SALT LAKE CITY — When trying to surface from the ocean floor, you can’t expect a clean and swift journey. Things will be choppy in places. Nothing comes easy for those at the bottom.
Ed Graney
Ed Graney is a sports columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, covering a variety of topics and the Las Vegas sports scene.
egraney@reviewjournal.com … @edgraney on Twitter. 702-383-4618
Frank Marrero didn’t want it to end on that bedroom floor.
There is no such thing as a routine victory when you have lost eight straight football games dating to last season and 29 of your last 35 dating to 2005. There is no such thing as grinding out wins for UNLV.
OK, I admit it. I went too far last season. I allowed myself to get caught up in the promise of UNLV football, or at least the promise of improved play and more wins that coach Mike Sanford continues to, well, promise.
BEIJING — The most important part came afterward. After the survival. After the midcourt celebration. After they joined arms and stepped forward as one. After the gold medals had been slipped around their necks and the national anthem played and the American flag rose between two others. You always want yours in the middle. It’s where the winner resides.
When you have 5,600 credentialed media running around a place with backpacks and laptops and television cameras for 17 days, you better have ample space.
BEIJING — The dragon in China reminds its people of another time, when emperors ruled with incomparable knowledge and strength. The panda is a more passive figure, universally adored as an image of innocence.
BEIJING — Terry Tiffee speaks the truth. The Olympics are a good experience for minor league baseball players, one that presents an elevated level of intensity from a midseason trip to Sacramento or Salt Lake City or fill-in-your-town-of-choice-here.