting early Monday morning, is showing slight signs of improvement.

"Chris is hanging in there by a thread," said his mother, Marie Passante, in an e-mail. "He has gone through three surgeries already. The doc said at one point that we will think of this as a baseball game and he is at first base and he needs to get home. Well (Tuesday night) for the first time the doc said that he is on his way to second base."

Luscombe was shot in the torso and suffered life-threatening internal injuries. He is listed in critical condition at University Medical Center.

----- Jonathan Ogden, the 11-time Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl offensive tackle who makes his home in Southern Nevada, will announce his retirement on Thursday. He's quitting football because his big toe still hurts.

"That big toe, as big as he is, you've got to have that thing," said Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller.

Ogden is believed to be the first guy to retire from a big toe injury since Sgt. Hulka in "Stripes."

----- This just in: Rick Dutrow Jr., the trainer for Big Brown, has blamed the horse's last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes on jockey Kent Desormeaux. He also has blamed his perspiration problem, the war in Iraq, the high price of gasoline, Tim Donaghy and those God-awful uniforms the Astros wore when Nolan Ryan pitched for them on the veteran rider.

THEN

----- I was listening to Bob Dylan's radio show on XM on the way to work today, which was dedicated to forgotten songs about hair, and he played the old Brylcreem jingle. That, of course, got me thinking about an old commercial for a similar product called Score, and a similar jingle, sung by the "Four Jets," who were members of the old New York Jets. I think it was Jim Turner, Bake Turner, Don Maynard and somebody I don't remember. Maybe it was Pete Lammons or George Sauer, Jr. Or Richard Caster.

Anyway, the ditty was sung to the tune of Johnny Nash's "Hold Me Tight," and it featured one of the worst lyrics of all-time:

Mix it with a little water,

and it holds just like it oughta

Baby, that's the score, that's the score, that's the score.

Not that it matters, but I just wanted to see if anybody else remembered when a little dab would do ya'.