Looks like the NBA All Star Game won't be coming back to Las Vegas

[rams80]

With all the problems in Vegas over this past weekend how will New Orleans fair for next year?

I'll put it this way...either the National Guard will establish martial law, or we won't need to wait for another hurricane to finish off the city. That or we will truly know what a "chocolate" New Orleans would be like.

That standoff Whitlock was writing about would be intriguing to watch (according to the same part of me that loves to gawk at train wrecks).

[dfwabel]

Whitlock on the insane b.s. that went down in Vegas this past week. A real nice time. And you wonder why the "hoodrat" comment was necessary?

http://sports.aol.com/whitlock/_a/mayhem-m...220103009990001

I tend to agree with the mention that since the ASG, Chinese New Year, and the major men's apparel convention caused a huge spike in population in a concentrated area (The Strip), arrests were going to be up, including violent crime. From today's Las Vegas Review-Journal:

From Thursday through Monday, 403 arrests were made of people attending NBA All-Star events or in town for NBA-related activities, Gillespie said. Of those arrested, 172 were residents, and 231 were from outside Southern Nevada.

A majority of the arrests, 239, were for prostitution-related crimes. During an average week, the department makes about 175 vice-related arrests. Gillespie said vice arrests increased because the number of squads dealing with such crimes was doubled.

The second-largest number of arrests, 63, was for trespassing. The remaining arrests were for disorderly conduct, battery, burglary, petty larceny and outstanding warrants.

There was an average of 81 arrests every 24 hours during All-Star Weekend. By comparison, on New Year's Eve more than 130 people were arrested during a 12-hour period, Gillespie said.

"Hoodrat"? Remember, while the Chinese billionaires were there, their "gangsters" were probably there too. Rudeness is not colorblind, a poor tipper is a poor tipper.

Let's see is in two weeks, we hear of the same number of arrests when the Nextel Cup is there, and the same could be said the following week, as the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament coincides with a St. Patrick's Day on a Saturday, plus Spring Breaks. Let's wait to see what is covered with those events.

As for the Whitlock blog, he wrote a story for his paper, the Kansas City Star printed on Monday which was the total opposite. Applauding the choice of Las Vegas and telling the reader of the good time he and his buddies had. You can't have it both ways, Jason. Here's the link, you may have to register, and remember, columnists don't write their own headlines/titles.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/s...ck/16730767.htm

[rams80]

As for the Whitlock blog, he wrote a story for his paper, the Kansas City Star printed on Monday which was the total opposite. Applauding the choice of Las Vegas and telling the reader of the good time he and his buddies had. You can't have it both ways, Jason. Here's the link, you may have to register, and remember, columnists don't write their own headlines/titles.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/s...ck/16730767.htm

Dare I mention that Kansas City currently has a nearly finished public arena that is in severe danger of defining "white elephant" if a NBA or NHL team doesn't set up shop there? Dare I mention its not wise to upset the powers that be in one of those leagues by trashing one of their showcases in a printed journal?

[dfwabel]

As for the Whitlock blog, he wrote a story for his paper, the Kansas City Star printed on Monday which was the total opposite. Applauding the choice of Las Vegas and telling the reader of the good time he and his buddies had. You can't have it both ways, Jason. Here's the link, you may have to register, and remember, columnists don't write their own headlines/titles.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/s...ck/16730767.htm

Dare I mention that Kansas City currently has a nearly finished public arena that is in severe danger of defining "white elephant" if a NBA or NHL team doesn't set up shop there? Dare I mention its not wise to upset the powers that be in one of those leagues by trashing one of their showcases in a printed journal?

This blog was read this morning on FSR's "The First Team", so nationally his opinion has now been known. As for the chaos at McCarran on Monday, many of the fliers had return tickets for Sunday, but decided to stay Sunday night. It is not like other forms of mass transit, you just cannot "get on the next one".

[meetthemets]

How much you wanna bet that the crime that happened that weekend wasn't affiliated with the ASG, it could just be from a typical Vegas weekend

I hope to God you are not serious. If you are I will bet you my life savings that it had everything to do with the ASG. I also have a couple bridges I'd like to talk about selling to you. If you are that sure, go hang out in New Orleans for the game next year, come back and try and tell me it was just your average pre-Mardi Gras weekend.

