At UNLV athletic apparel sale, some items more used than others

En route to the biennial UNLV Athletic Apparel Sale on Saturday morning, I couldn’t help but notice the giant billboard blocking out the sun in the manner of a solar eclipse.

On the billboard were photos of a UNLV baseball player and softball player, and the words: SCARLET. GRAY. EVERY DAY.

Only the players on the billboard were wearing all-black uniforms.

Suffice it to say that Don Draper and his “Mad Men” — and Peggy Olson — were not responsible for the current Rebels marketing campaign.

Yes, there were some black baseball jerseys at the big UNLV garage sale in the North Gym at the McDermott Physical Education Complex on campus. And some tan and plaid Bermuda shorts that must have been golf team hand-me-downs. But most of the game-worn stuff available was scarlet and gray.

So I had come to the right place; so had about 300 others who began lining up 45 minutes before doors were opened.

It sort of reminded me of the queues at Apple stores when the new iPhones come out, except some of the people in line were older than 19.

Having developed something of a nostalgia fetish, I arrived early myself. I was hoping to acquire a leather football helmet commemorating UNLV’s last winning football season.

There were dozens of game-worn jerseys from virtually every UNLV sport. Except swimming. I didn’t spot any game-worn Speedos.

Almost all of the stuff was in excellent condition, with the exception of the football jerseys the Rebels wore against Northern Arizona last season. Those had a lot of artificial grass stains on the back.

Everything was reasonably priced — $25 for a game-worn jersey, pick your sport. (Except swimming.) Football cleats that had never been worn, boxes and boxes of them, went for $25, too. Way cheaper than Foot Locker.

I did find some baseball jerseys with the WAC and Big West logos on the shoulder, some dating to the Fred Dallimore era, that could’ve used some fabric softener during the rinse cycle.

I couldn’t find any football jerseys from the Harvey Hyde era of UNLV football. I was told those were stolen by Harvey’s players years ago.

“It’s not often you get a chance to come and get a piece of what the players wear,” said Cody McLemore, a 2010 UNLV grad who was sporting a Brooklyn Dodgers T-shirt that may or may not once have been property of Van Lingle Mungo.

Or what the mascots wear. McLemore had in his hand a white UNLV basketball jersey with No. 57 on front and back. This was a jersey game-worn by Hey Reb, the UNLV mascot. It also was a collector’s item, one of the few UNLV basketball jerseys for sale.

“We can’t sell them because they have the players’ names on back,” said Jerry Koloskie, UNLV’s senior associate athletic director.

That would be against NCAA rules. And knowing the NCAA, if you even tried to enter the checkout lanes with an H Waldman jersey, or even a Bryan Emerzian, sirens would have gone off, like when the salesgirl at JCPenney forgets to remove the plastic anti-theft device from a pair of Dockers.

I asked Koloskie about the game-worn Speedos. He feigned ignorance.

Paul Pucciarelli, the UNLV football equipment manager since the leather helmet days — actually, he’s been at it 28 years, it just seems longer — said he wouldn’t miss much of the stuff with the Nike swooshes, and the Russell Athletic logo, that had been hermetically sealed (or at least locked up) in huge storage sheds on campus.

“Move it, pack it, unpack it, repack it, unpack it, store it ...”

Maybe this old sports gear has sentimental value for UNLV supporters. To Pucciarelli, it’s mostly stuff that smells of 305-pound offensive tackles, and Fresno, Calif., when it’s hot and humid outside.

When I asked Pooch about the game-worn Speedos, he, too, sent me on my way.

A little while later, while an XL female shopper held up a Rebel Girl leotard to her torso that looked no bigger than an M, I bumped into Rocky Rutledge, the UNLV basketball equipment guy mostly responsible for the old jersey sale. Rutledge said $36,000 was raised the last time UNLV held one two years ago.

Old Man and Big Hoss and Chumlee down at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop would be duly impressed. They also would duly offer $15 for the 1998 Mike Zipser Hustlin’ Rebels baseball jersey you just paid $25 for, and then sell it for $75 at the store.

But the people to whom I spoke were delighted to be taking home a small part of UNLV’s sporting past at an affordable price. Even if it wasn’t the smallest part of that sporting past.

When I asked about the game-worn Speedos, Rutledge said they aren’t exactly like traveling pants in a sisterhood.

“There are just some things you can’t sell after they’ve been worn,” he said.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.