Norm! column

March 25, 2006

NFL and LV don't mix, Miller says
[hear the full Dennis Miller interview by clicking here]

Comedian Dennis Miller sides with the NFL in its anti-Las Vegas stance, saying it's "a very cold, calculating and probably an astute business decision."

The former "Monday Night Football" commentator said the National Football League is "obviously the most successful sports league in the history of the planet."

"I don't think they want to trifle with it and get their Black Sox scandal," Miller said in an interview with Steve Friess and Miles Smith, co-hosts of "The Strip" podcast (www.stevefriess.com/podcast/).

Miller said the NFL can't afford "to have an overlap between professional gamblers and players in that city because it might sully the image of the product."

The NFL has cracked down on Super Bowl parties at Las Vegas casinos, has disallowed use of the term Super Bowl in advertising, refused to air commercials promoting Las Vegas tourism during the Super Bowl and refused to air other commercials that even mention Las Vegas.

From Miller's perspective, that "seems like a very cold, calculating and probably an astute business decision."

He added, "Let's face facts. There's also some characters in Las Vegas who would no doubt try to meet the players and no doubt try to get some information."

Miller, who appears at the MGM Grand April 13-17, was asked to comment on the Elton John blowup at the October 2004 Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children event, when John slammed Miller for his political commentary.

"What I gather, he's a bit of a peevish fellow to begin with. ... I think his MO is to be a bit of a crank once in a while."

When it comes to politics, he said, "as somebody who's actually been on the right political spectrum and the left political spectrum in their lifetime -- and I think I'm in a position to judge -- I can tell you the left is pissier and meaner."  

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