Sunday, April 5, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Oh, for the good old days.
If we are doing what Gov. Steve Sisolak and common sense are telling us, those of us who are considered “nonessential” — how’s that for summing up our lives in this grand scheme of things — are staying home for Nevada.
That means we have a lot of time to do what we have been putting off for years and to consider what we will be doing when this pandemic decides to move on and out of our lives. Some of that consideration will have to include how we will live going forward differently from days before COVID-19, what is important to keep from the past and how to prioritize what should be important moving ahead.
That’s the heavy part. There are lighter moments too. Like this past Thursday when I received a screen shot from the Las Vegas Sun’s managing editor, Ray Brewer, of the front page of the Sun from 30 years ago.
The headline, in big, bold red ink declared, “JUST DID IT!” Underneath some action pictures of the UNLV Rebel basketball team was another headline, “REBELS RUN AWAY WITH NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP.”
I remember — as do many Las Vegans who made the trip to Denver or made it to their living rooms in front of televisions sets across not only Southern Nevada but the entire country that had caught Rebel fever — the rout imposed on Duke by the Runnin’ Rebels.
Anderson Hunt, Stacey Augmon, Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, David Butler and the rest of what many claim was the most talented and athletic college hoops team in history buried Duke by 30 points and put UNLV and Las Vegas at the top of everyone’s mind.
That was 30 years ago!
A lot has happened since then and, of course, a lot hasn’t happened. Like another national championship or even a hint of one, which includes an invitation to the dance in the last too many years. Hear that, T.J. Otzelberger, no pressure!
But just like the hope that filled our hearts and minds during that magical season, Las Vegas still remembers what winning feels like.
We had a touch of that feeling when the Vegas Golden Knights made history and almost won a Stanley Cup their first season out on the ice of T-Mobile Arena. And with Allegiant Stadium still under construction and racing toward a deadline that we may or may not make because of the coronavirus shutdown, the potential for more championships from Las Vegas teams looms large.
And let's not forget our Aces, Lights and Aviators. We have come a long way since those heady days just 30 years ago when the UNLV Rebels were pretty much all we had. So as we look ahead, well past the time of coronavirus, when all is well with the world and right with Las Vegas, there is much to look forward to when it comes to teams to cheer for, players to follow and sports to take our minds away from everyday life.
All we have to do — and, of course all the rest of the country has to do — is stay down, stay away and stay healthy. And cheer for our real heroes, the superstars of this awful time of coronavirus.
Those people are the men and women on the front lines of this championship game against a very difficult and deadly opponent — COVID-19.
Thirty years from now, when someone pulls up a headline from this time and this place — hopefully it will be from the Las Vegas Sun — the words will be that we “just did it” and the pictures and stories will be of the doctors and nurses, the other medical personnel and first responders who put the health of others ahead of their own well-being.
Those stories and pictures will be about the delivery drivers and those who stocked the shelves of our grocery stores. And they will be about the people who showed up for the fight and the leaders who showed us the way.
And, yes, they will be about the credible news organizations that provided the truth about this virus, giving the people what they needed to win this fight.
As we think about what is important in our lives going forward, think about the importance of the people who are doing their best to get us there.
And, yes, think about that next championship!
Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun
