For What Happens In Vegas...

     I traveled cross country with my father in the summer of 1959. I was 8 years old. I had just started playing in the Highland Park Midget League as a second baseman because I was under the age of 9 and quite small (big mistake there--I was born to play the outfield). My mother had just given birth to my sister, Laura, and he needed a break form his general dentistry practice in Edison, New Jersey.

     So off we went--driving across the continental United States as the Interstate Highway System was being built. That meant driving through the hilly roadways of Wheeling, West Virginia; the seemingly endless cities of Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana on U.S. 40, a mostly two lane highway with too many cars, stop lights and enough reasons for my father to curse a blue streak.

     We survived St. Louis and made it through Missouri, stopping at the Mickey Mantle Holiday Inn in Joplin, Missouri where a display showcasing his Triple Crown feats from 1956 was prominently displayed in the lobby. We traversed Oklahoma and crossed a swollen Red River to Wichita Falls, Texas where my father met his former Commanding Officer in the U.S Air Force Dental Corps when he was stationed in Albany, Georgia--my birthplace. I had the best steak I had ever eaten there in Wichita Falls.

     I steered the car in Texas when he used his Bell & Howell zoom lens to shoot pictures of cattle. We went to the Grand Canyon. I actually saw Disneyland in its formative years when it was surrounded by acres of orange groves instead of ballparks, arenas, office buildings and suburban concrete. We made it to Denver. Back through Oklahoma and the rest is a blur to me.

     What is not a blur to me is the place I first went to in 1959 and I have been to nearly 15 times--Las Vegas. The one in Nevada, not New Mexico. The imagery was unforgettable.

     What Las Vegas has always been to me is glitz and glitter. Even in its infancy in 1959, Las Vegas was all neon lights and welcome air conditioning from the the oppressive dry heat. Vegas, its shortened moniker, was a mobbed up town, full of casinos and motels to go with the distinct two areas--downtown and the famous Strip--which was Las Vegas Boulevard heading to Mc Carran Field, the city's airport. Just as the downtown hotels and casinos still sparkled and gave more than a hint of the Western cowboy town, the Strip symbolized the future of the city--where the big action would eventually draw families as much as high rollers. Where the big names in entertainment would perform--from Frank Sinatra to Celine Dion, from Johnny Carson and Jay Leno to Bill Maher, where nudity was acceptable on stage with the Follies Bergere. The idea was to attract people to come and spend money. Which has worked so well.

     Las Vegas knew it had to have a sports connection, so when the bigger places--first the Las Vegas Convention Center just off of the Strip and then the opulent Caesar's Palace started holding major boxing events on site in stadiums built as needed, it gave the elite and the gamblers a reason to spend, spend and spend. Vegas also was a place where sports betting was legal--odds makers for games that people bet on legally in the city's sports books came from Vegas; their odds also allowed the illegal gambler to have a line on a game that he could bet in his own city.

     While Vegas became a destination for so many to act silly, wild, out of character and to let their hair down, to eat top notch food or cheaper buffets, there remained an element of sin which kept away the righteous big league teams. The University of Nevada at Las Vegas became a basketball powerhouse under legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian, Tark the Shark, who was known for his towel which he bit on during games as much as his fast paced style of play with players other schools wouldn't touch. His teams won a National Championship, became known as the Runnin' Rebels and built the first big arena in the city besides the Convention Center. His downfall was consorting with alleged game fixers, that led to a power struggle with the UNLV President, which Tark lost.

     For years, the major sports leagues avoided Vegas, feeling that the gambling and seedy side of the town would invade the sanctity of the game. The first foray into Vegas was by the NBA's Utah Jazz, who set a couple of games at the Thomas & Mack Center, the large campus venue that UNLV built for its team, which was within a mile of the Strip. The Jazz was playing to small crowds in the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City and they felt that a couple of games in Vegas would help with the payroll.

