How to win friends, by Ed Graney
Ed, you should have been here.
It was a beautiful day in Laramie on Saturday; sunny skies with temperatures in the 70s. There was also a beauty of a football game going on at War Memorial Stadium between your UNLV Rebels and those “stinky” Wyoming Cowboys.
I really am surprised you weren’t here. Well, maybe not. After all, you don’t like Wyoming. It’s not your style. Vegas, baby, that’s where it is at.
But then again, who doesn’t like Vegas. I like Vegas.
But I also like Laramie. I’ve lived here for over 20 years. I must like Laramie. Sure, I complain about the weather on occasion. You know, 70 one day and snowing the next day. We live here, though, so we have the right to complain. You don’t live here, but you still do.
Earlier in the week, as a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, you described our home like this: “Bland and bleak environment that is Laramie, where you might swear the world comes to an end at nearly 7,500 feet.”
Personally, I think you're nuts. After all, we do have a Hilton, a Holiday Inn and a Carl's Jr. I mean, what more do you want?
Of course, the jist of the column was based on UNLV, which had lost 19 straight road games (now 20), coming to Laramie and thumping the Cowboys because, let’s face it, as you penned: “Here is this week's moment: Wyoming stinks.”
You then added: “You can't lose to Wyoming this year and be taken seriously. You can't lose to Wyoming and even whisper a thought about contending in league without being laughed out of the nearest locker room.”
I did peek online on Sunday (I had to find one of them computer things because, you know, there’s only a couple in Laramie), to see if you had anything to say about the Cowboys’ 30-27 win over the Rebels. I saw some coverage from Mark Anderson (no relation …although I have a cousin named Mark Anderson, but I know he is not him).
There must be budget restraints at the Review-Journal, or else you would have been in Laramie on Saturday. I know times are tough in Las Vegas. What’s the unemployment rate there, about 60 percent?
OK, I’m exaggerating just a smidgen. It’s probably only about 20 percent. Or does that have something to do with the murder rate? I get mixed up sometimes.
You did have a column about the racing Busch family. Sorry, I really didn’t read it, although I did skim through it and saw that you somehow pieced together a reference about the Wyoming-UNLV game, particularly the botched Rebels field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter that could have tied the game.
You wrote: “Tom is the father of Kyle and Kurt, both of whom will race today in Dover, Del. It is the second of 10 Chase for the Championship events, a run Kurt qualified for but Kyle didn't because of a points system that makes about as much sense as being called for delay of game coming out of a timeout when lining up to attempt a game-tying field goal in a conference football road game.
(If only a crystal ball had informed me what might transpire with UNLV on Saturday, I would have crawled to Laramie, Wyo., to witness the inexcusable nonsense firsthand.)”
I would say very clever, but …
Your absence was actually the smartest thing you did this week. Let’s just say, you’re probably not on Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen’s Christmas card list. In fact, you were the opening talk of Christensen’s press conference after the win over the Rebels.
I’m sure by now you’ve seen the clip.
Christensen said: “I’m going to start out by saying something that has been on my mind all week by a reporter by the name of Ed Graney in Las Vegas. When talking about Laramie, Wyoming, he said, ‘a bland and bleak environment, that’s Laramie and you might swear you have come to the end of the world.’“Well, if you were in my locker room after that game, you might have thought you were at the end of the world. We take that stuff personally. Here is this week’s moment: Wyoming stinks.”
Christensen then threw the copy of the column down and added, “Well, he stinks. Let’s move on to you guys.”
I’m guessing now that UNLV head coach Mike Sanford isn’t crazy about you at this time either.
It was a beautiful day in Laramie on Saturday; sunny skies with temperatures in the 70s. There was also a beauty of a football game going on at War Memorial Stadium between your UNLV Rebels and those “stinky” Wyoming Cowboys.
I really am surprised you weren’t here. Well, maybe not. After all, you don’t like Wyoming. It’s not your style. Vegas, baby, that’s where it is at.
But then again, who doesn’t like Vegas. I like Vegas.
But I also like Laramie. I’ve lived here for over 20 years. I must like Laramie. Sure, I complain about the weather on occasion. You know, 70 one day and snowing the next day. We live here, though, so we have the right to complain. You don’t live here, but you still do.
Earlier in the week, as a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, you described our home like this: “Bland and bleak environment that is Laramie, where you might swear the world comes to an end at nearly 7,500 feet.”
Personally, I think you're nuts. After all, we do have a Hilton, a Holiday Inn and a Carl's Jr. I mean, what more do you want?
Of course, the jist of the column was based on UNLV, which had lost 19 straight road games (now 20), coming to Laramie and thumping the Cowboys because, let’s face it, as you penned: “Here is this week's moment: Wyoming stinks.”
You then added: “You can't lose to Wyoming this year and be taken seriously. You can't lose to Wyoming and even whisper a thought about contending in league without being laughed out of the nearest locker room.”
I did peek online on Sunday (I had to find one of them computer things because, you know, there’s only a couple in Laramie), to see if you had anything to say about the Cowboys’ 30-27 win over the Rebels. I saw some coverage from Mark Anderson (no relation …although I have a cousin named Mark Anderson, but I know he is not him).
There must be budget restraints at the Review-Journal, or else you would have been in Laramie on Saturday. I know times are tough in Las Vegas. What’s the unemployment rate there, about 60 percent?
OK, I’m exaggerating just a smidgen. It’s probably only about 20 percent. Or does that have something to do with the murder rate? I get mixed up sometimes.
You did have a column about the racing Busch family. Sorry, I really didn’t read it, although I did skim through it and saw that you somehow pieced together a reference about the Wyoming-UNLV game, particularly the botched Rebels field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter that could have tied the game.
You wrote: “Tom is the father of Kyle and Kurt, both of whom will race today in Dover, Del. It is the second of 10 Chase for the Championship events, a run Kurt qualified for but Kyle didn't because of a points system that makes about as much sense as being called for delay of game coming out of a timeout when lining up to attempt a game-tying field goal in a conference football road game.
(If only a crystal ball had informed me what might transpire with UNLV on Saturday, I would have crawled to Laramie, Wyo., to witness the inexcusable nonsense firsthand.)”
I would say very clever, but …
Your absence was actually the smartest thing you did this week. Let’s just say, you’re probably not on Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen’s Christmas card list. In fact, you were the opening talk of Christensen’s press conference after the win over the Rebels.
I’m sure by now you’ve seen the clip.
Christensen said: “I’m going to start out by saying something that has been on my mind all week by a reporter by the name of Ed Graney in Las Vegas. When talking about Laramie, Wyoming, he said, ‘a bland and bleak environment, that’s Laramie and you might swear you have come to the end of the world.’“Well, if you were in my locker room after that game, you might have thought you were at the end of the world. We take that stuff personally. Here is this week’s moment: Wyoming stinks.”
Christensen then threw the copy of the column down and added, “Well, he stinks. Let’s move on to you guys.”
I’m guessing now that UNLV head coach Mike Sanford isn’t crazy about you at this time either.
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