Notes on a Scorecard - Nov. 22, 1989

“It’s been like a dream come true,” Bruce McNall was saying Monday night. “I own a team that I’ve followed since I was a teen-ager. I remember going to the Forum to see Cowboy Flett, Eddie Joyal and Whitey Widing. I was one of the 8,000 faithful. Then came Rogie Vachon and Marcel Dionne. Now it’s Wayne Gretzky and we’re selling out. I still can’t believe all this is happening.” . . .

McNall and the Kings had cordially invited friends and the media to join them in celebration of “Our First 100 Games Together,” in the antiquities gallery at Century City that McNall also happens to own. . . .

Actually, it had been 106 regular-season games and 16 playoff games since McNall bought out Jerry Buss on March 23, 1988, but who was counting?. . . .

If you were counting, you might have noticed that the totals during the McNall regime before tonight’s game against Chicago were 55-42-9 in the regular season and 5-11 in the playoffs. The next 100 games together--well, 122--should be an improvement. . . .

“This team is too good not to come around,” the owner said about his current .500 club that is unbeaten in its last four games. “Pretty soon, we’ll be vying with Calgary for first place.” . . .

Surprise of surprises, they’ve even found a couple of wings to skate a regular shift with Gretzky. Last season, Robbie Ftorek put everyone except Frick and Frack out there with the Great One. Now, Coach Tom Webster has settled upon Gretzky’s old Edmonton linemate, Mike Krushelnyski, on the left and Mike Allison on the right. . . .

Future Stanley Cup or no, the puck finally has landed in Los Angeles. Hockey night at the Forum is a happening. The majority of the home games this season will be sellouts, and the regulars include Sylvester Stallone, John Candy, Tom Hanks, Michael J. Fox, Craig Stadler and Steve Beuerlein. Even Jack Nicholson took a seat rinkside during the playoffs last April. . . .

Monday night, McNall was showing off more than his hockey team. Also on display were the “Treasures From an Ancient Jewelbox,” a collection of more than 40 original art works valued at more than $5 million. The exhibit is open to the public until Jan. 9, but please don’t touch. “Is it insured?” cracked Gretzky after a Hellenistic gold wreath, circa 300 B.C., came crashing down. . . .

Gretzky, by the way, handles fame better than any star I’ve ever known. . . .

St. Louis Cardinal Vince Coleman reportedly is on the shopping lists of the Dodgers and Angels, who need speed in their lineups. If either local team signed Mark Langston, it would be in a position to trade a pitcher to the Cardinals. . . .

What a bargain Jerry West and the Lakers got when they drafted Vlade Divac No. 26 in the first round. One team had considered picking the Yugoslav center with its lottery selection. . . .

Denver is the most surprising team in the NFL. The most disappointing is Washington, the team the Broncos beat Monday night without John Elway. . . .

Look-alikes: Candy Maldonado and Bryant Gumbel. . . .

The Hollywood Park meeting has been so unpredictable, there have been Pick 6 carryovers every day but one. . . .

Eastern turf reporters, notably Paul Moran of Newsday, still are claiming that Easy Goer is a better horse than Sunday Silence. . . .

Linebacker Aundray Bruce, the No. 1 selection in the 1988 draft, has been benched by the Atlanta Falcons after making only 12 tackles all season. . . .

Eddie Robinson, whose best Grambling team in some time will enter the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs this week, has 358 victories, 35 more than the late Bear Bryant. . . .

Recommended reading: Gary Smith’s piece on Muhammad Ali in the 35th anniversary issue of Sports Illustrated. . . .

The question of NHL division realignment won’t be posed until a decision is made about expansion at the Board of Governors meeting next month. An All-Canadian division would make sense, which is why it probably won’t happen. . . .

Will Clark will be National League MVP soon enough. San Francisco Giant teammate Kevin Mitchell deserved it this time. . . .

Ruben Sierra might have won the American League award if the Texas Rangers had received more national attention. . . .

The Pittsburgh Pirates did the right thing by extending Jim Leyland’s contract despite their fifth-place finish last year. Leyland is a good manager. . . .

I thought the USC-UCLA game was a bore, but that’s all the callers to Paul Olden’s sports talk show on KMPC wanted to talk about the other night. . . .

McNall on the Kings’ slow start: “I was afraid those Broooos the fans give me were going to turn into Boooos.”