Leading off today: Girls high school ice hockey will take a huge leap forward next season with the debut of six Buffalo-area teams, officials announced yesterday.

   Orchard Park administrators gave their blessing to a combined team with Frontier on Tuesday. The Western New York Girls Ice Hockey Federation will also include district teams from Williamsville, Amherst, Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda and West Seneca as well as an entry from the Monsignor Martin Association.

   “They’ll have absolute equal footing with the boys program,” James Rusin, the Williamsville District’s AD, told The Buffalo News. “This is a full varsity program. We’re not going to have second-class citizens here.”

   An estimated 900 girls play hockey on all-girls youth teams in Western New York, but only the private Nichols has fielded a school-sponsored girls team until now.

   The new teams will operate on annual budgets of just under $25,000. Orchard Park and Amherst are relying upon funding from players, parents and boosters in their first season, which will begin in late November.

   Opening act: The local organizers of this summer's Empire State Games announced that the band Third Eye Blind will perform July 21 during opening ceremonies at the University at Buffalo.

   Nationally known headline acts have been a rarity at the ESGs, though Rochester made waves in its 1993 hosting debut by featuring a performance from Ray Charles.

   Buffalo organizers have also scheduled a fighter-jet flyover and a fireworks display. The ceremonies will be broadcast across much of the state by Time Warner Cable.

   Warning ... idiotic adults story ahead: I wish I could label it as an isolated incident, but what Kevin Gleason described recently about the aftermath of a baseball game also happens way too often across the state in soccer, basketball and wrestling to name just a few sports.

   Oscar Diaz, the 65-year-old past president of the Orange County umpires board, has in essence been chased out of the sport by crazed "fans" from Minisink Valley. Fearing for his safety late last month, he fled the Valley Central field with the help of site security after making a disputed call.

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   "I've never felt so sick,'' he said. "I've never felt so humiliated. I never experienced having to run away from a game because the security guy's saying, 'Oscar, take off.' That's a horrible feeling.''

   Diaz drove down Route 17K peeking at his mirrors and finally pulled over after a few minutes to remove his equipment. He notified the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association the following morning that his 20-year career was over.

   I don't know if such behavior is a recurring problem in that particular community, but I could rattle off at least five upstate schools that have particularly bad reputations with respect to officials. I've always said there's one sure-fire way to restore order: the threat of a boycott by members of the local officials board. A no-show by officials on consecutive basketball Fridays would send fans home early and drive home a needed message.

   Who will they be watching? With no Section 4 teams still alive in the NYSPHSAA baseball tournament, Saturday's final fours at Binghamton-area sites are likely to be fairly sparsely attended. If you do intend to go star-gazing, Lindenhurst first baseman Jon McGibbon, whose team will face Valley Central in a Class AA semifinal at Binghamton University, might be worth checking out. The Clemson recruit was selected in the 29th round of the Major League Draft by the Seattle Mariners this week.

   N-W coaching change: Erik O’Bryan, who took North Tonawanda from 3-17 to 16-4 (with two wins vs. Niagara Falls) in three seasons, is leaving to take over the boys basketball program at Niagara-Wheatfield, the Niagara Gazette reported.

   O’Bryan will replace 14-year varsity coach Joe Casale under a district agreement with the teachers union that gives preference to district employees in coaching assignments. O'Bryan teaches phys ed in the N-W district; Casale, who has been involved in coaching there for 26 years, is not an N-W teacher.

   O’Bryan met with his new Wheatfield players last week and is expected to be officially approved at the next Wheatfield school board meeting, the paper reported.