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DAILY TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2004 LATE SPORTS 60¢ NEWS SPORTS HIT ME!LAS VEGASVEGAS MAYOR, AA FORMER MOBMOB LAWYER FROMFROM PHILLY, ISIS OUTOUT TO LURELURE AA BIG-LEAGUE SPORT TO JOE CAVARETTA/for the Daily News Oscar Goodman has SIN CITY Expos in his sights. PAGES 82-79 HIT ME! Ifyouhaveaheart, VEGASMAYOR: giveusaclub By MARK KRAM [email protected] AS VEGAS — So you’re L probably wondering what a plastic horse’s head is doing in Mayor Oscar Goodman’s 10th- floor office at City Hall. You wouldn’t be if you saw “The God- father,” the part where movie mo- gul Jack Woltz wakes up in hor- ror to discover that a Corleone op- erative had slipped the severed head of his thoroughbred be- tween his expensiv e sheets to per- suade him to give singer Johnny Fontane his big break in Holly- wood. Goodman’s replica is a cute decorating touch — perhaps too cute, given the lineup of mob figures he has represented dur- ing his career as a defense attor- ney — but that’s not why we’re here today. Goodman would like to lure a pro sports franchise to Las Vegas, which he says would just go crazy over a competitiv e team: “Vegas loves a winner!” What Las Vegas loves even more than that is a loser, of which the city imports legions on an hourly basis from across the world; you can find them in any ca- sino jamming quarter s into slot machines. It’s why Las Vegas was founded by gangster Bugsy Sie- gel back in the old days and it’s why it continues to prosper un- der the aegis of legitima te corpo- rations that have adopted a busi- ness plan that has esche wed blood flow for cash flow. The very existenc e of Las Vegas depends JOE CAVARETTA/For the Daily News on bringing you into the casino Oscar Goodman, whose city’s sports books doomed NBA talks, has competing groups in town trying to attract the Expos. and keeping you there, which is why for years the decor in the ho- Of even larger concern to the say, play the tables — the four ma- tractable -roof stadium a block Can the very sport that produc ed tel rooms has been so uniformly dapper ex-Phila delphian is con- jor sports have been inclined to from the Strip. Major League the Pete Rose affair and the 1919 garish; they want you downstair s vincing the leadership of pro steer clear of Las Vegas to assure Baseball is weighing the pros and Black Sox Scandal now hop into playing. Goodman under stands sports to buy into Las Vegas. that their veneer of propriet y re- cons of that, in addition to offers bed with the gambling capital of the principle in play, yet says he While sports betting has fueled to mains undistur bed. Competing from the Washing ton, D.C., area the universe? Goodman shrugs. was “hotter than fish grease” varying degrees the popularit y of groups are taking a run at land- and Portland, Ore., among oth- “Look, the only protection any when the casino operators reject- pro sports and the athletes them- ing the vagabond Montr eal Ex- ers; commis sioner Bud Selig said of these sports have against scan- ed his plea to sign on to the crite- selves come here in droves when- pos, one of which plans to build a recently that he expected the dal is the regulatory supervision ria set down by NBA commis sion- ever they can to relax — that is to privately funded, 40,000-sea t, re- owners to decide by mid- July. that Nevada gaming imposes on er David Stern, who said Las Ve- the sports books,” says Good- gas would not get a team unless man, irritation climbing in his the sports books stopped taking voice. “Over the years, whenever wagers on their events. Says “For every one of his critics, you can find we have spotted a shift in a line, Goodman, who concedes that pro 25 people who just adore him.” sports will never succeed here un- they have called in the FBI, which less the casinos buy into the con- comes in and arrests someone JOHN L. SMITH, on Oscar Goodman cept: “I had just hoped to see some altruism.” Continued on Next Page PAGE 82 PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2004 HIT ME! Continued from Preceding Page be Reno.” Whatever Goodman is or has who is tampering with the game. THE EXPOS’ Montreal been, he has always had a keen in- Without Nevada doing that, there 4 terest in sports. Growing up in is really no entity or agency out NEXT HOME West Phila delphia on Catherine there that has that responsibilit y. Street and later Christiana near Baseball commissioner Bud Selig Without