[meetthemets]

EDIT - Double post. sorry.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I'll put it this way...either the National Guard will establish martial law, or we won't need to wait for another hurricane to finish off the city. That or we will truly know what a "chocolate" New Orleans would be like.

I need someone else to tell me. Is that a racist statement?

Black Americans need a police state to save them from themselves, and anyone from out of town that went to enjoy the big game in Vegas is a "hoodrat." Great.

[leedsunited]

Whitlock on the insane b.s. that went down in Vegas this past week. A real nice time. And you wonder why the "hoodrat" comment was necessary?

http://sports.aol.com/whitlock/_a/mayhem-m...220103009990001

I tend to agree with the mention that since the ASG, Chinese New Year, and the major men's apparel convention caused a huge spike in population in a concentrated area (The Strip), arrests were going to be up, including violent crime. From today's Las Vegas Review-Journal:

From Thursday through Monday, 403 arrests were made of people attending NBA All-Star events or in town for NBA-related activities, Gillespie said. Of those arrested, 172 were residents, and 231 were from outside Southern Nevada.

A majority of the arrests, 239, were for prostitution-related crimes. During an average week, the department makes about 175 vice-related arrests. Gillespie said vice arrests increased because the number of squads dealing with such crimes was doubled.

The second-largest number of arrests, 63, was for trespassing. The remaining arrests were for disorderly conduct, battery, burglary, petty larceny and outstanding warrants.

There was an average of 81 arrests every 24 hours during All-Star Weekend. By comparison, on New Year's Eve more than 130 people were arrested during a 12-hour period, Gillespie said.

"Hoodrat"? Remember, while the Chinese billionaires were there, their "gangsters" were probably there too. Rudeness is not colorblind, a poor tipper is a poor tipper.

Let's see is in two weeks, we hear of the same number of arrests when the Nextel Cup is there, and the same could be said the following week, as the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament coincides with a St. Patrick's Day on a Saturday, plus Spring Breaks. Let's wait to see what is covered with those events.

As for the Whitlock blog, he wrote a story for his paper, the Kansas City Star printed on Monday which was the total opposite. Applauding the choice of Las Vegas and telling the reader of the good time he and his buddies had. You can't have it both ways, Jason. Here's the link, you may have to register, and remember, columnists don't write their own headlines/titles.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/s...ck/16730767.htm

I don't think Whitlock is spinning it both ways. He probably did have a good time, inside and away from the strip. Hell, even Bill Simmons wrote a column describing how crazy it was, crime-wise.

And you really think that poor men's apparel convention was partly responsible? And DO NOT believe any official stats released by the LV mayor's office or police dept. Their city's livelihood DEPENDS on the image of a clean, safe haven for tourism. It's a known fact that crime blotters in Vegas are wildly incomplete.

[leedsunited]

Oh, and here's a video of former NBA center Keith Closs getting a beatdown on the strip last weekend.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9be9_4907

And dsgitlin, no one's saying that everyone who attended the asg festivities in Vegas was a hoodrat. But you're either blind or naive to believe that there wasn't a large thug element roaming the strip, looking for trouble. Sticking your head in the sand won't help a thing, brother.

[meetthemets]

I don't think Whitlock is spinning it both ways. He probably did have a good time, inside and away from the strip. Hell, even Bill Simmons wrote a column describing how crazy it was, crime-wise.

And you really think that poor men's apparel convention was partly responsible? And DO NOT believe any official stats released by the LV mayor's office or police dept. Their city's livelihood DEPENDS on the image of a clean, safe haven for tourism. It's a known fact that crime blotters in Vegas are wildly incomplete.

Agreed. Las Vegas has hundreds of conventions every year including SEMA which is one of the largest automotive shows in the world. I've never heard of this kind of stuff happening there. There were no "chinese gangsters" there for the Chinese New Year either.

I was living in Atlanta during the NBA ASG a few years ago and it was complete and utter chaos. I saw it with my own eyes. The entire city was grid lock for almost the entire weekend. People were driving up on the side walks and just parking their cars in the middle of the street. People were getting out of their cars and just hanging out in the middle of the street. It got to a point where I couldn't leave my house because there was literally bumper-to-bumper traffic in every direction, all day. It took me over three hours to drive a couple miles to a friends house (where I ended up spending the night because I couldn't get home). They closed an Atlanta mall because there were 65,000 people hanging out there. The mall reported later that sales were down that day. A friend of mine was a manager at a downtown sports bar and he had numerous people quit on him and he told me even worse stories that were reported in Whitlock's article. Trust me. It was complete disrespect for the city and it's residents. I get fired up even just thinking about it again.

