Dennis
Finfrock changed things for
Las Vegas. Most things for the better, one very
significant change he made, was not, but in the end he knew his mistake and even privately admitted it.
Finfrock died this weekend at the age of 62 after a long battle with
Parkinson's Disease. I last saw him last year when he was being honored at a national wrestling event. He loved wrestling and was always tough in the clutch to the end.
Coaching wrestling brought him here to
Las Vegas. Quickly he was put in a position of power and in 1982 made the brilliant decision to "jackhammer" the concrete out of the first 9 rows of the Thomas and Mack Center to allow that building to become multi-use. Oh,
UNLV basketball was the main reason it was being built, but now special events like the National Finals Rodeo, ice hockey, and others could fit in the new 19,000 seat arena in
Las Vegas.
Quickly, those 19,000 seats were filled with basketball fans. They were doing the "Shark Clap" and watching the Rebels become a national power with 3 Final Fours in 5 years and a National Championship to their credit. I have often said there is nothing that has brought this city closer
together than Rebel basketball, and nothing has tore it apart like its destruction.
UNLV President Bob
Maxson wanted Jerry
Tarkanian out. I believe it was a simple as a lust for power on
Maxson's part. He wanted to control the most powerful part of the
Las Vegas community. Some have said he was working to "clean up the program", but when you consider the tactics used my
Maxson, you know there was nothing clean about his methods and his mission. He needed his Athletic Director to be on board. Bring in Dennis
Finfrock and replace the popular Brad
Rothermel.
Finfrock drew a clear line in the athletic department and with the media. There was no sitting on the sidelines in this one, you were either with
Maxson, or with
Tark. The community was clearly behind
Tark, and a
handful of
powerful people behind
Maxson. The media took sides. At my own station there was division. Often the General Manager at
KTNV TV Jim
Behling (my boss, and where I worked at the time) would do editorials supporting
Maxson, then a few minutes later on my sportscast, I would be blasting
Maxson.
Behling pulled me aside one day and told me that he had no problem with taking a side counter to his. I thanked him, smiled and told him that if he wanted to get this story right I would help him. He laughed and kept his position, and I kept mine.
Quickly
Finfrock began leaking stories about
Tark to the media designed to convince the community that
Tark was bad for
Las Vegas and must be removed. I approached
Finfrock many times about the leaks to try to understand why an Athletic Director would be doing this and he always declined comment. It was quickly apparent what was going on here.
Maxson was using
Finfrock to remove
Tark because he didn't have the guts to do it himself.
In August 1991 I did this commentary in which I said, "It's time for
Maxson to come out on the record with how he feels about the leaks. Does he condone them? Does he encourage them? Does he ignore them? We can't ignore them when ultimately they damage his university" (you can find it on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTZqvD6O6SU )
Publicly Maxson always spoke fondly of
Tarkanian, but we all knew how he really felt. This was not hard to figure out.
Dennis put himself in the middle of this mess. In the end,
Maxson used
Finfrock and tossed him aside to try to protect himself when it became apparent what was going on. After news of the secret videotaping of a conditioning class by the university was reported by the media the gig was up and it was apparent to everybody what was going on.
Finfrock took the fall and was forced to resign. At his resignation
news conference the new battle lines were clearly drawn. I was told by many at the university that
Finfrock acted alone and
Maxson had no idea what was going on. Clearly, that was not the case, but it didn't stop
Maxson and his
cronies from making that futile argument to me. That night on air I defended
Finfrock by letting the viewers know how horrendous I thought it was that
Maxson had hopped on the biggest bus he could find and rolled it over
Finfrock as often as he could.
Maxson and others in the administration were trying to wash their
filthy hands at
Finfrock's expense. It was reprehensible, but I had said early on in this case that the mob would be proud of some of the tactics used by
UNLV to remove its most successful basketball coach ever.
Finfrock went on to bigger and better things. I can't enter the MGM Grand Garden without thinking of the time we stood there and did an interview while concrete was being poured for its construction. Didn't have to use the jackhammer this time,
Finfrock made sure it was big enough to be used for anything and everything this city needed.
Yes, I was tough on Dennis at times. Years later he privately has said he regretted casting his lot with a university President who worked to corrupt and
deceive. A lot of people were
deceived by
Maxson....but in the end I was happy that I came to his defense when it mattered most. Since I had not bough into
Maxson's lies, I felt at the time that I was the only one who could defend Dennis.
I'll always remember his smile and strong handshake last time I saw him and helped honor him at the wrestling event. It seems along with his family, it's what he loved most.
Labels: UNLV Basketball Dennis Finfrock Bob Maxson Jerry Tarkanian
