What about Bob?

I could tell a few stories about Bob Stupak. But I'm afraid they'd be misplaced so soon after his passing. Instead, I'll just say the Las Vegas Strip today is minus one piece of what has become a complete fruit-'n-nut basket of casino executives, proving you can dress up gamblers in fancy suits, make them accountable to shareholders and the SEC and let their casinos be traded on Wall Street.

But the truth is you really can't take the eccentricity out of the gaming industry. Public or private, Las Vegas continues to be home to one of the odder collections of business folk and public officials in the world.

Even in that crowd, Bob Stupak stood out.

Let's just take a moment to remember that Bob started building the Stratosphere, the tallest building in Las Vegas, with what was essentially his glorified casino custodial crew. One-third of the way up, it became clear to all who could see the horizon that one of the darned legs was crooked. The Review-Journal ran a story that showed who might get hit if the hotel were completed and then fell straight over.

Bob liked the story. "Review-Journal predicts Stratosphere will be built!"

Perfect.