Ron Kantowski
Ron Kantowski is a sports columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, covering a variety of topics and the Las Vegas sports scene.
rkantowski@reviewjournal.com … @ronkantowski on Twitter. 702-383-0352
For the first time, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half-Marathon was held at night, under the bright lights of the Strip. Participation increased from 28,000 runners to 44,000.
Let’s see, there are those crop circles, Stonehenge, the Mayan Prophecy, Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, Julia Roberts’ marriage to Lyle Lovett and Arizona State never seeming to win in the sports that count.
It was a few seconds past 5 p.m. Monday in the Rush Tower lobby of the Golden Nugget downtown. Boise State football coach Chris Petersen and his Arizona State counterpart, the soon-to-be-unemployed Dennis Erickson, were smiling for the traditional photo one always sees before bowl games, the one with the team helmets and the trophy in the foreground. At least this time, the showgirls stayed home.
It was just a coincidence that I downloaded “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” author Tom Wolfe’s first book of essays, onto my Kindle on the eve of learning I would be covering NASCAR Champion’s Week.
Only 11 days ago, Tony Stewart won his third NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, racing from the back of the pack twice, passing 118 cars on the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami oval. It was 15 years ago that Stewart finished second by 0.086 seconds in the inaugural Indy Racing League event at Walt Disney World Speedway. But a star was born.
