Livengood leaves lasting impression at UNLV

Because of construction at the Thomas & Mack Center, I was forced to take a detour to Jim Livengood’s news conference Wednesday, during which it was revealed he was being forced out as UNLV’s athletic director — er, was quitting to spend more time with his family.

The construction and the detour signs had nothing to do with a new stadium. Were that the case, it’s doubtful Livengood would have been calling a news conference to say he was being forced out — er, was quitting to spend more time with his family.

Were that the case, they’d probably be putting a statue of him alongside the one planned for Jerry Tarkanian.

I wound up parking in a metered lot adjacent to the T&M and a structure called the Surplus Warehouse. No quarters for the meter. So I asked Livengood — in that he wasn’t being forced out/quitting to spend more time with his family until June 30 — if he would take care of my parking citation, should I receive one.

He said no problem, because that is what Livengood always says, being the optimistic sort. (For example, he still thinks a 10-2 football season is just around the corner.) Or, he said, he would just come out there himself and put the citation on the car parked next to mine.

See what Tark started?

During the preceding 40 minutes, Livengood answered tough questions about being forced out/taking the grandkids to Walley World. He wouldn’t speak about his legacy, because he’s humble that way.

He didn’t blame the shortcomings of the football program on the lousy dressing rooms at Sam Boyd Stadium, which was former coach Mike Sanford’s parting shot.

“I hope we are better off now than when I came,” is pretty much all he would say.

I do think UNLV is better off now than when he came, even if the football team can’t beat Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Others might see it differently. I know people who do.

When somebody asked where I’d rank Livengood among the UNLV athletic directors I’ve experienced during my 26 years here, I said second, behind Brad Rothermel. Yeah, maybe it was like this year’s NFL Draft. Mostly linemen.

Now that I think about it, I’d probably rank Livengood tied for second with John Robinson, who briefly wore two hats here. Because nobody could work a roomful of boosters like Robinson. Plus, when Robinson was AD, people actually went to Lady Rebels games.

Livengood spoke of three components by which he believes athletic directors should be measured — athletic, academic and social performance components. But that they mostly wind up being judged by their football and basketball programs. And that was fair, he said, because those are the programs that are visible and produce new library wings.

The Rebels’ collective GPA went way up during his three-plus years, and UNLV has recruited solid citizens. But the football team was 6-31. It has not generated revenue streams, which is why you have a football team.

New revenue streams are vital in cash-strapped times, what with the National Finals Rodeo blowing smoke about moving out of the T&M and into Jerry Jones’ sports castle in Texas when the contract is up like 100 years from now.

And just wait until the T&M is “resold” for basketball, and season-ticket holders are held up for ransom. That day is coming, Livengood says, and when it does, a lot of people are going to be upset. Very upset.

I would take him at his word. I remember one of our first conversations, when he said the Mountain West had a lousy TV deal, and now the MW has a new TV deal. And it’s still not real good, but at least the conference can get back on ESPN if Boise State is winning. Livengood says exposure is important.

That was a far cry from predecessor Mike Hamrick, who resigned with the stain of MW commissioner Craig Thompson’s Kool-Aid all over his shirt.

When somebody asked Livengood what advice he’d offer the new athletic director, he said an envelope was in his desk in which he had outlined goals for a successful athletic program. Things that needed to be addressed. Things that needed to be rectified. Things that required a blank check and Cliff Findlay’s signature.

He said he would take that envelope with him, just in case somebody is looking for a youthful 68-year-old athletic director with oodles of experience when he gets back from Walley World.

As I walked back to the parking lot next to Surplus Warehouse, I was thinking about the little things, which usually is how you remember people when enough time passes and wins and losses become irrelevant.

How Livengood never forgot a name. How when you would show up at a soccer game, or a volleyball match, or at one of the other Olympic sports, he’d usually be there, and he’d usually stay until after halftime, as if he cared.

How sometimes when you wrote something he liked, that usually had little to do with UNLV sports, he’d write an email at 4:15 a.m., telling you so.

Maybe Jim Livengood couldn’t turn around the football program, but at least he got up early to think about it.

So I grabbed the white envelope from under the windshield wiper. I did not put Citation #M30010883 on the windshield of the car parked next to mine.

I decided I would pay the $20 in Jim Livengood’s honor, because he never complained about the lousy dressing rooms.

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