Columnist Ron Kantowski: LV’s Neverett lends voice to Olympic hockey

Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Tim Neverett was sitting at home last Monday, watching either "Slap Shot" or "Mystery, Alaska," (but not the forgettable "Youngblood" starring Rob Lowe) in an attempt to get a hockey fix, when his phone rang.

The caller wanted to know whether he would be interested in spending the next two weeks at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, doing hockey play-by-play for Pacific Rim television.

Hello?! Neverett interested in broadcasting hockey?

That's like asking if the pope is Catholic or do the Philadelphia Flyers still dig in the corners.

"I was really dying to do hockey anyway, so I'm just looking forward to the whole experience," said Neverett, the former voice of the International Hockey League's Las Vegas Thunder who has moved on to the UNLV football booth.

Neverett said he was recommended for the gig by a friend in Reno who does free-lance sportscasting work for international television. Neverett's first assignment came over the weekend when Latvia and Austria faced off in a preliminary game.

Asked if he feared having a vowel movement trying to pronounce the names of the European players, Neverett said that part of the job is going to be a piece of cake, thanks to his IHL experience.

In fact, he said the Latvia roster features three former IHL standouts, including ex-Thunder player Grigori Panteleyev.

"You'd be amazed how many IHL players are playing in the Olympics," Neverett said before departing for Utah.

For the record, I believe Oswald acted alone in Dealey Plaza. But I'll bet I'm not the only one who thinks it peculiar that it wasn't until the 18-4 Lady Rebels went on a winning binge that their star became the focus of an NCAA investigation.

"In my mind, it's very simple -- stay out of recruiting. Stay out of the lives of student-athletes. How hard is that? How come people can't be supporters, financially or otherwise, enjoy it for what it is and move on? How is it that you are spending the wee hours of the night on an Internet chat (site) about where a 17-year-old kid is going to school?

"Go spend time with your son or daughter or wife."

Tracy, a longtime Las Vegan, was the subject of an interview in "Racer" magazine this month in which he identifies his adopted hometown as his "favorite place in the world."

When the colorful Tracy was asked how he would spend a $100 bill he found on the street, he didn't pass on the high side.

"I'd spend it at the Crazy Horse," Tracy said in reference to a local topless joint. "You know, give a little something back to the community."

In his syndicated column that appeared in the morning newspaper Saturday, Barry repeatedly poked fun at Czech hockey player Radek Bonk, suggesting that the Winter Olympics are the domain of strange-named athletes nobody has heard of. But the reality is that Bonk is one of the few jocks at the Winter games that American stick-and-ball fans may be familiar with, given he's an all-star with the NHL's Ottawa Senators.

And if the joke didn't bomb in Las Vegas, it should have, given Bonk's status as teen idol with the inaugural Las Vegas Thunder in 1993.