June 5, 2007

Andy Kehe's column: Ottawa veteran obviously must have quacked under pressure

By ANDY KEHE, Californian staff columnist

Testimonies, takes and tirades in two minutes, about as much time as it should have taken the NHL to call the cops Monday night on Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson.

Imagine if you will a Major League pitcher hesitating at the top of his windup because the batter had stepped out of the box, then shifting his aim and continuing his delivery of a 99-mph heater directly at the unsuspecting batter. What would come of that pitcher? I mean if his name's not Roger Clemens?

Alfredsson performed hockey's version of that cowardly, exceedingly dangerous act in Game 4 -- turning his body away from the goal with two seconds remaining in the second period, locking in on the Ducks' Scott Niedermayer and firing point blank at him with all his might. It was maybe the most classless act I've ever seen. I hope the other 10 people watching the game around the country agree.

That to date Alfredsson's act has gone unpenalized speaks to the vast difference in tolerance levels that still exist between hockey and baseball and other major pro sports. It's a glaring gap that needs to be closed so that the unique blend of speed, grace and toughness that should define hockey does and not acts that border on criminal behavior.

This was no accident. No clumsy tie-up of Alfredsson's feet, as he claims. I get that it's the Stanley Cup finals and some latitudes should be granted, but his actions went far beyond what's tolerable even in an emotionally-charged Stanley Cup game. What Alfredsson needs is a meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, that is if he gets out of Anaheim alive tonight.

* * * *

Should the Ducks win the Stanley Cup, it breaks the maiden for Southern California NHL hockey, and how that must sit with Canadians. Even more depressing, how that must sit with Kings fans.

* * * *

What's wrong with this picture? Lou Piniella gets four games for kicking dirt on an umpire and touching another. Minor League manager Phillip Wellman gets three games for hurling bases and crawling on his stomach G.I. Joe- style before tossing a rosin-bag grenade at an umpire. Daniel Alfredsson sends a slab of frozen, vulcanized rubber 110 mph into the mid section of an unsuspecting player and gets nothing.

* * * *

Dillon Bell, a redshirt freshman out of Bakersfield High, delivered a key hit in UC Irvine's three-run eighth inning Monday night to help lift the Anteaters to 9-6 win over Texas and into their first NCAA Super Regional appearance. Cal State Fullerton, which has Cal State Bakersfield head baseball coach Bill Kernen on its coaching staff, also reached the Super Regionals.

* * * *

When CSUB opens the 2009 baseball season, Sam Lynn Ball Park will likely be its home venue. It won't be the first time coach Bill Kernen will have performed on its hallowed grounds: "I pitched in Sam Lynn with the Stockton Ports in 1971. It was in August and it was about 150 degrees. I lost about 15 pounds and pitched a nine-inning game, but I don't remember the last three innings."

* * * *

Former Fresno Falcon defenseman Cory Murphy is suing Fresno State and the Save Mart Center's management company SMG for allegedly failing to recognize unsafe ice conditions for a game against the Condors in February, 2006, during which Murphy lost an edge, sustained a broken leg and jeopardized, he claims, his career, the Fresno Bee reported. The injury came only minutes into the game and the rest of the game was called off. Bad ice at the Save Mart Center forced postponement of a Falcons-Condors game in February of last season. SMG also manages Rabobank Arena.

* * * *

Should the Ducks go on to win the Stanley Cup, they'll become the first team in major professional sports named after poultry to win a championship.