Why not set aside the notion of luring a major league team and concentrate on proving that we can be a first-class home for the sports we already have?

Now that might lure a major league team. Without either substantial refurbishment or replacement of Cashman Field, we’re in danger of losing Triple-A ball. Without a paved parking lot at Sam Boyd Stadium, the football fan experience remains an exercise in exurban hiking. UNLV baseball, on the verge of a renaissance with new coach Tim Chambers, needs our support.

In any case, most of us can afford a night out at the minor league ballpark or Rebel game. Not so true of those big-league sports that supposedly would generate so much community pride: NBA tickets have become status badges for absentee luxury-box owners and sunglass-wearing celebrities. NFL franchises are now charging tens of thousands of dollars in personal seat licenses for the right to buy a seat. And Major League Baseball games, traditionally the most affordable big-league sport, can now run a family of four a couple hundred dollars. And there are 81 home dates. Try filling the joint for, say, the Las Vegas Royals.

Oh, hell, who are we fooling? We want the big leagues, too. If you can guarantee that a team’s on its way (step back, Oscar, we don’t believe you anymore) and pay for most of the darn thing with private dollars, and pitch in for the monorail extension to get folks there, then we’ll talk. Or, actually, we’ll celebrate.