Never ending Vegas

LAS VEGAS — I’m looking out my hotel window and there’s an erotica museum 52 stories below, not to mention a lingerie superstore.

Good thing I brought my family along.

Who doesn’t enjoy sharing the spirit of the holidays with “Stripper 101″ and “Zumanity”?

Sure enough, I’m back in Vegas. On the bright side, it has more good restaurants than any city between Chicago and San Francisco. Also, it’s a nice, short trip during bowl season, nothing like the trek to Memphis.

Will I miss Utah and BYU being in the Mountain West? Not really. A little bit of Vegas goes a long way with me.

Though it’s been nearly 17 years since I was a beat writer, covering games regularly in Las Vegas, I’ve had my share of trips all along, beginning in the early 1980s when I was the boxing writer. I covered old PCAA and Big West sports events with USU in Vegas, as well as WAC and Mountain West games and, of course Las Vegas Bowls.

That could come to an end with BYU going independent and Utah going to the Pac-12.

But not really.

Does Vegas really ever go away? Like the view from my hotel room, you can look away, but it’s still in your face, every time you turn around.

With the Pac-10 tie-in with the Vegas Bowl, I figure I’ll be back. I expect that somehow the Vegas Bowl will eventually find a way to work BYU into its future formula, too. The bowl seems to be in love with BYU and its drawing power.

So from me to Las Vegas, after this year’s bowl game, it’s au revoir, but not goodbye.

I’m sure you’ll leave the light(s) on for me.