Thoughts on “Las Vegas, Nevada”

THOUGHTS ON “LAS VEGAS, NEVADA”

I live in the city of LAS Vegas. Not “Vegas.” You will not find “Vegas” on a map. Such a place does not exist.

1. I live in the city of LAS Vegas. Not “Vegas.” You will not find “Vegas” on a map. Such a place called “Vegas” does not exist. Besides, “Vegas” sounds so touristy. Fake. Using “Vegas” sounds like, well, you’re just trying too hard to be cool. This isn’t a TV show with Dan Tanna.  Using “Vegas” is like wearing a polyester leisure suit — worth a smirk.  “Vegas” just sounds — wrong. Disagree? Well, in LA, nobody says “Angeles.” In SFO, nobody says “Francisco.” In NYC, nobody says “York.” These cities all have proper names. So, say them correctly and write them correctly. It’s LAS VEGAS.

2. Pursuant to #1, I don’t give a rat’s ass that some out-of-state billionaire NHL owner decided to call the local hockey team the “Vegas” Golden Knights. Sounds almost as bad as the Carolina Hurricane (which takes the rotten tomato prize). Besides, doesn’t that tourist-owner live 3,000 miles from here, someplace in Florida? Alert: It’s the Las Vegas Golden Knights. In all my sports writings (and I’ve done 100s of articles on NHL betting which were published on the web), I always refer to the team as the “Las Vegas Golden Knights.” Quit trying to change the name of my city.

3. The world-class airport that I commonly use is always to be referred to — now listen up — as “Las Vegas International Airport.” The old airport name was certainly wrong and embarrassingly outdated, and I’m sure glad the city and county decided to rip away the fart stain of that old corrupt racist Nevada bigot who used to be the marques name on the big airport sign. However, replacing one dead corrupt senator with another dead corrupt senator doesn’t solve the problem. Besides, the new name is ridiculously partisan. An airport’s name should reflect the city and be representative of all citizens. A name should not be divisive. Shoving “Harry Reid” down my throat every time I fly in and out of my city is enough to make me reach for a barf bag. Memo: I will never use that name. It’s Las Vegas International Airport.

4. I refuse to call any sports stadium by a corporate name (except maybe Wrigley Field, which gets grandfathered in because it’s 100+ years old). Raiders Stadium? Sounds good to me. Golden Knights Arena? Got it. Other cities are doing Monopoly deals with corporate naming rights. In New Orleans, they stripped away the classic name “the Superdome” in favor of Mercedes Benz, because yeah, the first thing you think about in New Orleans is driving a Mercedes Benz, right? When that sponsorship deal soured, a (then bankrupt) casino company bought the “naming rights.” Now, it’s confusing as hell to see “Caesars” on the name of that stadium, when everyone knows Caesars is actually in ….. insert drum roll ….. Las Vegas! Oh, and the name of the big casino in New Orleans is “Harrah’s.” Seriously, you can look it up. Confused yet? These corporate naming games are a joke. Even the arena where the NBA’s Miami Heat play was hastily stripped away after the FTX crypto collapse last year, and now they call it something else. That arena is now on its third name in five years. The public can’t keep up. Hey Houston, we have a problem: Enron Field anyone? Stadium naming rights suck. I refuse to use them.

5. Finally, I don’t care if people pronounce the name of my home state “Nev-EEEHH-dah” or Nev-AAAHHH-dah. I’ve lived here 20 years and prefer the Latin pronunciation, “Nev-AAAHHH-dah.” But, that’s just me. Natives get pissed, but now transplants outnumber the longtime locals, so we’ll just call our state whatever the hell we and don’t care if you approve, or not. I live in LAS Vegas, Nev-AAAHHH-duh.” Is that clear?

Oh, and one more thing. Okay, two more things:  (a) Las Vegas is not “Sin City.” Quit calling it that. “Sin City” implies the actions happening here are morally and ethically wrong. But I don’t see the primary reasons that millions of people come to Las Vegas from all over the world as “sinful.” Gambling is not a sin (otherwise, shut down the stock market). Drinking is not a sin (didn’t Jesus drink wine?). Partying isn’t a sin (isn’t that what people enjoy–being together and hanging out?). Exciting shows and world-class entertainment aren’t sins (well, maybe the Ka show at the MGM is a sin — it’s terrible!). Las Vegas is no more sinful than any other large city. (b) Oh, and I’m thrilled they finally trash-canned that idiotic “what happens in (Las) Vegas stays in (Las) Vegas” ad campaign. Admittedly, it was a hit. But each time I heard it, it just felt dirty. It was like giving visitors a license to behave badly and even encouraging recklessness. I’m glad that annoying marketing campaign and promiscuous message is no more.

READ: Is This the Face of Las Vegas?

READ: How do you pronounce “Nevada?”

READ: How the slogan “what happens in Las Vegas….” came about