Some of the :censored: I saw was ridiculous and the scene could have easily escalated to the point where similar events to those in Vegas could have happened. No question about it. And it probably did. It wasn't the chinese new year, it wasn't a convention going on at the civic center. It was the NBA All-Star Game, plain and simple. Keep looking for excuses about what happened in Vegas but that is the reality of the situation. I wouldn't wish that scene on my worst enemy. If you live in New Orleans (unless you are a die hard professional basketball fan and really need to be there) I would highly suggest you get the :censored: outta dodge come mid-February next year. You'll thank me later.

[NJTank]

Next year is gonna make this year look like a picnic, NOLA is still having major problems with crime.

[leedsunited]

I don't think Whitlock is spinning it both ways. He probably did have a good time, inside and away from the strip. Hell, even Bill Simmons wrote a column describing how crazy it was, crime-wise.

And you really think that poor men's apparel convention was partly responsible? And DO NOT believe any official stats released by the LV mayor's office or police dept. Their city's livelihood DEPENDS on the image of a clean, safe haven for tourism. It's a known fact that crime blotters in Vegas are wildly incomplete.

Agreed. Las Vegas has hundreds of conventions every year including SEMA which is one of the largest automotive shows in the world. I've never heard of this kind of stuff happening there. There were no "chinese gangsters" there for the Chinese New Year either.

I was living in Atlanta during the NBA ASG a few years ago and it was complete and utter chaos. I saw it with my own eyes. The entire city was grid lock for almost the entire weekend. People were driving up on the side walks and just parking their cars in the middle of the street. People were getting out of their cars and just hanging out in the middle of the street. It got to a point where I couldn't leave my house because there was literally bumper-to-bumper traffic in every direction, all day. It took me over three hours to drive a couple miles to a friends house (where I ended up spending the night because I couldn't get home). They closed an Atlanta mall because there were 65,000 people hanging out there. The mall reported later that sales were down that day. A friend of mine was a manager at a downtown sports bar and he had numerous people quit on him and he told me even worse stories that were reported in Whitlock's article. Trust me. It was complete disrespect for the city and it's residents. I get fired up even just thinking about it again.

Some of the :censored: I saw was ridiculous and the scene could have easily escalated to the point where similar events to those in Vegas could have happened. No question about it. And it probably did. It wasn't the chinese new year, it wasn't a convention going on at the civic center. It was the NBA All-Star Game, plain and simple. Keep looking for excuses about what happened in Vegas but that is the reality of the situation. I wouldn't wish that scene on my worst enemy. If you live in New Orleans (unless you are a die hard professional basketball fan and really need to be there) I would highly suggest you get the :censored: outta dodge come mid-February next year. You'll thank me later.

Terrible. Kaiser Stern needs to pack up his traveling road show of thugs, sycophants, gun-tards, and general criminals and just give it a rest.

[Guest]

Well, at least you didn't call him "Fuhrer Stern," I guess.

[HedleyLamarr]

I was living in Atlanta during the NBA ASG a few years ago and it was complete and utter chaos. I saw it with my own eyes. The entire city was grid lock for almost the entire weekend. People were driving up on the side walks and just parking their cars in the middle of the street. People were getting out of their cars and just hanging out in the middle of the street. It got to a point where I couldn't leave my house because there was literally bumper-to-bumper traffic in every direction, all day. It took me over three hours to drive a couple miles to a friends house (where I ended up spending the night because I couldn't get home). They closed an Atlanta mall because there were 65,000 people hanging out there. The mall reported later that sales were down that day. A friend of mine was a manager at a downtown sports bar and he had numerous people quit on him and he told me even worse stories that were reported in Whitlock's article. Trust me. It was complete disrespect for the city and it's residents. I get fired up even just thinking about it again.

Some of the :censored: I saw was ridiculous and the scene could have easily escalated to the point where similar events to those in Vegas could have happened. No question about it. And it probably did. It wasn't the chinese new year, it wasn't a convention going on at the civic center. It was the NBA All-Star Game, plain and simple. Keep looking for excuses about what happened in Vegas but that is the reality of the situation. I wouldn't wish that scene on my worst enemy. If you live in New Orleans (unless you are a die hard professional basketball fan and really need to be there) I would highly suggest you get the :censored: outta dodge come mid-February next year. You'll thank me later.

