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To rivals of Tark the Shark's dominant, scandal-plagued basketball teams at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, UNLV stands for UNLoVed. So not many cried when his 1991 squad, 30-0 in the regular season, lost an NCAA semifinal game to the scholars of Duke. The coach's defenders aver that his rehab program for inner-city tall guys is affirmative action at its most productive. Others, spotting the athletes' BMWs in the gym parking lot, see another moral: it's not whether you win or lose, but how much you make on the side.
9. FLORIDA FOOTBALL
When the N.F.L.'s Miami Dolphins may only be the state's fourth best football team, you realize that the college game has become pro ball by other means. At season's end Miami University, the University of Florida and Florida State University were at or near the top of the rankings. Michigan and Washington fans might disagree, but how about a national playoff for the state championship?
AND THE LOWEST BLOW . . .
Mike Tyson's alleged "serial buttocks fondling." If the charges are correct, this walking keg of testosterone was doing at an Indianapolis beauty pageant what he does in the ring: mauling the competition. Tyson's troubles spotlighted the threat behind many an athlete's swagger: he may think the world is his for the taking, with one swift punch or pinch.