Columnist Ron Kantowski: As IHL begins, few mourn loss of Thunder

Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1999 | 10:23 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday and Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

In case you missed it, the International Hockey League began its 55th season without the Las Vegas Thunder this past weekend.

That had to make at least two people I know -- Buddy McDonald and Vicki, my teller at WestStar Credit Union -- very melancholy.

McDonald was/still is the father of Las Vegas hockey. Prior to his arrival, about the only ice you could find around here was in a highball. McDonald was a semipro star around these parts for years, and when the Thunder made its debut in 1993, he was put in charge of game operations. But you get the feeling he would have washed Jim Kyte's sweat socks in exchange for a mezzanine ticket.

Knowing Buddy, at about the time the Thunder should have been dropping the puck last weekend, he probably was playing in a pick-up game somewhere. Or helping to organize one. At very least, he was standing in line for tickets to "Mystery, Alaska."

I only met Vicki last year, when the Thunder was on the verge of collapse. She knew the skate size of every Thunder player. She was a season ticket holder and baked cookies for any Las Vegas player who was homesick for Saskatchewan.

They are just two of many who must be going through withdrawals now that it's October and the Thunder has been iced for good.

Having grown up following Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, I thought I'd miss the Thunder, too. But until the official press release from the "I" found its way into my mailbox Monday, it hadn't even occurred to me that the start of the season had come and gone.

Yes, I will always have a fond spot under my sweater for guys such as Clint Malarchuk and Patrice Lefebvre. But then you remember all the goofy fights, the incessant Zamboni Song, games played in four quarters instead of three periods, pink ice on Valentine's Day, goons such as Rhett Trombley, shootouts and shootout losses, strippers brought in for between-the-period bikini contests, and it hits you like an Al MacInnis slap shot: Losing our minor league hockey team isn't the end of the world.

Although in retrospect, the strippers were nowhere near as offensive as Rhett Trombley.

* CAVAGNARO LETTERS AGAIN: Another week, another letter from UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro. At this pace, I'm going to wind up with more letters than Bo Jackson during his Auburn days.

The Sun this week received a copy of a letter Cavagnaro sent to The Sporting News, chastising the weekly newspaper for placing the Rebels near the bottom (103 out of 112) of its recent "The Grades Are In" rankings.

As Sun columnist Dean Juipe pointed out after the Sporting News story was published, the criteria used to measure graduation rates can be diced and sliced to support a specific view, which Cavagnaro reiterated in his letter.

But he also takes issue with TSN for giving the UNLV athletic program a D minus in the category "complies with the letter and spirit of the (NCAA) rules."

Cavagnaro should be happy with the passing grade. Given UNLV is knee deep into yet another NCAA inquiry into possible wrongdoings within the men's basketball program, TSN easily could have given the Rebels a big, fat "F."

It was the second straight week Cavagnaro did a mass mailing to defend the athletic program. Last week, local media received a missive explaining UNLV's questionable three-way football TV pact with the fledgling SportsWest network and the Mountain West Conference.

* HOMER DERBY: Contrary to a letter that appeared in the Sunday morning paper, I was not terribly offended by the boosterism of hometown announcers Dave McCann and Steve Stallworth during last Saturday's UNLV-UNR football telecast from Reno.

Other than McCann understating that UNLV's Randy Black got a "piece" of the face mask of a Reno ball-carrier -- Stallworth corrected him, saying in essence that what Black did would be considered a misdemeanor in several Southern states -- and Stallworth repeatedly saying that UNLV was not in trouble despite falling behind by three touchdowns in the first half, most of the cheerleading was done on the sidelines.

Stallworth, a former UNLV quarterback, was the triggerman for a pretty anemic Rebel offense back in 1985. But not as anemic as this year's attack. The Rebel offense is so inept that had the Wolf Pack defense walked off the field Saturday it still would have taken UNLV three plays to score.

* AROUND THE HORN: How long will it be before the NFL mandates that any player knocked unconscious must sit out the following week's game? Similar policies already exist in boxing and auto racing. ...

But the major bell-ringings absorbed by Steve Young, Billy Joe Hobert and others this year (and even Terrell Davis' blown-out knee), pales in comparison to the injury suffered by Cal-Davis running back Sam Paneno last month against Western Oregon. After rushing for 114 yards on 26 carries, the sophomore back dislocated his knee during the first play of overtime. The injury crushed an artery, blocking blood flow to the leg. That led to nerve and tissue damage and nine days later, doctors amputated Paneno's lower right leg. ...

Fans and officials who were doused by bottled water during Sunday's Confederation Cup soccer final at Sam Boyd Stadium should consider themselves fortunate that the hooligans were allowed to buy water in plastic containers. In most Central and South American countries where soccer is king, cans and bottles -- or anything else that can be tossed onto the field -- are banned.

Some of the more unruly fans have been known to fill plastic baggies with ... well, let's just say recycled Budweiser, and then hurl them at the sources of their disdain.

I suppose that's just one way to screen fans for diabetes.

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