When they turn out the lights and flip on the film, when they begin to dissect a 33-27 overtime loss to a beatable San Jose State side on Saturday night, UNLV football coaches will likely come to this conclusion: They just might have gotten the most Kurt Palandech could offer.
The tweet was sent Sunday evening from the account of UNLV football, a picture of players under dark skies and bright lights executing practice drills. The attached message was simple.
Dantley Walker has departed UNLV for a land of mangoes and guava and cooling trade winds, for a Division II program in Chaminade whose history is defined by one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history.
Lori Harrigan-Mack, former UNLV softball star and three-time Olympic gold medalist, gets back into shape on “The Biggest Loser: Glory Days.” And former Eldorado lineman Howard “Woody” Carter also takes the challenge.
If a mirror is in the football coaching offices at UNLV, and I have to believe there is given the egos of men who choose such a profession, those paid to instruct the Rebels should spend this day looking into it.
UNLV’s football team has a man in Bobby Hauck coaching for his job this season and a starting quarterback who is playing like a shaken fighter pilot in “Top Gun.” It’s not the most ideal situation.
When I heard that Gary Player was going to pose naked for ESPN The Magazine’s annual Body Issue, the first thing that came to mind was those cardboard boxes with pinholes the smart kids made in third grade so they could safely view a solar eclipse.
The veteran gambler said it best at halftime: “You knew it was over when you saw the line.”
It’s like watching a television rerun, where you know how things will end, but you sit through the entire show anyway. That’s what UNLV basketball has become on the road against quality opponents.
Justin Hutson remembers the feeling. He was about to enter his senior year of college basketball at Cal State Bakersfield, about to enjoy what he believed would be a season defined by good health and productive results.
