Darrell Moody: Just move baby; Las Vegas ready for the Raiders

The proposed move of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas has dominated the news and sports pages in the Silver State recently.

I was in Las Vegas recently for the Mountain West Media Day for men’s basketball, and when people saw my Raiders hat they were more than happy to strike up a conversation and ask my opinion.

The people in Las Vegas are ecstatic, and they should be. Pro sports is the one thing Las Vegas has been missing, and now Sin City has an NHL team and hopefully an NFL team. You can only hang your hat on boxing for so long.

The beautiful thing about this is Las Vegas residents aren’t being asked to pay a dime. It’s the outsiders like you and me who will have to fork over extra money for a hotel room, but I don’t think a couple of more dollars per night for a room is a big deal. And, improvements for the convention center which brings in a ton of revenue to the city each year and more police are tied into the deal. No offense, but Las Vegas is all about tourism. It’s not known for anything else.

A short time ago, a Reno columnist talked about what a bad idea the Raiders’ move was because there were so many things Las Vegas needed, i.e more schools etc.

I blame the Las Vegas voters for that situation. Voting for that would have cost them money where the Raiders move doesn’t. Does anybody really expect a casino owner to make sure the schools in Las Vegas are in good shape? Are you kidding me? He’s a businessman first and foremost. It’s his job to make money not give it away.

Oakland doesn’t deserve the Raiders any longer. The city has done nothing to make the Coliseum any better for the Athletics or Raiders. The Coliseum is the only multi-use (football and baseball sharing a field) stadium, and it’s a dump.

Each team deserves its own facility, and the mayor of Oakland has already said while she prefers to keep both teams, baseball is her first priority. Even if they find land for a stadium in the East Bay, if I’m the Raiders I don’t stay unless there are massive stadium improvements.

I attended the Raiders-Chiefs game a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately it rained hard most of the day, making it uncomfortable. What was deplorable is having to walk through standing water on the first-level mezzanine. Are you kidding me?

We all know about the drainage issues at the Coliseum; the smell baseball teams complain about all the time. The Oakland mayor is crying poor, and that’s fine. The only thing that will save the Raiders and keep them in Oakland is rich business people stepping up and throwing a lot of money at the situation.

Even if that happens, I’d like to see the Raiders have their own market. I’m not worried about Vegas being able to support a team, not after what I saw waiting for my flight from Oakland. There are still tons of fans from Southern California who go to the Bay Area to see the Raiders. It would be quicker for them to get to Vegas.

I met a gentleman from Phoenix, an avid Raiders fan, and he hated the stadium.

All I could do was agree with him.

Just move, baby.

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Carson High will host next month’s state volleyball tournament.

Blair Roman, Carson’s first-year athletic director, said the NIAA was looking for somebody willing to host.

Apparently, the original school backed out, and nobody was willing to step up.

The nice thing about it is Carson has a chance to make state this year, and it would be great for the Senators to play in their own gym.

Morse Burley Gym has issues, however. The baskets hang down too low, and it’s a low ceiling. It could create some problems.

I was surprised Manogue didn’t step up, especially since it’s a lock to make state this year.

Carson has also been selected to host regional basketball.