Has Hell Frozen Over?

There are times in one's life where phrases are uttered that make absolutley no sense at all; "UNLV and BOWL ELIGIBLE" is one of those phrases.

Don't get me wrong, we love the Rebels. Jake especially LOVES the Rebels. In a perfect world, upon his return from Ecuador, he will attend UNLV and work in the athletic department.

Rebel basketball is something the city has always embraced. 4 finals 4's and one national title put the program on the map, albeit notoriously, under Jerry Tarkanian's watch. A decade plus of mediocrity later and now, after a few years Lon "Carl from Caddyshack" Kruger has the Rebels winning again AND going to the NCAA tournament where anything can happen. March Madness? Is there a better sporting event anywhere in the world? I don't think so. Rebel basketball? Solid.

The football program has never had the talent, the dollars, the support of the community nor the coaching to really be able to put anything together. Sure there were few years where the Rebels managed to eek out a few wins here and there. When Randall Cunningham played here in the early 1980's he led the team to a few bowl appearances but back then they played in the Sunset Division or something equivalent to that level of competition.





The past 25 years have seen coaches come and go. Oddly, the very best part of Rebel football was when the Wisconsin Badgers would come to town - their fans would outnumber Rebel faithful, their tailgating was world class and they even drove semi-trucks and trailers from Madison to LV that had built-in monster grills for cooking brats and specially equipment trailers with enough kegs of beer to put out a 4-alarm fire. Their marching band is also famous for it's 5th quarter where, after the game, they would put on a great show and trips to LV, even in the heat of late August were no exception. Back then, I'm pretty sure the band would have beat the Rebel football team.





So, when head coach Mike Sanford was hired a few years ago, he came from Utah after a successful coaching stint as O-coordinator and on the heels of an undefeated for the Utes and a birth in the Fiesta Bowl, the fans here expected him to duplicate Utah's success. Didn't happen. Now, after a few years of hard work, Sanford has the Rebels on the cusp of being bowl eligible. A win over lowly San Diego State next week will give the team a 6-6 record leading some to wonder if hell as indeed frozen over - I'm one of those people. A narrow loss to Air Force and a winnable game against BYU and the Reb's would be 8-4. Of course that's wishful thinking, but one can't help but be proud of the team that coach Sanford has put together. While a BCS bowl is out of the question this year, and maybe forever, at least the team seems to have found it's groove and it should be able to compete for bowl births in the years to come....and that's a good thing for the school and the community - even if it does get a little chilly.