July 27, 2007 * THE STRIP SENSE

News Flash: Vegas NOT under attack in NBA mess

By STEVE FRIESS

I keep reading in the Review-Journal and the Sun day after day this week about how Las Vegas is under attack amid the National Basketball Association referee scandal. Several columnists have piped up with impassioned, well-reasoned defenses of our fair town against those narrow-minded idiots who would point to this mess as further proof that neither the NBA nor any major sports franchise ought to settle here.

Except I've been searching all over the Internet today to name some of these schmucks and respond directly to their condemnations. While I don't believe Las Vegas should bother with a major league team for many reasons, the fact that this is the American capital of legal sports betting is not one of them.

And yet, with all due respect to the bloviating, indignant local columnists, here's the thing: I could really only find one columnist aggressively bashing Vegas in connection to the saga of referee Tim Donaghy, who is under FBI investigation on accusations he bet on basketball games with private bookies. Newsday's Ken Berger kneejerked that the first thing NBA Commissioner David Stern ought to do was "wipe Las Vegas off the NBA map for good." That is, no All-Star games, no summer retreats and certainly no team. Then he goes on to defeat his own point by acknowledging that it is ubiquitous illegal, not legal, sports betting that brought on this disaster. So whatever.

Other than Berger, a Google News search of "Vegas Donaghy NBA team " found quite the opposite of what you'd expect if you were reading the defensiveness in our local press. A USA Today piece by Chuck Johnson titled "Donaghy scandal could hurt Vegas' team quest" was especially strange as it featured a lead claiming "the wisdom of putting an NBA franchise in this gambling city is a split decision among officials and fans." That was followed, though, by not a single source saying Vegas shouldn't have a team on account of this scandal. The closest in there was MGM Mirage veep Alan Feldman restating his company's longstanding belief that the city doesn't need a team. Feldman, ironically, seems to be saying that he'd rather the NBA not taint Vegas - not the other way around!

Similarly, there was a New York Daily News piece by Mitch Lawrence that assessed the damage to Vegas' chances in light of the Donaghy debacle. It's a very short piece. There is an unnamed official at the very end of the piece that says he thinks it may hurt, but the headline is actually "Source: 'No impact' on Vegas' NBA future" because another unnamed source felt that way.

On the other hand, there seems to be a reasoned chorus of influential columnists who are effectively poking any holes that need to be poked in the notion that this fiasco should reflect badly on Sin City. Frank DeFord of Sports Illustrated, responding to that idea, wrote: "That's so cockeyed because Vegas is the very vaccination against sports fixing. The instant odd amounts of money come in on any team, Vegas goes on the alert and advises the authorities. (NBA commissioner David Stern said Tuesday that it was his understanding that Donaghy didn't bet legally in Las Vegas.)"

And Marcus Thompson II of the Contra Costa Times went even further: "People are going to gamble, even some officials, and the best way to keep an eye on their habits is to let them gamble openly. Obviously, betting on basketball is a no-no, even outlawing all sports wagering makes sense. But at least let 'em blow a few grand in Las Vegas, let 'em roll the dice in Atlantic City. The NBA can set up a system where officials can report their gambling activity, so it will all be on record. That way, they aren't forced into being secretive and conniving. Would you rather have Donaghy satisfy his gambling appetite at a poker tournament at Palms-Las Vegas, or on the Villanova-St. John's game with Lucky Lenny?"

Sure, Stern canceled this Monday's meeting to discuss the possible Vegas franchise. Don't take it personally; Mayor Oscar Goodman isn't. Stern does, uh, have more pressing issues to deal with. And we couldn't host a team right now even if we wanted to, not until there's a suitable stadium.

So chill out, boys. (And in our local sports media, it's all boys.) We're not under attack. I know, I know. It's far more interesting to write such defensive drivel. Only problem is, by and large the national media is showing great respect or Vegas in all this. Given Vegas' history, that - and not a few illogical nuts - ought to be the headline here.

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