A Short Swim with Tark the Shark

From 1989 to 1995 I paddled in the sharkpool that is the annual VSDA convention, un-spooling every summer in stiflingly hot Las Vegas.  It's the trade show where all the big home video releases are promoted before the fall/pre-holiday buying cycle.

Tark SharkBite

Christopher Lloyd signs autographs

The LV Hilton exhibit hall would be packed:  Up front: Hollywood Studios with big booths and wild promotions (Warner Bros: "Get your picture taken in front of the car from Lethal Weapon and next to a cardboard standee of Mel Gibson!"; Paramount: "George 'Sulu' Takei signing autographs, 3-4pm today!").

Middle of the pack: independent video publishers, from desperate chop shops like United Video with Go-Go-Gophers, to one-hit golden geese (Lyons Group with the Barney franchise, Andrew Solt selling the Ed Sullivan archive), to high-end special interest catalogs (Kultur, Pacific Arts).

Walking the floor in Vegas...

In the back of the hall, behind a curtain: the motor that drove the video store business - porn.  But that's another story or two....

So it's 1994 and we're set up in our little Discovery Channel booth in the "Special Interest" section, showing off Nature, Science, History (a.k.a. Military), People & Places, and Human Adventure titles.  Coming up the aisle? A glowering, lumbering hulk with a low-brow look, surrounded by an entourage of husky peackeepers and a school of beanpole remoras (remorae?).  It's him!  The Towel Chewer - Jerry Tarkanian!

Tark coached the UNLV "Runnin' Rebels" hoop team, and had been notorious for over 20 years for his winning ways, NCAA-infuriating violations of recruiting and other policies, and "questionable associations" with Las Vegas sports, gambling and other nefarious denizens.  The hoop arena was close by, nearly around the corner on the short drive between the strip and McCarran airport.  He must have just popped over to review the fun at the rear of the hall.

I had all of three seconds in the paint, to think fast, pick, roll, and reach for the spinner rack.  With Discovery's annual "Shark Week" stunt coming shortly and already getting heavy on-air promotion, we'd featured a series of Shark titles in the booth.  "Hey Tark!  Sign my Shark box!" He ambled over, took the magic marker from me and scribbled "Tark the Shark" across its face, and kept moving.

I later gave the box to a wide eyed intern as a prize for some sort of sales support contest.

Don't Miss: "Jerry Tarkanian and other Runnin' Rebels" premiering tonight and playing all this month during March madness, on HBO!