Editor’s note: The following column from the Best of West collection was originally published in the Port Arthur News on May 11, 2005.



Sometimes in this thankless profession, it is necessary to make personal sacrifices to stay on the cutting edge in terms of delivering inside stuff for readers of the Port Arthur News.

I’ve always prided myself on being willing to make those sacrifices, no matter the inconvenience.

Whether it be enduring the long flight to Maui, and ensuing jet lag, to cover Lamar’s basketball team, or dealing with the pushing and shoving media mobs to write about Jimmy Johnson and the Cowboys at Super Bowls,  or battling the fatigue that goes with climbing the hills at Augusta National in search of Masters columns, I’ve consistently been willing to pay the price.

So it was when Lamar University basketball coach Billy Tubbs first broached the subject of the Nike Championship Basketball Clinic he was doing in Las Vegas. The Nike lineup included coaching heavyweights like Jim Boehm of Syracuse, Jim Calhoun of Connecticut, Tom Izzo of Michigan State and Bob Huggins of Cincinnati.

Tubbs thought I might be interested in checking out some of the lectures, as well as continuing our grudge battles that take place almost weekly on area golf courses. The way he figured it, there would be ample time to get in three rounds on quality venues, check out Steve Wynn’s lavish new casino and enjoy the Vegas atmosphere.

Anybody who has been to Sin City lately knows Tubbs was asking me to subject myself to pure torture. The place has become so popular it’s wall-to-wall people, bumper-to-bumper traffic at all hours and prices on everything spiraling out of control. And the mere thought of running the gauntlet of humanity at McCarran International Airport on a Sunday afternoon is flat depressing.

After weighing the pros and cons for a good 30 seconds, I caved in. Although it meant postponing a spring project to clean out the garage, duty called.  Besides, maybe this would be the time where I would hit the big one.

Except for arriving with a case of food poisoning, or its first cousin, the trip was well worth the sacrifice. I didn’t lose any money in the casinos, we played three terrific golf courses — TPC at The Canyons, Bear’s Best and Reflection Bay —, the clinic was an eye opener and I made a bet that will shock those who think I don’t like Jethro and the Cowboys.

In the Mirage Sports Book, the odds against Dallas winning the Super Bowl are 30-1. They probably should be higher. But, in light of the overall mediocrity of the NFL, the trouble Terrell Owens is stirring up in Philadelphia and the free agents Dallas has added, I bought a $50 win ticket on the Cowboys.

Sure, it’s a long shot, although not a long as the horse that won the Kentucky Derby. No, I don’t have much faith in Drew Bledsoe as a championship quarterback. However, in a league where an unproven Jake  Delhomme can take Carolina from 1-15 to the Super Bowl, anything is possible.

For a $1,500 payout on $50, why not?

Vegas, meanwhile, was just flat mind blowing, as it always is. What’s happened on the strip in the past 10 years is staggering. The one-upmanship of extravagant new casino hotels never stops. The Venetian, Mandalay Bay, Paris, The Palms, MGM Grand, ever-expanding Caesars Palace and now Wynn. Wow!

The more casinos that are built in places outside Nevada, from Lake Charles to Biloxi to Atlantic City, the bigger and busier Vegas seems to get. Despite the naysayers and the doomsday predictions, Vegas, as well as communities with casinos, is prospering as never before.

Lead headline in last Thursday’s Las Vegas Review-Journal — Gaming Industry Touts Influence —  alluded to a survey done by Peter D. Hart Research Associates of Washington D.C., one of the leading political polling companies in the nation. The gist of the story was that 79 percent of civic leaders and elected officials surveyed believe casinos have a positive impact on their communities.

It pointed out that 445 nontribal casinos in 11 states generated nearly $29 billion in gross gambling revenue, a growth of 7 percent over the previous year. It also showed the industry contributing more than $4.7 billion in direct gambling taxes in 2004, while directly employing 350,000 people who earned $12.2 billion last year.

Good thing us Texans are righteous enough to fight off such ill-gotten gains.

But back to Tubbs and the Nike Clinic. My impression going in was that Billy and others would be lecturing to a gathering of coaches in a large meeting room of some sort, with a blackboard and video screen for props. How naive.

The only thing I was right about was the large room. This particular large room — a ballroom in the Paris Hotel — contained a full size basketball court, bleachers that went 27 rows high baseline-to-baseline and also had several rows of chair seating around the court.

Picture that in your mind. Also picture 3,000 or so coaches, mostly high school and junior college, taking notes while Tubbs delivered 75 nonstop minutes of insight into his philosophy on the full court and half court press.

His props were not a blackboard and video but 10 former college players deployed on the court. Tubbs moved them around like pawns on a chess board, explaining his rules of implementation and where the defensive players should go in relation to the offensive players in various scenarios.

The miked-up LU boss, with his wry sense of humor, delivered a segment that was not only technically informative but highly entertaining. Once, after the press paid off with a steal and layup, he couldn’t resist jumping in when the defensive player picked up the ball and handed it to the offensive player in-bounding.

“Stop,” he shouted. “Why did you pick the ball up for them? Don’t be nice. You’re out there to kick his ass. You have to be vicious.”

It was much the same take-no-prisioner attitude he unleashed on me after the food-poisioning episode. Not only wouldn’t he hear of me staying in bed the next day, he insisted on his usual three holes-a-side- spot. With me hovering near death, he beat me like a dog at the TPC Canyons.

I got it all back, plus $5, the next day at Bear’s Best, while he cussed the course architect — Jack Nicklaus. We broke even on day three at Reflection Bay, another gorgeous Nicklaus design, only because I played my tail off and shot 77.

Yeah, being a sports editor is a tough job but somebody has to do it.

Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net.