Top 5 Vegas sports characters (with a tie for 1st)
While Las Vegas has only been home to major league franchises for a few years, the city has a long and colorful history of outrageous sports personalities.
The list of colorful figures in the sports betting and poker worlds would be too long to even begin. But even just looking at athletes, promoters and political titans who have made their mark on the southern Nevada sports scene makes for quite a walk down memory lane.
There are plenty of names that could be on such a list. Brett Lashbrook, who owns Las Vegas Lights FC, has put together some of the wildest promotions the sports world has ever seen.
Some of the football coaches that have come through town, particularly a guy like Harvey Hyde, have brought big personalities to town with them.
Bob Blum, the godfather of Las Vegas sports broadcasting, could spin a yarn with the best of them. One of his best tales was how he became involved in the world’s first fantasy football league.
Then there are the countless individuals from the rodeo and motorsports worlds who could fill an entire book.
And Marion “Suge” Knight, a former UNLV football player, could easily be the runaway No. 1 character, though he’s much more associated with the rap game than the Las Vegas sports scene.
The list goes on and on. So a top five list is almost unfair to some of the many outrageous and outlandish characters that have made their mark on this town. But here’s a feeble attempt at it in no particular order:
1. Dana White/Bob Arum
It’s probably cheating to get an extra name on here, but two of the top promoters in combat sports are as charismatic as they are successful and are both forever linked to Las Vegas. They also happen to have a very bitter rivalry.
It would be almost impossible to even find printable words they have said about each other. But they have both built their local businesses into global phenomena.
In a fight business full of characters, these are two of the most prominent.
2. Rod Smart
Very few people remember the name of Las Vegas’s original entrant in the XFL back in 2001. But nearly every football fan in the world remembers the nickname of the team’s running back. Smart wore the moniker “He Hate Me” on the back of his jersey, and a star was born.
While the league faded after just one season, He Hate Me went down in football lore for what may have been the original XFL’s most popular franchise. By the way, the team was called the Outlaws.
3. Oscar Goodman
Of course, the most popular and successful mayor in the city’s history would be a former mob lawyer. The stories Goodman has told on the record have been absolutely wild. Imagine the ones he will never share. But Goodman’s influence extends far beyond the courtroom and city hall.
He was obsessively driven with his vision of Las Vegas as a major league sports town. Goodman once showed up at Major League Baseball’s winter meetings with a showgirl on each arm to make the case for the city.
Perhaps the most admirable part of his passion was the unapologetic way he pitched the town. He sold the town’s vices as its beauty instead of trying to hide them.
Goodman can ultimately be proud of the groundwork he laid for the hotbed of sports Las Vegas has become.
4. Billy Johnson
Before there were the Golden Knights and after the memorable Thunder, the ECHL’s Wranglers captured the hearts of hockey fans in Las Vegas.
Minor league sports often need a ringleader-type of promoter even more than they need good players and the Wranglers had one in Johnson.
The midnight games at Orleans Arena are still some of the most talked-about sporting events in the city’s history. Every once in a while, a Golden Knights fan will ask when the NHL team will drop the puck at midnight to honor the tradition.
But Johnson also came up with promotions like Dick Cheney Hunting Vest Night and Regrettable Tattoo Night. Those games were a spectacle in the best sense of the word and Johnson rarely met a promotion he couldn’t sell.
5. Jerry Tarkanian
He is ultimately remembered for building one of the greatest college basketball programs the nation has ever known. But from the towel to the quick wit to his comfort around others shunned by the mainstream, Tarkanian could have easily been created on a Hollywood soundstage as the perfect character to build a hoops dynasty in Las Vegas.
His battles with authority were as intense as any opponent the Rebels battled on the floor. Tarkanian was truly one-of-a-kind.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.