Notes on a Scorecard - Dec. 11, 1989

It took Marcus Allen’s return to the end zone Sunday at the Coliseum to make the Raiders realize how much they missed him and how unwise it might be to trade him away. . . .

Until his dive in the final minute, most of the big plays in the Raider-Phoenix game were made by the officials. . . .

Attendance for the Raiders’ eight regular-season home games averaged 49,620, a figure increased considerably by the 87,560 for Denver. . .

Here’s a vote for Jay Schroeder to get some playing time at quarterback again. Steve Beuerlein simply can’t lead the team to touchdowns. . .

Raider wide receiver Mervyn Fernandez drew a flag for delay of game in the third quarter when he dropped the ball after making a catch. The game was then made far longer by the officials conferring before announcing the penalty. . .

Art Shell is 6-0 in the Coliseum. . .

Buddy Ryan finally would have been a sentimental favorite if the Eagle coach and former Los Angeles sportscaster Ted Dawson, who now works in Dallas, had come to blows Thursday in Philadelphia . . .

Marty Schottenheimer is the Kansas City Chiefs’ gain and the Cleveland Browns’ loss. . .

Perhaps one reason the 49ers play so well at Anaheim Stadium is that they bring a lot of fans down with them from San Francisco. During their 24-21 victory over the Rams last year, CBS commentator John Madden couldn’t believe how close to evenly divided the crowd reaction was. . .

A fight nearly broke out in the 11th round Thursday night in Las Vegas. . .

Roberto Duran’s conduct after the bout with Sugar Ray Leonard was even worse than during it. Feet of Stone claimed he should have won the decision. The real question was whether he won a round. . .

If you want to punish yourself, take a look at the tapes of the second and third Leonard-Duran matches back-to-back. They’re nearly identical except that in 1980 they fought at twice the speed. . .

The Bob Arum-Steve Wynn feud is for real. . .

At least, the fireworks show and the setting were marvelous Thursday. The new Mirage Hotel stadium is the best ever built outdoors for boxing because even the ringside seats are elevated. . .

Among the ringsiders was Steve Sax, who said he is still very happy to be a New York Yankee. . .

NBC commentator Ferdie Pacheco during the sixth round of the Jorge Paez-Lupe Gutierrez bout Saturday: “Paez looked a little weary at the start of the round. It looks like he’ll take the round off.” Seconds later, Paez stopped Gutierrez. . .

Headline writers are rooting for Jimmy Thunder, the Australian heavyweight who is 7-0, to continue his winning streak. . .

Look-alikes: Kevin Greene and Hulk Hogan. . .

Exhibition tennis matches don’t excite me, but watching Steffi Graf, who will play Zina Garrison Tuesday night at the Forum, is worthwhile any time. . .

No wonder jockey Kent Desormeaux, who set the record for most wins in a year, wants to move from Maryland to the big-time circuit in either California or New York. He ranks only eighth in earnings. . .

The U.S. soccer team will be fortunate to score a goal next June in Italy. . .

Among the six head coaches hired for the international pro football league that begins play in Europe next spring are former Stanford coach Jack Elway and former Raider assistants Ray Willsey and Bob Mischak. . .

On the NBC pregame show, Bobby Beathard is candid about everything except his future. . .

Advice to George Raveling: Bring in a prominent USC alumnus, Bill Sharman, to show your basketball team how to shoot free throws. . .

The Nevada Las Vegas women scored 17 more points (98 against USC) than the men (81 against Oklahoma)) Saturday. . .

So much for the notion that North Carolina wouldn’t miss J.R. Reid. . .

Has Rick Pitino been teaching Kentucky the U.S. International way to play defense? . . .

Pat Riley on the Portland Trail Blazers: “Getting Buck Williams was the equivalent of us getting Mychal Thompson a few years ago.” . . .

Mark Langston will make his Angel debut against his old Seattle Mariner teammates in the first series of the year April 3-5 at the Kingdome. . .

Don’t count the Dodgers out of the Robin Yount sweepstakes yet. Fred Claire is a big fan of the free agent center fielder. . .

The Philadelphia Phillies did not take a huge gamble when they included a clause in Ken Howell’s contract that will pay him a bonus if he wins the Cy Young Award. . .