ELY — In UNLV receivers coach Kris Cinkovich’s eyes, the best thing to happen to sophomore wideout Phillip Payne during Saturday’s scrimmage wasn’t the two spectacular catches he made, but rather the one routine catch he didn’t.

ELY — The difference between UNLV’s 2008 and 2009 camps in Ely was on full display Saturday morning at Broadbent Park. That difference is the visible balance between the offense and defense.

Richard Pratt, in his Friday letter to the editor, says the “Cash for Clunkers” program is successful because it causes a multiplier effect on spending. He calls this “Economics 101.” Mr. Pratt and all who support the “Clunkers” program, including Congress and President Barack Obama, fall victim to an elementary economic error called the “Broken Window Fallacy.”

It was heartening to read Stephanie Tavares’ article in Friday’s Las Vegas Sun on the recently passed GI Bill and how it will benefit the brave individuals who have risked their lives for us.

ELY — It’s in a running back’s DNA to want to be ‘the man.’ You know. The guy who carries the ball 25 times a game. The guy who scores a few TDs every Saturday. The guy who is, well, the one to be feared and at the center of the defense’s attention. UNLV this season has plenty of candidates who would love to be that guy. Whether the coaching staff will settle on one or not is yet to be determined.

ELY — Mike Grant had every reason to be beaming and celebrating with his teammates following Friday morning’s full-pad practice at Broadbent Park. Early on in fall camp back in Las Vegas, UNLV coach Mike Sanford was quick to praise the efforts of the juco transfer from Sierra (Calif.) College. He took his biggest steps towards a potential starting gig in the first of the Rebels’ Friday sessions, as he broke up two passes and then snared an interception during drills.

Car buyers got a glimpse of the future this week when newspapers wrote extensively about the automotive technology that will soon be coming onto the market.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in last week as president of Iran and began his second term. The inauguration added further angst to human rights activists both in Iran and around the world who saw his election for what it was — a travesty.

Peace, love and experimental drug use were the calling cards of the free-spirited hippies who crammed onto Max Yasgur’s muddy dairy farm in upstate New York to listen to rock music from Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Santana and other notable artists.

A man who may have been homeless and camping along U.S. 95, near Desert Inn Road, was found dead Friday night, apparently beaten to death, Metro Police said.