Unassuming Maddux strikes out flashy competition for athlete title

      They have two of the most recognizable faces in sports.
      Yet, of all the famous athletes -- amateur and professional -- who have at one time called Las Vegas home, they rank but second and third, respectively, behind someone so unassuming, so modest in appearance you could easily confuse him with your tax accountant or insurance agent.
      Pity Mike Tyson and Andre Agassi when they seek a peaceful night out on the town. It's an impossibility, of course, what with the swarm of autograph-seekers and junior shutterbugs hounding them at every turn.
      Not so for Greg Maddux.
      The former Valley High School standout-cum-four-time Cy Young Award winner for the Atlanta Braves is so nondescript that he can actually take in a UNLV basketball game without drawing a queue of fans to his Thomas & Mack Center seat.
      Perhaps it's that normality -- no entourages, no posses; simply, no predisposition to self-importance -- that makes Maddux such a natural to be named Top Impact Athlete With Local Ties in this year's Best of Las Vegas Publisher's Picks.
      Our panel of experts voted him an easy winner over both the former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion and the winner of three of professional tennis's four Grand Slam events.
      Criteria for being selected mandated the athletes fulfill one or more of the following requirements:
      (a) Born in Las Vegas;
      (b) Competed in Las Vegas-area high school sports;
      (c) Competed for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas;
      (d) Resided in Las Vegas while competing professionally.
      Athletes who have retired to Las Vegas after their careers were over were not considered.
      Maddux, the right-handed pitcher who won the National League's Cy Young Award four consecutive seasons (1992-96) qualified both as a local prep standout and as a current resident of Las Vegas.
      "Greg's such an unassuming, good, humble guy. He's the kind of superstar you wish all of them were," says Don Logan, general manager of the Las Vegas Stars Baseball Club.
      "And he epitomizes what a professional pitcher is all about. He doesn't overpower people, like (Roger) Clemens or (Randy) Johnson. He's smart; he's always one step ahead of everybody.
      "It's hard to be as dominant as he's been for as long as he's been without a 98-mph fastball."
      To professional play-by-play announcer Ken Korach, "it was a real tough decision between Nos. 2 and 3 (in the balloting). But No. 1 was an easy choice."
      "The argument can be made, and a poll of fans in the Oakland Tribune last summer backed it up, that Greg is the greatest right-handed pitcher of all time," explains Korach, the radio voice of the UNLV basketball team by winter and one of the voices of the Oakland Athletics by summer.
      "But I think one thing that really stands out about Greg is that he hasn't sought the public spotlight. He hasn't gone after the Madison Avenue-type endorsements."
      Whether you're a fan of the second-place finisher in this category, there's no denying the notoriety Tyson brings with him every time he steps into the ring. Now making his home in Phoenix, "Iron Mike" lived part time in Las Vegas during part of his reign as heavyweight champion. He's in the process of selling the Las Vegas home.
      "By definition, the heavyweight champion of the world (as Tyson once was), is the most visible athlete in the world," Korach offers. "For better or for worse, he lived here, he fought here, he was suspended here (for biting the ears of Evander Holyfield in 1997) and he was relicensed here."
      Logan cites the attention Tyson continues to bring to Las Vegas during his second career comeback.
      "I would say he's certainly as well known as anyone in the world, in or out of sports," Logan says. "Unfortunately, a lot of it is for the wrong reasons."
      For tennis superstar and pop icon Andre Agassi, who grew up in Las Vegas and still calls the city home, the acclaim has come both in and out of the sports arena. Best known for winning the Australian Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon -- the French Open is the only Grand Slam event to escape him -- Agassi also is one of the world's most recognizable sports celebrities from his numerous commercial endorsements.
      And then there's the Andre Agassi Foundation, a charitable organization that each fall stages a benefit concert featuring a variety of entertainment luminaries. The shining star of the foundation's work was the construction of a Boys & Girls Club facility in north-central Las Vegas in 1997.
      The foundation also has contributed to Child Haven, a local facility for troubled youth.
      "I think Andre stands for all the good things this city is about," says Bill McGee, president of the Southern Nevada Officials Association and follower of youth activities in the area since 1986. "Certainly, he is one athlete who demonstrates that Las Vegas is a good place to be from and to live."
      Agassi also is one of those rare athletes whose popularity has transcended the game.
      "He had a mercurial rise, a precipitous fall and now he's climbing back up to the top," Korach says. "But no matter where he's been in his career, he's always been the face of the sport. Young and old alike know who Andre Agassi is."
      Rounding out the top five are two former UNLV athletes, football quarterback Randall Cunningham and basketball forward Reggie Theus.
      Cunningham completed a stellar Rebel career as the school's all-time pass-yardage leader (8,020 yards over three seasons, 1982-84). He went on to a modest career with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, but, following a brief retirement, he returned to the professional ranks last season and this year was the driving force in the Minnesota Vikings' charge to the NFC Championship Game.
      Cunningham owns and operates a local tile company in the off-season.
      Theus, meanwhile, led UNLV to the NCAA Final Four in 1977 and went on to play with six teams in the NBA. He's currently a color analyst for college basketball telecasts and frequently can be seen courtside at the Thomas & Mack, working UNLV games.
      The poll's second five consists of current Senior PGA Tour star Jim Colbert, former UNLV basketball forward Larry Johnson, one-time UNLV baseball infielder Matt Williams, former Western High School football running back Frank Hawkins and former Rancho High School baseball infielder Marty Barrett.
      Colbert, at 58 the oldest athlete on the list, was the season earnings leader on the Senior PGA Tour in 1995 and '96 when he won a combined nine tournaments and pulled in more than $3 million. His career has been hampered by a number of injuries to his back and one knee, and he also underwent surgery for a cancerous prostate.
      "Jim's story is an amazing one," explains Keith Kleven, a nationally acclaimed athletic trainer and physical therapist who has had a Las Vegas practice since 1973. "Through lifestyle changes and being more disciplined, Jim has made the Senior Tour a personal success.
      "Wherever I go now, working with the likes of Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara, people know who Jim Colbert is."
      Johnson, meanwhile, played only two seasons for UNLV but led the Rebels to the 1990 NCAA Championship. During his career, in which he averaged 21.6 points, the Rebels were 69-6. He has gone on to play professionally -- albeit, with marginal success -- in the NBA with the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks.
      Williams ranks as UNLV's all-time home run leader with 58 over three seasons (1984-86), and he finished with a career batting average of .327 with 217 RBIs. He since has gone on to distinguish himself as the smooth-fielding, power-hitting third baseman with the San Francisco Giants and, now, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
      Hawkins' football career began in Las Vegas' Pop Warner system and continued through Western High School, the University of Nevada, Reno, and into the NFL with the Raiders' organization, where he played in Super Bowl XVIII.
      Upon his retirement from football, he served on the Las Vegas City Council and now operates the Community Development Program Center, a nonprofit venture committed to spurring economic resurgence in impoverished areas of the city.
      In 1997, Hawkins, whose 5,333 career rushing yards at UNR ranks fourth all-time in NCAA history behind Ricky Williams (Texas), Tony Dorsett (Pittsburgh) and Charles White (Southern California), was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
      Barrett was a talented infielder at Rancho High School who parlayed his skills into a quick rise in the Boston Red Sox organization.
      He went on to an All-Star career as a second baseman with the Red Sox, including being named Most Valuable Player of the 1986 American League Championship Series. Upon his retirement, he returned to Las Vegas where he now works recreationally with the city's youth. A local Little League chapter is named after him.