I'm calling the police to report a robbery in Las Vegas.
Not a pickpocketing charge on Las Vegas Boulevard nor one of those daring casino heists witnessed with alarming regularity over the past decade.
This theft did not take place at a certain time on a specific date.
Instead, the fraud was years in the making.
The white-collar crime involved the $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium located along Interstate 15, just south of the Hacienda Avenue bridge.
After visiting the stadium this past Saturday to watch a college football game between UNLV and Idaho State, I question the project's enormous price tag and more specifically, the public financing of $750 million.
Three-quarters of a billion dollars is the largest pot of public money ever designated for a sports stadium.
More on the fleecing of the public later.
Admittedly, there's a lot to like about Allegiant Stadium.
There's the good-looking curvy dark glass exterior, the wide comfortable seats, the fan-friendly sightlines and the obvious cleanliness associated with any new stadium.
The domed roof is not retractable, but the field surface is.
Natural grass is rolled into the stadium on a "field tray" 48 hours before a Raiders game and rolled out shortly thereafter.
UNLV football plays on a different surface than their professional counterparts.
UNLV's FieldTurf surface is attached to the stadium floor, four feet below from where the grass field is wheeled into place.
However, with the Raiders playing a preseason game Friday night and UNLV playing its home opener Saturday afternoon, there was not enough time for the field swap.
UNLV and Idaho State competed on an NFL field.
The worn grass, hosting two games in a span of less than 24 hours, looked out of place amid the brand new surroundings.
Additionally, the dark seat backs -- some black and others more gray than silver -- gave a drab look to the building, especially on a day when fewer than 20,000 people filled the 65,000-seat stadium.
Back to the robbery.
Why steal $750 million from Nevada taxpayers when the National Football League features 32 teams with an average valuation of more than $4 billion apiece?
Why enrich NFL owners with state government subsidies when Carolina's David Alan Tepper and Kansas City's Hunt Family boast fortunes of more than $15 billion?
Why offer corporate welfare to a sports league that pays commissioner Roger Goodell $64 million per year?
Anyone with ties to the cash-strapped Clark County School District or any underperforming Nevada public school is heartbroken by the government's gift to the Las Vegas Raiders.
They would prefer the large sum of taxpayer money go directly to the state's education fund.
The NFL and Las Vegas Raiders somehow swindled $750 million from Nevada taxpayers at a time when the state's schools are rated dead-last (50 out of 50) in this country's K-12 educational rankings, according to Education Week.
UNLV 52 IDAHO STATE 21.....The Rebels led 45-7 at halftime.
UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo pulled his starters at the break.
Sophomore quarterback Doug Brumfield, a lanky lefty listed at 6-6, completed 21 of 25 passes for 356 yards and four touchdown passes in just 30 minutes of football.
Idaho State outscored UNLV's backups, 14-7, over the game's final 30 minutes.
In college football mismatches, you often see favorites dominate underdogs in the first half with the underdog showing signs of life only when the game turns into a glorified scrimmage.
CROOKED NUMBERS.....As a dedicated totals bettor in Major League Baseball, I caution fellow gamblers from betting UNDER the team total of any Pittsburgh Pirates opponent.
Pittsburgh's pitching staff is simply awful.
The Pirates have the dubious distinction of leading MLB in the number of times they've surrendered five or more runs in a single inning.
The big innings already occurred 25 times this season and there are still 35 games left on the 2022 schedule.
This is old hat for fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pittsburgh's leaky pitching last season allowed five-plus runs in a single frame an MLB-high 28 times.
Paradoxically, a check of Pirates full-game totals since the start of the 2021 season shows a near 50/50 split between overs and unders.
The numbers show Pittsburgh surrenders plenty of runs while scoring very few.
HUMOR IN HANDICAPPING.....There's no truth to the nasty rumor that Dollar Loan Center once offered a large sum of money to sponsor "The J.K. Play of the Day" on Las Vegas radio.
Though yesterday I heard an even tighter connection between program content and sponsor product during a sports gambling show on the SportsGrid Radio Network, airing on Sirius XM Channel 159.
After poorly-prepared hosts Brian Ciano and Drew Martin previewed the important games on the Week 1 college football schedule -- mostly by reading from Phil Steele's football magazine -- the show went to a commercial break featuring The Final Expense Network.
The Final Expense Network offers insurance for those who want to "die with dignity."
A disorganized sports betting show whose lead advertiser buries people.
Seems like a perfect fit to me.
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