WHY IS THIS MAN SMILING? JOHN ROBINSON SAYS HE'S HAVING A BALL AT UNLV.Byline: Michael Rosenthal Assistant Sports Editor Noun 1. sports editor - the newspaper editor responsible for sports news newspaper editor - the editor of a newspaper LAS VEGAS Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. - The minute John Robinson Several notable individuals have been named John Robinson: Politicians
Massimino, the former basketball coach at Villanova, took over for Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (born August 8 1930), also known as "Tark the Shark", is a former college basketball coach known for colorful behavior, including habitually chewing on a towel during games, and for his public criticisms of and clashes with the NCAA. at UNLV UNLV University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1992, failed miserably and the university bought out his fat contract after two forgettable for·get·ta·ble adj. Fit or apt to be forgotten: a movie with very forgettable characters. Adj. 1. forgettable - easily forgotten unforgettable - impossible to forget seasons. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , some say, he came to Las Vegas not to coach but to set himself up for retirement. Did Robinson, 62 at the time, have the same thing in mind? ``I was concerned,'' said Bruce Bayne, president of the UNLV Football Foundation. ``The school released Massimino and he left with a million dollars in his pocket. ``John also was later on in his coaching career. It was a legitimate concern.'' Bayne and others were relieved to learn Robinson was no Massimino. The former USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. and L.A. Rams coach took the job at UNLV for the purest of reasons - he missed coaching - and allayed any fears by signing a long-term contract and agreeing to become athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic next year. In the process, he's given a dismal program a solid foundation in less than three seasons. ``I signed a five-year contract extension (this year) and a four-year A.D. contract. What does that mean? It means for the next four or five years, I'm going to be coaching my (butt) off,'' he said. The UNLV football program was in disarray at the close of the 1998 season. The team was 6-39 from 1995 to 1998, 0-11 in '98, lost 16 consecutive games and 26 in a row on the road under coach Jeff Horton Jeff Horton, born (date?) in Arlington, Texas, is currently an assistant coach (Special Assistant/Offense) for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He has also been active as an assistant coach at the collegiate level (Minnesota, Nevada, UNLV, Wisconsin) and as a . A once-decent program had evolved into one of the worst in the nation. Junior running back Joe Haro summed up the atmosphere: ``Depressing.'' Meanwhile, Robinson had completed his second of two stints at USC on a disappointing note - he was 12-11 his last two seasons - and decided to take time off. Many assumed he was through after 21 years as a head coach at USC and with the Rams. They were wrong: He missed coaching almost immediately and wanted back in. UNLV was a good fit. It wasn't USC. Robinson's teams wouldn't play in front of 100,000 fans or for national championships here, but the school and community had its pluses. UNLV has solid facilities (including a stadium that can seat 40,000). There's money in town, which comes in handy during fund-raisers. It's a big city with all the amenities, which is appealing to Robinson. It's close to his beloved Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . And, most important, it had kids hungry to win. ``I've had teams play in all the big games except the Super Bowl,'' Robinson said in his office, with dozens of photos of former players looking down from the walls. ``This is really all about the game, nothing else, not television, not talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster. Currently employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades (1977 – 2006) with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent and respected members of his profession. or Frank Gifford. It's not 100,000 people. ``It's about the ... game. And, more important than that, it's about the players. My relationship with the players is the same here as it was anywhere.'' Robinson had to adjust to life at a smaller program in at least one respect: It's difficult to recruit against top programs. At USC, he was able to lure some of the best high school players in the country to Los Angeles. At UNLV, which is a relatively hard sell, he's had to shift his recruiting focus to community-college players and transfers from other programs. He's also had to change the ``culture'' in Las Vegas. If anything, this is a basketball town because of the success of Tarkanian and his Runnin' Rebels. Some sports fans here aren't even sure what to make of Robinson and UNLV football. As the coach laments, fans have a difficult time even finding UNLV promotional merchandise. ``That's one thing I'm trying to change,'' Robinson said. ``Every time you go to bathroom at the stadium or wherever, someone's going to be standing there selling something.'' However, his biggest challenge was convincing the players they could win. And he did. The situation had become so dire, senior cornerback Kevin Thomas said, ``the feeling was let's just get the game over with so we can go home. People had that kind of attitude at that time.'' Haro, a converted defensive back, noticed a change in selmage almost immediately upon Robinson's arrival. ``He's able to get the most out of every player,'' he said. ``He gets the players to play their hardest, their fastest all the time. Guys just weren't giving it their all at times. Now if you don't, he'll get on you. ``He's a great motivator, a player's coach. I think that's why he's been so successful.'' Those traits translated to success a lot sooner than many believed possible. The Rebels snapped the losing streak in 1999 but finished only 3-8. The following season, with several key community-college transfers in place and athletic USC transfer Jason Thomas behind center, UNLV finished 8-5 and defeated powerful Arkansas in the Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually at 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada since 1992. 31-14 in front of 29,117 fans in its home stadium. Robinson was named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year and UNLV had itself a football team. The Rebels have had a frustrating time of it this season. They're 3-5 but have lost games to Arkansas, Northwestern, BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding and Colorado State by a total of 19 points. No one is worried that the program has reverted to its old ways, an indication Robinson is making progress. In four home games, UNLV has averaged 25,368 fans compared with 22,101 (including the bowl game) last year. And Bayne said the number of members in his foundation has doubled since Robinson arrived and it continues to grow. ``We're disappointed we haven't won games we should've won,'' Bayne said. ``But we're not disappointed in what coach Robinson is doing, in what the players are doing. ``No one is abandoning ship, believe me.'' Said Haro: ``More and more, people come up to you say, 'Hey, you play football, don't you?' or 'We look forward to seeing you guys play' or 'We wish you guys the best.' It's exciting to be here now.'' Robinson has had a lot of excitement in his career. He won a national championship with USC in 1979, is 8-1 in bowl games - an NCAA-record .889 winning percentage - and reached the playoffs six of his nine seasons with the Rams. Still, the Rebels' victory over Arkansas ranks among his greatest thrills. ``It's right up there,'' he said. ``... The guys who graduated last year were guys who lost all those games. They just never won. Then they won the bowl game and, boy, that was big. They went out of here winners, so there's a lot of gratification there. ``... One thing that happens when you get older is you get a handle on what's fun and what isn't. Well, this is fun.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) John Robinson has turned around the football fortunes at UNLV almost single-handedly. Jeff Scheid/Associated Press (2 -- color) Since his arrival, John Robinson has stopped a losing streak A Losing Streak is the third episode of series 2 of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was first broadcast on 4 November 1982. Synopsis Del Boy, Rodney, and Grandad are making some sort of cheap perfume just to earn money after Del has been losing most of at 16 games and guided UNLV to a bowl win. Laura Roach/Associated Press |
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