Columnist Dean Juipe: New league has no shot in Las Vegas

NO ONE likes to be ridiculed or made fun of in public.

Face it, it's embarrassing. Plus it doesn't do your blood pressure any good.

So to the three or four local businessmen who supposedly are considering investing in the Las Vegas franchise in the new International Basketball League, turn away now. Go to another story. Or flip the page.

Just don't read any further. OK?

OK. They're gone. Now the truth can be told.

And here it is: They're crazy. Fools. Blessed with more money than sense.

They think a city that barely tolerates minor-league sports is going to support still another minor-league endeavor? They think the people of Las Vegas will buy season tickets to see players who aren't good enough for the NBA or promising enough for the CBA?

They think even UNLV's staunchest fans will continue paying to see ex-Rebels like Warren Rosegreen, Dexter Boney and Sunshine Smith ad infinitum?

Regional has-beens. That's what the IBL is all about. That and perhaps serving as a massive tax writeoff for league founder Art Cipriani Jr. and anyone he can persuade to spring for a franchise fee and buy into the IBL concept.

Apparently three or four Las Vegans are contemplating picking up the Las Vegas franchise, but even their front man, Doug Sanderson, said "going down and putting $1,000 on 'red' might be more advantageous than investing in this."

If Doug were still reading here, he and his buddies could take this advice: Play the wheel or craps or a hand of blackjack, because any of those inherently risky games promise a better return than sinking multiple millions into the IBL.

The league has almost no chance of succeeding and drawing an average crowd of 4,000 -- which it says it needs to break even -- in Las Vegas.

Casinos aren't going to back it and the town's sports fans are zealous only when it comes to following (and betting on) the big pro sports and maybe the UNLV basketball team when all is well. As for the minor leagues, the baseball Stars and the hockey Thunder are accepted but definitely not embraced and never will be.

That goes double for a new entity like the IBL.

This is a league that simultaneously introduced itself Tuesday to eight U.S. communities, seven of which -- Albuquerque, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, San Diego, Tampa and Richmond -- have franchise owners. Las Vegas does not, so the league will finance the team if Sanderson's group doesn't ante up.

"This is a city where we're positive we'll be successful," said the pleasant but much too optimistic IBL president Thaxter Trafton. As for Las Vegas' many failures when it comes to professional sports teams, Trafton said "don't think I haven't thought about it ... (but) things have changed."

No they haven't. Not enough to keep this franchise afloat, if it does get off the ground when the IBL's initial season debuts in November of '99.

Sanderson put it at "50-50" his group would buy the Las Vegas franchise, calling the IBL concept "new, fun, exciting." But this is a man who referred to the Stars as the "second or third most successful minor-league baseball franchise in the country" in spite of the fact 20 of the 30 triple-A baseball teams have a higher average attendance than the Stars.

So he's not quite seeing things straight.

But he did latch on to one interesting notion, that Jerry Tarkanian could be induced into coaching the IBL team here. That would be a marketing plus.

Yet even that's not enough, given the franchise as it presently stands probably can't afford to play at the Thomas & Mack Center and might even rotate its 32 home games to three sites around town.

They say the team will hold a contest to choose a nickname, so here's an early entry: the Las Vegas Homeless Paupers. Or the Las Vegas Recycled Rebs.

Actually, what the IBL seems to be one day into its formal existence is the subject of a college thesis or term paper. The IBL press packet that was distributed makes references to such well-rounded programs as Rookie Orientation, Life Readiness, Community Service and Career Counseling.

There are also promises of affordable tickets, centralized management, salary caps and shared travel expenses for the eight widely scattered although hardly international teams.

Everything is very idealistic.

It's just not practical, at least in Las Vegas.

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