     One of those games turned out to be a milestone in NBA history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the towering superstar of the Los Angeles Lakers, a lanky, tough  and very tall center from New York City and the NCAA champion teams of the great John Wooden at UCLA, came to Vegas to play the Jazz on April 5, 1984. A huge crowd of over 18,000, mostly Lakers fans who could easily drive or fly into town from Southern California, came to witness NBA history. With a patented sky hook of 12 feet,after a pass from Hall of Fame guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the 37 year old Abdul-Jabbar became the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, surpassing another great 7 footer and former Laker, Wilt Chamberlain.

     The Jazz built a new building and the NBA was reduced to coming to Vegas for exhibition games and a Summer League which debuted in 2004. The exception was for the one grand showcase February 18, 2007 NBA All-Star Game. The game itself was a success, but the aftermath of fans urinating and acting out of control after the game marred what was a testing of the waters by the league. The NBA said that it needed a more contemporary arena to establish a franchise in the city.

     Las Vegas really began to grow in population due to its moderate winter climate and its becoming a destination for conventions, bachelor parties and stunts like motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel's jump over the 141 foot long fountains at Caesar's Palace in 1967. Of course there is the horrific act of evil by a deranged man who mowed down innocent concertgoers attending an outdoor show. With the third largest rate of growth in the U.S., only behind Harris County , Texas (Houston) and Maricopa County, Arizona (Phoenix), Clark County now has a population of 2.5 million individuals. Nevada is the second-fastest growing state, trailing only Utah. Las Vegas itself is the 28th largest city in the U.S. The Las Vegas TV market is 42nd in the U.S.

     Having been described by famed sportswriter Jerry Izenberg as "Gomorrah in the Desert" and nicknames "Sin City" for its adult brand of entertainment, the statement of "What Happens In Vegas Stays in Vegas" is an apt description of the city, located in a basin of the Mojave Desert. Without the advent of casino gambling in 1931, air conditioning to battle the summertime heat and the migration of the casinos to the Strip, Las Vegas would never become the destination it is.

     Yet the major sports teams have avoided Vegas due to the rowdiness and lawlessness associated with the city. The worry over gamblers taking over and influencing sports teams establishing themselves in Vegas is a relic of the 1950's-70's. Bowl games are held in Vegas. College basketball tournaments have found homes in Vegas. All without incident.

     The mot notable invasion of the major leagues is via the National Football League's Oakland Raiders. Owner Mark Davis, tired of the antiquated stadium his team plays in, sought a home back in Los Angeles, where the Raiders had once resided when they first vacated Oakland. Facing stiff opposition form the league owners who favored the Rams relocating back from St. Louis, the NFL would only allow the Raiders to be a secondary tenant in the stadium that developer Stan Kroenke, husband of billionaire Wal-Mart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke, would build to house his Rams team.

     Davis then sought refuge in San Antonio, a city which has a big stadium. San Antonio became a temporary home to the New Orleans Saints after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and the Louisiana Superdome. But that wan't enough for the astute Davis.

     He negotiated with the people of Las Vegas and Clark County and with Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson and he came away with plans for a domed stadium which would seat 65,000. Adelson and then Goldman Sachs pulled out of the plan and only when the Bank of America came to the rescue, did the NFL agree and vote 31-1 to permit the Raiders to relocate, which is expected to happen in 2020. On November 13th, the Raiders broke ground for the $1.9 billion facility in nearby Paradise.

     Las Vegas could be a Super Bowl site--it certainly has the hotel space. The Raiders and the NFL will reap a bonanza from this coup.

     However, there is another team that is magically enthralling its league. That team is the expansion Golden Knights of the National Hockey League. Opening their maiden season in the T-Mobile Arena, they have zoomed to the top of the standings in the Pacific Division. More on the team later.

     Hockey was not new to Vegas. In 1991, the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings played an exhibition game in a rink built at Caesar's Palace. The Kings and Colorado Avalanche have also played exhibition games in Vegas, in a series called Frozen Fury; San Jose and Phoenix have also played in this competition. Moreover, Las Vegas has been home to the NHL Post-Season Awards Show. And rumors abounded that Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer would seek to move the Coyotes from Phoenix to Vegas.

