: Robert Lawson, Richard Gubbe
: Vegas Hockey, Vegas Strong
: BookBaby
: 9798350941364
: Vegas Hockey, Vegas Strong
: 1
: CHF 27.20
:
: Sport
: English
: 106
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
This book is dedicated to all those original 'Hockey Pucks' and risk takers who always believed the sport of hockey had a place in Las Vegas. The Gamblers were the pioneers. The outoor game at Caesars was the catalist. The Lowden family then built the ice hockey arena that housed the first Vegas professional hockey team, the Las Vegas Aces, as well as the first youth ice hockey program through USA Hockey. The teams that followed, the Flash, Thunder and Wranglers among them, left an indelible mark in rinks across Vegas. Authors Robert Lawson, and Richard Gubbe played significant lead roles in nearly every facet of the above mentioned. This book is told through their eyes, highlighting the achievements as well as the 'behind the scenes' stories that have never heard before. We are grateful for the participation of those who contributed to the book, to those fans who supported their teams, and to each team right up and to and including the entire organization of the Vegas Golden Knights NHL Team.
Chapter 2
Rich Rose and His Impossible Dream
In 1991, Las Vegas would never have been included in the conversation for getting a pro sports team from any of the Big Four leagues of NHL Hockey, NBA Basketball, NFL Football, or Major League Baseball. Vegas had three strikes against it: weather, gambling, and a population base too small to ever support a franchise. Amateur sports teams struggled to survive for decades.
The only professional league foray from the Big Four in Las Vegas was the 11 games the Utah Jazz played in the newly constructed Thomas& Mack Center. On April 5, 1984, Los Angeles Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the NBA’s all-time scoring leader against the Jazz in Las Vegas, with Utah losing 129-115. The Utah Jazz stay lasted until their new arena was built. Vegas was booked out of desperation, and only exhibition basketball games were played thereafter.
The population base in the late 1980s was roughly 350,000 people. Then came a population explosion, with Vegas becoming the most desired objective for relocation of families and businesses in the United States.
As the landscape of the Las Vegas Strip began to expand, casinos for “Locals” in neighborhoods sprung up like blooming flowers after a desert rain. With the population boom came pioneers of small professional sports teams that failed miserably. They were fun to watch, but only AAA baseball made an impact.
Why Not Vegas?
Las Vegas was the Boxing Capital of the World, but the shadiness that surrounded the sport was evident. Betting on boxing was big business but wagering on Big 4 sports other than football was in its infantile stage. Sports gambling cast a pall on the city, and any affiliation outside Nevada was met with solid resistance.
Pro sports leagues loathed the thought of any affiliation with wagering. The 1919 Black Sox scandal slapped a huge blemish on the game of baseball.
Rich Rose
College basketball betting scandals cast ugly aspersions on the amateur game. Sports games needed to be viewed as clean, and Vegas was viewed as a dirty business despite the fact every good bar in any big city had its own bookie. Change was slow to come