Winner to have luck of draw
If only it could be decided by a martini-drinking contest, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman would crush Reno Mayor Bob Cashell like so many other cocktails left in hizzoner's wake.
But in an only-in-Nevada showdown, the winner of the deadlocked 8-8 season series between the 51s and Reno Aces Triple-A baseball teams -- dubbed the Silver State Diamond Challenge -- will be decided by the draw of a card.
Goodman and Cashell will square off at 3 p.m. Monday at home plate at Aces Ballpark in Reno to draw from a deck of cards.
The mayor who draws the highest card will lay claim to the inaugural SSDC title and trophy -- a replica of home plate made of Nevada silver -- for his city's team.
The losing mayor also will wear the winning team's jersey for an entire day of business, including a city council meeting, and rumor has it he'll also have to ply the winning mayor with a bottle of his favorite libation.
With a bottle of his beloved gin on the line, we're guessing Goodman will offer to use his own deck of cards for the event.
• LOCOS LOGO NOT LOCO -- The fledgling United Football League officially unveiled its helmet art and team logos Friday for its four franchises, including the Las Vegas Locomotives, or Locos, which means "crazies" in Spanish.
But the Locos logo isn't loco at all. The word "Locos" is emblazoned simply on the side of the helmet, in a style that faintly resembles a locomotive.
The league stated the logo "was developed to illustrate the convergence of Las Vegas' origins as a railroad town and its evolution into the entertainment capital of the world. An abstraction of a steam engine cattle catcher meeting the current excitement of the city today, the Locos' logo reflects the spirit of 'getting a little wild in Vegas.' "
Perhaps the UFL should've called itself the Loco Football League, because it has to be crazy to believe it can succeed against high school, college and NFL football, the baseball playoffs and the start of the NHL and NBA seasons.
• THE NEXT NOSTRADAMUS? -- Gamblers searching for a winner might want to contact former Seattle Mariners third baseman Mike Blowers, who correctly made an amazing prediction this week before Seattle's 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
During a "Picks to Click" segment broadcast before Sunday's game, Blowers not only predicted Mariners rookie Matt Tuiasosopo would hit his first big league home run, but that it would come on a fastball on a 3-and-1 count in his second at-bat and land in the upper deck in left field.
Incredibly, Tuiasosopo did launch his first homer deep to left field on a fastball on a 3-and-1 count in his second at-bat of the game. You can listen to the exciting call on Shannon Drayer's blog at www.mynorthwest.com.
• REF LEAVES YELLOW CARD ON FIELD -- Middle East soccer referee Massimo Busacca has attracted attention recently for all the wrong reasons. Less than a week after receiving a three-match suspension for making an obscene gesture to the crowd, he urinated on the field in the middle of a televised pro soccer match in Qatar.
No word if he received a yellow card for his actions.
COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
