UNLV gives new AD Desiree Reed-Francois full control

On Monday, I finished reading the latest novel by esteemed sports writer Dan Jenkins. It’s called “Stick a Fork in Me.”

The protagonist is a college athletic director named Pete Wallace, who leads Western Ohio University, situated on the banks of the Shackayooka River, from the Mid-Continent Conference into the Big Ten with the help of a winsome female deputy AD named Rita Jo Foster.

On Tuesday, UNLV announced the hiring of Desiree Reed-Francois, who had been a winsome deputy athletic director at Virginia Tech (and a bunch of other places), as its new AD. How’s that for coincidence?

In addition to receiving a nice salary, it also was revealed DRF will have full control of her new school’s football stadium and basketball arena, whereas TKM — predecessor Tina Kunzer-Murphy — did not.

Because fundraising has slowed to a trickle and the football team stinks — it winds up costing millions, instead of raking them in — UNLV must rely on U2 concerts and Monster Truck races and other revenue produced by Sam Boyd Stadium and the Thomas & Mack Center to offset a $5 million budget deficit.

The facilities and athletic program sometimes run independent of each other. This is mostly because when the ADs are put in charge of the stadium and the arena they underperform, and any reserves they generate quickly get depleted to balance the budget.

At which time the AD — in homage to Dan Jenkins’ novel, we’ll call him Hike Mamrick — usually takes a deep bow in the name of fiscal responsibility, though the facilities people and the basketball team (at least when the Rebels were winning) deserve much of the credit.

But last season, the UNLV basketball team went 11-21. Attendance was as embarrassing as the Rebels’ record.

T-Mobile Arena is now in the mix for U2 concerts, and the Monster Truck people no doubt are eyeing the domed stadium that will be built for the NFL’s Raiders.

And unlike the Western Ohio Cheetahs in Dan Jenkins’ novel, the UNLV football team is nowhere close to vying for a berth in the Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake Mix Sugar Bowl opposite Auburn.

So here’s wishing Desiree Reed-Francois heaps of good luck, and that she doesn’t get stuck with a fork.

Climate controlled BP?

Here’s a thought: When the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority transfers ownership of Cashman Field to the city on June 1 — at which time the city is expected to shut down the convention area connected to the ballpark — why not string up some nets and set up a pitching machine and turn it into a climate controlled batting cage for the 51s?

It would be a great use of idle space. And then the next time a wind storm uproots trees on the right-field berm, it won’t matter if they come crashing down on the rickety outdoor batting cage at Cashman.

It also could be a money maker.

After the 51s are done taking their licks, they could put in one of those coin-operated machines in the climate controlled batting cage and make the dreaded Fresno Grizzlies pump quarters in to use it.

Sullivan gets a ‘C’

Joe Sullivan, one of three Las Vegans who played NCAA Division I hockey this season, has been named captain at St. Lawrence University — the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a player by his coaches and teammates.

“Joe Sullivan is a heart and soul type of player,” Saints coach Mark Morris said in a statement. “He has earned the respect of his peers, the coaching staff and those closely connected to our Saints hockey program. He will be an excellent captain.”

Sullivan posted career highs in goals (12), assists (15) and points (27) for St. Lawrence, which finished fourth in the East Coast Hockey Association behind Harvard, Union and Cornell.

o:o1

Channel 8’s Chris Maathuis showed a highlight of Bishop Gorman product Joey Gallo hitting a long home run for Texas against the A’s the other night, during which he referred to the Oakland Coliseum as “the temporary home of the Las Vegas Raiders.”

Well played, Maathuis. Well played.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.