Did you live here when Freaknik was at the height of it's popularity?

[meetthemets]

No but I imagine it was just as bad.

[TFoA]

Oh, and here's a video of former NBA center Keith Closs getting a beatdown on the strip last weekend.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9be9_4907

And dsgitlin, no one's saying that everyone who attended the asg festivities in Vegas was a hoodrat. But you're either blind or naive to believe that there wasn't a large thug element roaming the strip, looking for trouble. Sticking your head in the sand won't help a thing, brother.

Thug element, eh?

I wonder who these hooligan thugs are, spreading their thuggery all across the beautiful, clean city of Las Vegas.

[Atomic]

Ask any Vegas-ite and they'll look you dead in the eye and say:

"Utah".

Seriously though, everyone who lives out there will blame it on So Cal. They can't stand us out there.

[leedsunited]

Oh, and here's a video of former NBA center Keith Closs getting a beatdown on the strip last weekend.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9be9_4907

And dsgitlin, no one's saying that everyone who attended the asg festivities in Vegas was a hoodrat. But you're either blind or naive to believe that there wasn't a large thug element roaming the strip, looking for trouble. Sticking your head in the sand won't help a thing, brother.

Thug element, eh?

I wonder who these hooligan thugs are, spreading their thuggery all across the beautiful, clean city of Las Vegas.

Vegas is far from a clean city. And North Las Vegas is absolutely dire. But you're deluding yourself if you think it's all locals causing the ruckus.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Oh, and here's a video of former NBA center Keith Closs getting a beatdown on the strip last weekend.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9be9_4907

And dsgitlin, no one's saying that everyone who attended the asg festivities in Vegas was a hoodrat. But you're either blind or naive to believe that there wasn't a large thug element roaming the strip, looking for trouble. Sticking your head in the sand won't help a thing, brother.

Thug element, eh?

I wonder who these hooligan thugs are, spreading their thuggery all across the beautiful, clean city of Las Vegas.

Vegas is far from a clean city. And North Las Vegas is absolutely dire. But you're deluding yourself if you think it's all locals causing the ruckus.

Do you live there? What's it to you? Also, why is "hoodrat" part of your vocabulary? Why would an adult need to use that word? I'd like to know.

[VitaminD]

Chinese New Year? I've been in Vegas on Chinese New Year. That wasn't the reason things were out of hand.

Police presence? What police presence? You'd have thought that for as image-conscious as Stern is, he would have "asked" Oscar Goodman to put the entire Nevada National Guard on the Strip and police the place like Fort Knox. The casinos are secure, but it's not like there's a heavy police presence once you step outside onto the streets. It's like Atlantic City (though not to the same degree).

I've been to Vegas several times, and I am headed back next month. Last weekend was not a "typical Vegas weekend" by any stretch. And if Stern's properly enraged and embarrassed by what his league (or at least the sycophants, groupies and hangers-on who worship the Association) brought to Vegas, New Orleans will be considerably less newsworthy.

As for the other issue - of bringing a pro team to Vegas - what happened this weekend probably won't have that much of an impact on the city's prospects. It may give some teams pause, but the biggest issues with Vegas are the same ones I've brought up time and again: it's a resort town with a largely transient population that comes from somewhere else, stays for a while for vacation, and leaves. The city's economy is fueled by the tourism and hospitality industry. A large percentage of the workforce in Vegas are shift workers at the casinos, who have neither the time nor the money to pony up thousands of dollars for season tickets for a 41 or 81-game home slate. Most of the people who move there followed other teams growing up, and would have no loyalty for the Las Vegas _______s. Most of the people in Vegas are there to do things that they can only do in Vegas (gamble, and so on), and probably wouldn't want to take a night out of their vacation to watch the local team play a team that they probably don't care about in a game that doesn't matter to them. And the sports books couldn't take any action on the hometown team. Who's buying the season tickets, the superboxes and club boxes? The casinos? Who is going to take those tickets? High rollers who'd rather be gambling? Other cities have economies that better support pro teams, which is what hurts Vegas's chances more than the nonsense from last weekend.