DULY NOTED
By Ron Kantowski <kantowsi@lasvegassun.com>
Las Vegas Sun
INTRODUCING THE ALMOST ORIGINAL TEN
When I first moved to Southern Nevada, there was still silver in them thar hills.
OK. Maybe it wasn't that long ago. But there were only 10 big schools playing high school football in 1987. Now, there are nearly 30. And most of those big schools have become smaller schools locked into boundaries while the rest of the valley continues to sprawl.
But I still have a soft spot for the inner-city schools, or whatever you call schools where kids walk to class and the big men on campus drive Chevys instead of BMWs.
The football programs at the Las Vegas schools where the kids try just as hard usually wind up losing by multiple touchdowns because their fullbacks - and their parents - have moved to the suburbs. So to recognize them, I am going to use this space to create a new conference.
I will post scores, keep standings, maybe even use a freelance check to purchase a trophy that I will be honored to present to the champion at season's end.
I am going to call it the Almost Original Ten, or AOT for short, because seven of the schools were among the 10 that were playing football when I started at the Sun in 1987.
Bonanza, Clark, Western, Rancho, Valley, Chaparral and Eldorado were knocking helmets way back then. I'm also going to include Desert Pines, Cheyenne and Canyon Springs, the closest thing we'll have to an expansion team.
Because the back of your neck can still get dirty and gritty at the intersection of Pecos Road and Patrick Lane, Del Sol also was given consideration. But that would make 11 teams, and you can't have a conference with 11 teams, no matter what the Big Ten thinks.
And sorry, Las Vegas High. You were the quintessential inner-city school before you got a new campus on the outskirts of town and you morphed from the St. Louis Browns into the Baltimore Orioles.
As for the remaining members of the original 10, Basic is in Henderson (and not inner city). And Bishop Gorman is ... well, Bishop Gorman.
If any of you want to plead your case, see me in the parking lot. I'll be the guy in the Chevy.
PARK PLACE
Speaking of the Almost Original Ten, I got a call from a representative of the North Las Vegas Parks and Recreation Department, who wanted to assure me there is a sign denoting Hartke Park as Hartke Park, even if I didn't see it during my report on the practice home of the Rancho Rams. Also, I was told that the Clark County School District is responsible for the upkeep of the tennis and basketball courts, not parks and rec.
As for who is responsible for the men sleeping under the trees while the Rams practice football, she didn't know.
