Notes on a Scorecard - Dec. 25, 1989

The next Indiana Jones adventure thriller should be “Rams of the Lost Ark.”. . . .

Half the Rams’ regular-season games--against Green Bay, Buffalo, Minnesota, New Orleans, Dallas, New England and San Francisco twice--were decided by a total of 23 points. . . .

Both Los Angeles teams could have been accused of freezing in the second half Sunday. . . . Best guess is that we’ve seen the last of the L.A. Raiders, who most likely will play in Oakland next season. . . .

Veteran NFL punt returners commit the cardinal sin--fielding punts within their own 10-yard line like the Raiders’ Stefon Adams did in the third quarter against the Giants--about as often as college or high school kids. . . .

Nice to see that New England quarterback Marc Wilson still hasn’t lost his Raider form. . . The Rams got lucky on the Patriots’ final field-goal drive when the officials incorrectly ruled that Hart Lee Dykes stepped out of bounds while catching a pass that would have been a first down. The surprise was that no instant replay study was requested. . . .

The “Beat L.A.” chants in Foxboro, Mass., sounded familiar except they weren’t as loud as those that used to serenade the Lakers in Boston Garden. . . .

If there’s a tougher quarterback than Phil Simms, I haven’t seen him. . . .

The Giants Stadium crowd showed its usual class by cheering while Raider quarterback Steve Beuerlein was on his back writhing in pain after getting the wind knocked out. . . .

Give the 1989 Dallas Cowboys a slight edge over the 1980 New Orleans Saints as the finest 1-15 team in the history of the NFL. . . .

Eric Dickerson wasn’t exactly Mr. Clutch for the Colts in a game they had to win, rushing for only 54 yards against the Saints in New Orleans. . . .

Watch out for the Detroit Lions next season. . . .

All four games telecast by NBC and CBS the last two Saturday afternoons were shutouts. . . The Washington Redskins were the best team not to make the playoffs. . . .

If Bernie Kosar gets a hot hand and Clay Matthews stops lateraling the ball, this could be the year that the Cleveland Browns finally get past the Denver Broncos in the playoffs. . . .

When are the San Diego Chargers going to announce that Bobby Beathard is their next general manager?. . . .

The least useful piece of machinery in Southern California Saturday night was the 45-second clock at the Oklahoma-Loyola Marymount game. . . .

The greatest show in Las Vegas isn’t on the Strip, but at the Thomas & Mack Center when the Runnin’ Rebels play basketball. Never a dull moment from the pregame light show to the last slam dunk. . . .

If you think college hoops is getting too big, consider that promoter Sonny Vaccaro wrote out checks totaling $100,000 to charities selected by the participating schools in Saturday’s doubleheader (Nevada Las Vegas, Iowa, Michigan, Seton Hall). . . .

Seton Hall Coach P.J. Carlesimo spent three days last week in Portland, where former Pirate center Ramon Ramos is in a coma following an auto accident. . . .

Jerry Tarkanian on the six-foul rule that is being used in the Big East Conference this season: “Anything that takes some control away from the officials is good for the game.”. . Thumbs up to Cal State Long Beach Athletic Director Corey Johnson for hiring basketball Coach Joe Harrington, then baseball Coach Dave Snow, and now football Coach George Allen. . . Terri Vitale, daughter of Dick, has been awarded a tennis scholarship to Notre Dame. “That home recruiting visit must have been something,” said Vitale’s ABC broadcasting partner, Gary Bender. . . .

Biggest surprise at the Forum Saturday night was that Wayne Gretzky missed an open net. . . What Bob Arum really wants to do is promote a best-of-three 100 meters competition between Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson at Caesars Palace and fill the rest of the time with a fight show. Concerning less swift individuals, Arum would like to match the George Foreman-Gerry Cooney winner against Evander Holyfield. “They’re talking about giving out $36 million in guarantees for a (Mike) Tyson-Holyfield fight,” says Arum. “But where are they going to come up with that kind of money?”. . . .

After the flurry of activity by Fred Claire, the Dodgers still will go only as far as the physical condition of Kirk Gibson and Kal Daniels allows them. . . .

Merry Christmas.