Oral history interview with Michael Newcomb conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee D. White on July 12, 2024 for the Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Michael Newcomb recalls his childhood in Connecticut and watching the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels games on television. In 1990, Newcomb moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend UNLV. He worked as an usher at outdoor athletic events at Caesars Palace and The Mirage, and eventually became supervisor and then personnel director of the company. Newcomb talks about starting work at the Thomas & Mack Center in 1996 managing the parking lot and the events. He recalls the experiences and people who have shaped his nearly 30 years at the Center, as he became Executive Director in 2011. Newcomb discusses events at Sam Boyd Stadium and its eventual closure. He describes the community-wide effort required to host such major events as the National Finals Rodeo and Cowboy Christmas, the Super Bowl, the NBA AllStars Weekend in 2007, NBA Summer League since 2004, Team USA Basketball in 2006, and plans to host the Final Four in 2028. He closes the interview recalling how the T&M was a reunification center after the 1 October shooting in 2017 and again on December 6, 2023, as other buildings on the UNLV campus were evacuated. Digital audio available.

Oral history interview with Daniel “D. J.” Allen conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee D. White on June 21, 2024 for Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, D. J. Allen describes growing up in Henderson, Nevada and playing baseball and basketball as a young person. He recalls listening to radio stations and learning to love the Los Angeles Dodgers and UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. He volunteered to write about Little League for the Henderson Home News and was hired as the full-time sports journalist. He parlayed his "Crazy Dance Man" persona into an internship in media relations with the Las Vegas Thunder hockey team, and from there, at 21, became Director of Media Relations for the Las Vegas Stars, all while he was still an undergraduate UNLV student. In this wide-ranging interview, he talks about working with Jim Livengood to help erase Las Vegas's "gambling" stigma with the NCAA and professional sports, get the NCAA athletic directors to begin talking about Las Vegas as a sports city, and about how Cisco Aguilar and Andre Agassi helped make these conversations happen. Among other topics, he talks about the Vegas Golden Knights, the Raiders, the Thunder, and the Stars and using sports as a platform to do good in the community. Digital audio available.