IF YOU THINK a WAC championship football game is a bad idea, you're apparently in the minority. By the time you read this, all of the 40,000 tickets to Saturday's BYU-Wyoming game at Sam Boyd Stadium will be gone.
As is the case with most Las Vegas-type entertainment, most of the tickets were sold to out-of-towners. BYU sold 14,310 tickets from its office in Provo, while Wyoming, which was originally allotted 6,000 seats, had sold 8,000 as of Monday afternoon - and was hoping to get its hands on up to 2,000 more.That left approximately 16,000 tickets, most of which were scooped up by either sponsors and VIPs, or Las Vegas-area residents.
It appears the crowd will largely be cheering for the Cougars. Ticket officials in Las Vegas, Provo and at the WAC office are guessing many of the tickets bought by Las Vegas residents were purchased by LDS Church members in Nevada. Which stands to reason. Of the approximately 1 million residents in greater Las Vegas, 90,000 are LDS.
"All I know," said BYU ticket manager David Miles, "is that they were extremely busy selling tickets down there, and that they had sold thousands."
BAMBOOZLED: It's dangerous when a pro basketball player listens too closely to what's said on the talk radio shows. But it can be disastrous when he listens too closely to his agent.
Former Jazz forward David Benoit turned down a 3-year, $4 million deal this summer with the Jazz to take the advice of his agent, who suggested he sign a 1-year, $500,000 contract to play in New Jersey.
The idea was that Benoit would become a star in New Jersey and after one year become eligible to earn huge dollars next summer as a free agent. Instead, Benoit injured his Achilles and is out for the year.
While the injury was only coincidence, the risks were obvious. Now Benoit's market value will be zero by the time he becomes a free agent again next summer.
However unfortunate, Benoit's case served to make a point: Market value is equal to what you're being offered, not what your agent says you'll be worth someday.
ADD BENOIT: Curious how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In Utah, Benoit will forever be remembered - fairly or not - for missing three open perimeter shots at the end of a 1995 playoff game against Houston. In New Jersey, they were looking at him being a star.
In the Nets' magazine "Innernets," the first edition of the year included coach John Calipari's player previews. Of Benoit, he said: "Championship mentality. Offensive skills. Very fast. A great jumper. A guy who is versatile. Gonna be able to score points."
Great jumper, true. But championship mentality?
We'll have to get back to you on that.
TWO THUMBS UP: A recent NBA Hoop magazine featured an article by Chicago Tribune movie critic Gene Siskel, detailing what he loves about pro basketball.
Siskel, who can make or break a career - movie career, that is - with a bad review, often interacts with the players. He tells how during a timeout, Phoenix's Kevin Johnson walked toward him. Siskel said: "Nice drive, K.J." To which Johnson responded: "So you really liked `Richard III.' "
TWO THUMBS DOWN: The NBA's second-most famous movie star, Shaquille O'Neal, hasn't done so well on the silver screen. His two movies, "Blue Chips" and "Kazaam" were awful. Siskel called "Blue Chips" a "masterpiece compared with his `Kazaam.' "
Still, Shaq doesn't give up. Siskel says O'Neal is "a genuinely nice guy," adding that he "never fails to mention the opening date of his pictures during the pregame warmup in front of my seats."
As they say in the film business, Save us the aisle seat, Shaq.
OVERKILL: Utah basketball coach Rick Majerus thinks his team is over-rated. Maybe. Or maybe it's just Majerus trying to deflect the pressure.
Whatever the case, virtually every preseason magazine had the Utes picked in the top five or six in the nation before the year began. Some are lavish in their praise. For instance, ESPN College Basketball magazine had the Utes No. 5, and raved about forward Keith Van Horn.
"Van Horn's as good as it gets," the magazine wrote. "If he played in Durham or Lexington, you'd be sick to death of hearing his name already."
News flash to ESPN: Back in Salt Lake City, we ARE sick to death of hearing his name. Already.
QUOTEFILE: "Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?" - Former Yankees' pitcher Jim Bouton.