And at Parties, It’s Definitely an Icebreaker

The Zamboni, the ice resurfacing machine named after its founder, Frank J. Zamboni, has achieved celebrity status over the years.

Michelle Kaufman of the Detroit Free Press notes that “in one of television’s most bizarre ways of killing off a character, Eddie Lebec, barmaid Carla’s husband on ‘Cheers,’ was run over by a Zamboni.”

Richard Zamboni, son of the founder and president of the company, mused: “What would have happened if our name was Smith?”

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Trivia time: Who holds the longest-standing men’s record in the Pacific 10 Conference track and field meet?

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No filibuster: Bobby Valentine, who managed the Chibe-Lotte Marines in Japan in 1995, said that a manager is permitted to argue a call with an umpire for 10 minutes. After that, he gets ejected.

“They give you a two-minute warning when you’re getting close,” Valentine told the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press. “I never got a two-minute warning. I couldn’t talk to an umpire that long about one call.”

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Mystery sport: If you’re confused about the sport of team handball, this might help. Said U.S. team member Thomas Fitzgerald: “It’s water polo without the water, soccer but you use your hands, lacrosse but you don’t use sticks.”

That should clear it up.

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Yak, yak: Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe on the numerous player meetings initiated by Kevin Kennedy, the beleaguered manager of the Red Sox:

“He has more meetings than Ted Kennedy.”

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No credit: Larry Guest in the Orlando Sentinel: “Conspiracy buffs are suggesting the way this year’s supply of balata-covered, 100-compression baseballs are flying out of major league parks, it must be a secret ploy by the owners to lure fans back with lots of homers.

“My question: What on earth makes anyone think baseball owners are that smart?”

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FYI: Hamilton High in Los Angeles will celebrate its 65th anniversary Saturday on campus. Some famous alumni athletes include Alex Hannum, former USC basketball player and NBA coach; Jim Salisbury, UCLA All-American guard on the 1954 national championship football team; Minnesota Viking quarterback Warren Moon; and infielder Peanuts Lowrey, who played on the last Chicago Cub team to appear in the World Series, in 1945.

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Looking back: On this day in 1939, the Cleveland Indians defeated the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-3, in 10 innings at Shibe Park in the first night game in the American League.

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Trivia answer: Randy Williams of USC, 26 feet 9 1/4 inches in the long jump in 1973. Note: This year’s meet will be held Saturday and Sunday at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

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And finally: Tim Keown, a San Francisco sportswriter who collaborated with Dennis Rodman in his biography, “Bad as I Wanna Be,” discussing Rodman:

“It’s not so much that he’s different. It’s that everyone else is the same.”