He Came Dangerously Close to Seeing Stars

When Sugar Ray Leonard hit the canvas in the fourth round Monday night in Las Vegas, he was almost joined by John Derek as a knockdown victim.

Tommy Gallagher, trainer of Donny Lalonde, had moved to get a better look at the knockdown when he stepped in front of Derek, who was watching with wife Bo.

Said Wallace Matthews of Newsday: “Derek shoved Gallagher, who whirled around, cocking the fists that had won him a Golden Gloves title back in the ‘50s. When he saw it was Derek, Gallagher let up, although he said, ‘I came this close to knocking him out, but I realized I was wrong to get in his way. If I had belted him, I probably would have been a hero with every guy in Caesars Palace.’ ”

Add Matthews: Of Mike Tyson, who was in town for the fight, he wrote: “Monday night, he strolled into Shark’s, a dance club partially owned by Jerry Tarkanian, at 4:30 a.m. with a bunch of his buddies and stayed until sunrise.

“Tyson’s estranged wife, Robin Givens, also was in town, staying at a different hotel. Sources say she has tried to reach Tyson, but his hostility toward her is such that he won’t even speak to her. ‘He feels he’s been made out to be a tremendous fool by her,’ the friend said. ‘There won’t be any reconciliation. He says he’ll never fall in love again.’ ”

Trivia Time: Name the winners of the four major golf championships this year. (Answer to follow.)

Wait a Minute: New York Jets Coach Joe Walton, on Eric Dickerson: “Nobody knows how fast he is, because once he gets out into the open, nobody catches him.”

Don’t tell it to Darrell Green. In the 1986 playoff game between the Rams and the Washington Redskins, Dickerson broke into the clear, and Pat Summerall said, “He’s gone.” Hardly. Green flagged him down with ease.

For What It’s Worth: When the Sacramento Kings’ Rodney McCray went 0 for 15 Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz, he tied a 41-year-old National Basketball Assn. record for futility.

Howie Dallmar of the Philadelphia Warriors set the mark in 1947. Dallmar, a former Stanford star who later coached the Cardinal, proved it was no fluke in 1948 when he again went 0 for 15.

Five others share the mark, including Hall of Famer Frank Ramsey of Boston.

The worst coaching change ever made? How about the firing of John Mackovic and hiring of Frank Gansz by the Kansas City Chiefs after they had gone 10-6 in 1986 to make the playoffs for the first time in 15 years?

Gansz is 5-19-1. Meanwhile, Mackovic is at Illinois. If the Illini upset Michigan Saturday and then beat Northwestern, they’re in the Rose Bowl.

Washington Redskins line coach Joe Bugel, on linebacker Wilber Marshall, who will be going against his former team, the Chicago Bears, Sunday: “We’ll just kick-start him in the locker room and send him through the tunnel, and you’ll see smoke coming out of his rear end. There’s no doubt he’ll be fired up for this one.”

Add Bugel: Of the trade that sent quarterback Jay Schroeder to the Raiders for tackle Jim Lachey, he said: “That was probably the best trade we’ve made since I’ve been here. This kid has been a real impact player for us.

“Lachey has been everything we expected. And, maybe best of all, he’ll be here for 10 to 15 years, considering the type of body he has.”

Trivia Answer: Sandy Lyle, Masters; Curtis Strange, U.S. Open; Seve Ballesteros, British Open, and Jeff Sluman, PGA.

Quotebook

Penn State football Coach Joe Paterno, when asked what he thought of Syracuse Coach Dick MacPherson’s calling him Machiavellian: “I’m surprised he knows what Machiavellian means.”