     In 2014, the NHL permitted billionaire Bill Foley to solicit interest in hockey in Las Vegas. A season ticket drive which started in February, 2015 reached 10,000 deposits in April. In June of that year, the NHL opened expansion competition to Las Vegas and Quebec City, who sought to re-establish the Nordiques, who had moved on to Colorado and became the Avalanche. Las Vegas, with the solid fan base and lots of money behind the effort, was awarded the one expansion franchise in June, 2016.

     After paying the $500 million expansion fee, Foley hired former Washington Capitals' General Manager George Mc Phee, who went to work constructing the first team. Mc Phee established his minor league affiliations. He signed free agent Reid Duke, selected Gerard Gallant as the first head coach, and then selected Marc-Andre Fluery, a goalie from Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins along with James Neal, a tough, scoring winger from the Nashville Predators.

     Gallant has taken a roster of non-household names in hockey and rounded them into a really good hockey team. While they are a respectable 8-7-1 on the road, at home in T-Mobile Arena before a very boisterous crowd, the Golden Knights are an astounding 15-2-1. Dubbed the "Vegas Flu," something seems to overcome top teams when they visit the Golden Knights. Maybe it's the water. Or maybe it's the nightlife. Or perhaps Gerard Gallant has molded a really good squad from from the expansion draft.

     The initial success of the Golden Knights is unparalleled for an expansion franchise. Look back at the futility of the New York Islanders and those Washington Capitals, who could not win even 10 games in their inaugural seasons. The Florida Panthers of 1993 are deemed to have been the best expansion team, amassing 33 wins and almost reaching.500 for the year. Although the NHL season has only reached 35 games for the Golden Knights and they have 23 wins, barring a total collapse and major injuries, they have the capacity to be above .500 for the season and make the playoffs. Some experts have said that the Golden Knights are the second best team in the NHL. Heady stuff for an expansion franchise. Bill Foley is getting a great return on his investment. And playing hockey in Vegas was not at all too risky a gamble for the NHL.

     Given the spectacular debut of the Golden Knights and the expected good fortune of the Raiders when they finally are in Vegas, the burning question is who will be coming next--the NBA or Major League Baseball. While Vegas is an established college hoops town, there is plenty of room for the NBA to come to town. With success.

     MLB, on the other hand, will take a different approach to relocating or establishing an expansion team in Vegas. While there is Triple A baseball with the Las Vegas 51's in an outdoor venue, the need for a stadium with a roof is a necessity, as there is in Phoenix where the Arizona Diamondbacks play in the enclosed Chase Field.  But MLB is wary, as the D-backs do not draw well and like the Arizona Cardinals, who do draw well, NFL attendance cannot act as a barometer for financial success when it comes to baseball.

     Still, MLB will be wise to watch how the Raiders, the Golden Knights and any NBA team may do in Las Vegas. I am willing to bet that by 2030, MLB has a team in Vegas, given the continued  population growth and the corresponding increase in TV market size.

     Las Vegas has come a long way from a dusty railroad town on the Union Pacific line. Or even when I first visited in 1959.

     The lights shine even brighter today in the desert. There are more attractions for families and for gamblers. For me, I am thrilled that the Golden Knights are winners. Because Vegas always has more losers than winners-the odds are stacked against those who gamble.

     I intend to make another trip or two to Las Vegas. It is a far different city than when I first arrived, or even when I last visited over 15 years ago. Sports has greatly helped in the resurgence of the gambling mecca. I applaud the NHL and the NFL's foresight in placing teams in Las Vegas.

     Perhaps the Golden Knights will be a record-setting team in its first season. That Gerard Gallant will be feted as the NHL Coach of the Year. Could the inconceivable occur--the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup?

     Dreams like that should only stay in Vegas. For what happens in Vegas...