Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2003 | 9:44 a.m.
Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
Is it possible to announce plans for a bogus -- er, new -- professional sports league without mentioning Las Vegas as a possible franchise?
Apparently not.
Our sometimes fair city is one of 48 being courted by the new World Hockey Association, not to be confused with the old one that introduced Wayne Gretzky to the NHL, along with the Hartford Whalers.
Well, one of two ain't bad.
But if last week's organizational meeting in Toronto is any indication, Las Vegas will have to wait for a WHA expansion team. According to the league's website, eight cities and/or ownership groups -- Quebec City, Toronto, Hamilton in Canada along with Cleveland, Cincinnati, Portland, St. Louis and Chicago -- have agreed to drop the puck in 2004.
Officials at the Orleans Arena, who operate the only legitimate pro hockey arena in town, said they have not heard from or of the WHA.
So, as they say, it remains to be seen if the league comes to fruition. But if it does, it will give NHL players some leverage if they are locked out of training camp when their current contract expires Sept. 15.
"They want to start up in eight or 10 cities," said the Flyers' Jeremy Roenick, who is always upset about something. "If they can manage to pull that off, I would definitely be looking into going into one of those cities to help them start up the league."
Bobby Hull, one of the stars of the old WHA, has agreed to be commissioner of the new one, whose teams will operate under a $10 million salary cap with a marquee player exception.
Provided, of course, it gets its name on the marquee.
According to a Denver Post story, the league meetings were about as organized as the Pittsburgh Penguins' power play.
For instance, Hull, who played for and coached the old Winnipeg Jets, said the WHA would not have a team in Winnipeg or any other city that is currently home to an American Hockey League (the NHL developmental league) team. Yet Hamilton has an AHL team, the Bulldogs.
So Hull suggested that the Bulldogs could be sold to the WHA, a theory that came as news to Hamilton's representative at the WHA meeting.
As Avalanche defenseman Rob Blake said, "I've read a couple of articles, but it doesn't seem like a sure thing at all."
The WHA, for now, is operating out of a strip mall in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
No word yet on whether Gordie Howe is planning another comeback.
Around the horn
Having spent most her UNLV sports information career during the Jerry Tarkanian era, you would think Joyce Aschenbrenner could have played a little Ameoba defense when Dick Vitale hugged her at center court during halftime of last week's Jimmy V Men's Basketball Classic at Madison Square Garden. Aschenbrenner was named vice president of the V Foundation, a cancer awareness program created in the memory of former N.C. State basketball coach Jim Valvano, in March. She also is a cancer survivor since 1998. In the words of Dickie V, that is just awesome, baby, with a capital A. ... (Monty) Montezuma's revenge: San Diego State has officially dumped its longtime but politically incorrect mascot, the muscle-bound Monty Montezuma, for a new "Aztec Warrior" that is just as politically incorrect. Plus, he looks like a scrawny chicken hawk . Maybe SDSU should just put a guy in a Foghorn Leghorn suit and call it a day. ... If the Las Vegas Wranglers aren't caref! ul, they're going to make me look like a genius -- or at least Ken Dryden -- for predicting that minor-league hockey could work here. As of Monday, 4,400 tickets had been sold for Wednesday's game against Long Beach, which is a great crowd for midweek. ...
Count Henry Bibby among those who think BYU could make some noise during March Madness. "We played against a tournament team tonight," the veteran USC coach said after the Trojans were routed by Rafael Araujo (28 points, 11 rebounds) and the Cougars, 85-61, on Saturday. "Araujo will take them a long way, with Mark Bigelow and people like that on the side. They're not a mid-major team, that's for sure." ... With impressive wins against USC and Oklahoma State in the past 10 days, BYU has won 36 non-conference games in a row at the Marriott Center. ... If UNLV's Jason Thomas is the most underachieving football player I've seen in 16 years in Las Vegas, Luke Staley, the former BYU running back, is next. But at least Staley can blame his fate on a series of injuries. A former Doak Walker Award winner as the nation's best runni ng back, Staley is now selling cell phones out of a kiosk at a Salt Lake City mall after being cut by the Lions during the ! NFL preseason. ...
New Mexico's Katie Hnida, who became the first woman to appear in an NCAA football game when her extra point attempt was blocked by UCLA in last year's Las Vegas Bowl, has a different outlook than most women her age. "All my girlfriends want engagement rings, but the only ring I want is a conference championship one," she said. Hnida, who will return for a LV Bowl encore when the Lobos tangle with Oregon State on Christmas Eve, kicked two successful PATs in New Mexico's victory against Texas State in this year's season opener. ... The Las Vegas Bowl does not have a corporate sponsor, but New Mexico athletic director Rudy Davalos said Dickies or whoever makes lunch pails would have been a good one, given the character of the teams. "Oregon State is a blue-collar team, just like us," Davalos said at the Las Vegas Bowl kickoff luncheon. ...
NFL Hall-of-Famer Kellen Winslow, on Oregon State and former Las Vegas Eldorado High running back Steven Jackson: "When you're talking about jumping to the NFL, the easiest position to do it at is running back. He's mature and he's ready." ... Richard Siegler, another eager Beaver who played high school football in Las Vegas (Chaparral), said he has come full circle on Corvallis after spending five years there. "When I first got here, I didn't like it a whole lot," he told the Portland Tribune. "It was so different than Vegas. I thought the Ku Klux Klan was big here." But then Siegler took up fishing and fell in love with Oregon's cool pines. "This state is a good place -- peace and quiet and natural beauty," he said, obviously neglecting to mention the electic all-yellow uniforms worn by the rival Oregon Ducks. ...
Last week, a published report said there would be several "major announcements" regarding the Las Vegas Rattlers, our rumored team in the what remains of the born-again ABA. The Rattlers did play a game last week, losing 120-91 to Juarez. According to a TV news report, rapper Master P (college basketball fans may remember him as Percy Miller from the University of Houston), Las Vegas' star attraction, did not play at Juarez after members of his posse were detained at the border for carrying concealed weapons. As for those announcements ... well, we're still waiting. At this point, the Rattlers and the league itself look more shaky than bungalow on stilts above the San Andreas Fault. ... But at least the Rattlers have a player on the roster you've heard of ... for basketball, that is. Mark Jackson, the former St. John's and longtime NBA point guard, supposedly will play for Las Vegas, provided it can find a high school gym to play in after sixth-period gym class.
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