Nevada, there is no tell- 61st, he played at Central High has said he’ll announce by mid-July 6 ing what would be going on.” and later Haverford School, yet where the Expos will be playing 3 says of his athletic abilities, “I Goodman then adds with a twin- 1 next season. Here’s a glance at 8 was always the last player on the kle in his eye: “So you see it is hy- 7 their potential destinations. team.” He remember s going with pocrisy to even suggest there is his dad, an attorne y, on several oc- something untoward or unseem- 5 casions to see the Phillies play the ly about an associa tion with Las 2 Dodgers at Shibe Park. “I saw Vegas.” Jackie Robinson steal home three times,” he says. “Nothing was Mr. Popularity more exciting.” He remember s as If you’d like an idea of what Las a young boy how he became ac- Vegas once looked like, stroll quainted with the thrill of wager- through the downtown area, Site Proposal Plus Minus ing, how this “seedy old guy” used to come around the school where on this gray March day a 1 Northern Includes new stadium Dense population, yet If going here, why not big crowd has formed in anticipa- Virginia near Dulles Airport. far enough away from just be based in grounds. You picked three base- tion of the gala reopening of Bin- Baltimore. Washington? ball players and if they got six ion’s Horseshoe Hotel & Casino. hits, it paid 6-to -1. Goodman says San Juan, Renovate the present They’re already playing Attendance isn’t much Unlike the dazzling displa ys of op- 2 he used to bet the nickel he was P.R. stadium, adding 22 games here. better than what they’re given for lunch. ulenc e up on the Strip, downtown 12,000 seats. drawing in Montreal. has a flophouse feel to it, given on He smiles. “I sort of prefer certain corner s to encamped der- 3 Las Build $420 million, Growing area; The Aladdin, Bally’s, those days to these,” Goodman elicts steeped in the glow of puls- Vegas 40,000-seat retractable loads of tourists; Caesars Palace . says. “They were great old days. ing neon. Up Fremont Street are dome stadium. warm, dry climate. They were days when you could a strip joint, The Girls of Glitter root for your team and really feel Portland, Gather $350 million in Already home to More post-midnight Gulch, and a casino called Mer- 4 an attachment to your city. I Ore. financing for a NBA Trail Blazers games for would like to establish that here.” maid’s, where a video screen new stadium. and Triple A baseball. East Coast fans. plays an ad for “Deep Fried Goodman came to Las Vegas in 1964 with his new bride, Carolyn, Twinkies.” While the Horseshoe 5 Monterrey, Expand stadium to Provides that first push Players union won’t has been the symbolic founda tion Mexico 35,000 capacity. south of the border. like that Houston to with $87 in his pocket. He says of old Las Vegas, a place where Monterrey to Phoenix when they began their drive you could wager any sum and to San Diego road trip. across America, the Phillies were in first place. “By the time we ar- founder Benn y Binion would take Washington, Construct $340 million Puts baseball back Makes Orioles owner your action, it has been closed 6 rived here, they were finished,” D.C. stadium in RFK Stadium where it belongs. Peter Angelos very, he says. With a degree from Hav- since a squad of gaming agents parking lot. very angry. and U.S. Marshals raided it in Jan- erford College and a juris doctor- uary due to bookk eeping irregu- 7 San Expand present stadium, Could double as a home How about an average ate from the University of Penn- larities. Control of the propert y Antonio which seats 7,000. with Monterrey, Mexico, summer high sylvania, he found Las Vegas had has passed from the Binion clan or Austin, Texas. temperature of 95? unlimited opportunities, which only increased as he began taking into corpor ate hands, yet it re- Norfolk/ Construct $300 million, Virgin pro territory; Could a team in mains the site of the World Series 8 on the government in defense of Hampton 38,000-seat stadium. backing of billionaire Hampton Roads such legendary crime figures as of Poker and a sentimental favor- Roads, Va. Paul L. Johnson. draw 20,000 people on Meyer Lansky. Two of his clients ite that still offers up that $1.95 a Wednesday night? breakfast. back then, Frank Rosenthal and Goodman is here today for the — Paul Vigna Tony “The Ant” Spilotr o, would be played by Robert De Niro and ribbon- cutting ceremon y.

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