After the article of Omaha Police Chief Jim Skinner - crack down on fighting on the ice concerning the Omaha Lancers USHL team. Mike Kelly sports editor for the Omaha World Herald wrote an article concerning Jim Skinner's police enforcement. I thought you might find it interest- ing. "The Heat Is On Hockey Fights" "Three cheers for Jim Skinner, Omaha police chief. It has never been cler to me how combatants on athletic fields can seemingly be above the law. As reported Thursday (Feb. 28) by Jerry Fricke of The World Herald in an article that quickly made the national news wires, Skinner acknowledged that he had sent letters to the coaches of the Omaha Lancers and Sioux City Musketeers warning that players who fight can be prosecuted. Put down your hockey sticks, puck fans. The chief is not anti-hockey. His daughter is a member of te Lancer Flames, the dancing team that performs during intermissions, and he enjoys the games. He just doesn't enjoy people risking serious injury over a sport, assuming you consider ice hockey a sport. (This is the sports editor) "The National Hockey League is close to a scandal, a game played by big, toothless men who seem to enjoy bashing each other's brains in. Check the TV "highlights," or lowlights. Any night. The biggest cheer at some hockey games is reserved for when players drop their gloves to the ice and menacingly "face off." Then they try to pull each other's jersey over the opponent's head while they flail away. RED ICE? Knuckles and fist thrown violently against flesh and bone are bad enough, even though the Lancers' "Red Ice Rooters" might love to see the ice turn red. It's worse when sticks are involved. Said Chief Skinner, who on Feb. 2 at Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum witnessed a violent fight in which two players were ejected and suspended: "I just wanted to convey the message that somebody could be severely injured, and the players could face criminal charges even though it happens during a sporting event." Let's not pick on ice hockey, even though it deserves to be picked on. Basketball players and others who think their courst or fields are enclaves in which they enjoy immunity from prosecution should also take note of Skinner's warning. As Lancers Coach Dave Morinville said, athletes in other sports fight, too. This is not just a hockey problem. Hockey is atough sport, and the athletes are to be admired. The Lancers' Angelo Ricci skates and maneuvers well, and is what is called an "opportunist" in front of the net. Brent Cary is one of the quickest in the U.S. Hockey League, tied for the lead in "short-handed" goals (when his team is short a man because of a penalty), with five. The Lancers have other good players, and are a phenomenon - the once lowly franchise, which made national news four years ago by going 0-48-0, and last year won hte USHL championship, is the envy of every other sports team in Omaha with its full-season, 24 game sellout, 5,908 per night. GOOD LUCK I wrote about the Lancers when they were pathetic, playing at Hitchcock Park Ice Rink in front of a few hundred and losing every night. I enjoyed their rise in skill and popularity, and always have wished them well. I even have made it to an occasional game. But as my mail often points out, I am not a regular at Lancer games. If I want fights, there's always the Golden Gloves or Bruce "The Mouse" Strauss' boxing shows at Peony Park. When the Omaha Knights were in town, in the early 70s, I took in a game but left when a lout behind me drenched me in beer. I must admit that most hockey fans do not spill their beer onhte person in front of them. Last season, when I attended a Lancers' game with a school group, our parents and students were treated to an evening of vulgar, obscene gestures between a beer-swilling young man a few rows in front of us, and another beer-swilling young man in the next section. What's scary is not the immature gesturing, but the thought that the two idiots would be driving home that night. HIGH STICKING The Lancers have many great fans who don't over-drink, who don't long for fights, and who don't necessarily enjoy high-sticking, spearing, slashing and all those other cool hockey terms. The Lancers have done a good job of policine the coliseum adding security officers, since fined $2,500 by the league two years ago for not controlling their rowdy crowd. Some fans just love the spectacle. They thrill t the musical strains of "The Heat is On" whenever the Lancers score, and that's great. But now the police chief has declared that, indeed, the heat is on. No, Omaha's finest needn't stand in the coliseum with citation books at the ready and whistles in their mouths. They don't need to handcuff ever player who goes hard into the corner and slams an opponent into the boards. But hockey players and other athletes should remember that they don't hold a special position, tht they're not above the law. Assault and battery is assault and battey. Chief Skinner says he'll probably be a season-ticket holder next season. That's good. It should make everone a little safter knowing that Omaha's top cop is watching." My personal opinion is this article was very insulting to the hockey players as well as the fans that follow hockey. I feel that Mike Kelly has a right to share his opinion - but as editor of the sports column is very narrow minded to the sport let me repeat to the sport of hockey. Hockey takes alot of skill and determination to excell in this highly competitive sport. To manuever on two thin blades at high speeds on ice while manuevering a puck is to be admired . The players come to Omaha from all over the United States and Canada and hav e Contributed alot to our community. Only to mention a few of the activities that I know they have participated in is visited hospitals, schools, and have helped the elderly for no compensation. Several players who I know have signed up for colleges: Brent Cary - Denver Angelo Ricci - Denver Shane Cleavland - Denver Jeff Lembke - North Dakato Jude Sandvall - Possibly Harvard Kelly Hultgren - St. Cloud Paul Koch - Denver or St. Cloud Dan Albers