Now her ‘career’ may be on the rocks

Vodka on ice and driving while intoxicated took on new meaning last week when an employee at Kingsville Arena in Canada was arrested and charged with drunk driving while behind the wheel of a Zamboni.

Witnesses said the driver, a 34-year-old woman, was driving erratically while resurfacing the arena ice, bumping into the boards and missing large patches of ice, evidently having fallen asleep at the wheel. According to the Windsor Star, the woman had a “mickey of vodka” in her pocket.

Odd, but there is precedent for this case. In 2005, a New Jersey Zamboni operator named John Peragallo was charged with drunk driving after a fellow employee at Mennen Sports Arena told police Peragallo was speeding and nearly crashed into the boards. Peragallo’s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit.

Eventually, Peragallo was cleared of the charge by a Superior Court judge who ruled that Zambonis are not motor vehicles because can’t be used on highways and can’t carry passengers.

Unless a lot more vodka is involved.

Trivia time

What is the maximum speed of the typical Zamboni?

Prison pass?

Is it wild to suggest the Oakland Raiders quarterback for the 2009 season will be named Michael Vick?

After Sunday’s 24-0 loss to Atlanta, three Raiders -- DeAngelo Hall, Ashley Lelie and Justin Griffith -- said they would take pay cuts if it would help the team sign Vick after his anticipated release from prison next July, provided the league also reinstates Vick.

The Contra Costa Times suggests Vick could return in a different role than quarterback.

But why not give him a shot? As it was Sunday, Vick, sitting in a prison cell, netted only 10 fewer yards passing than the Raiders managed against the Falcons.

Harsh environment

As the Texas Longhorns discovered over the weekend, Texas Tech is a difficult place for a visiting team to win. Former Colorado football coach Gary Barnett calls Lubbock the toughest place to play in the Big 12.

Now an FSN broadcaster, Barnett recalled that “once, in practice on a Friday, we were walking in and there’s a guy with a puppet -- it was a puppet of me, with a noose around its neck. And the guy was a professor at the university.”

I do, I do

Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Kevin Love has hired a personal chef to keep him on a healthy diet as he adapts to life in the NBA. Timberwolves Coach Randy Wittman was asked whether players did such things during his playing days.

“No,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We got married.”

Trivia answer

Nine to 10 mph.

A sensitive city

They think differently in Philadelphia. In a Philadelphia Inquirer online poll asking whether Phillies second baseman Chase Utley should have cursed when he addressed the crowd at Citizens Bank Park during a televised rally, “yes” had the lead with 55.8%.

-- Mike Penner