Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 24, 1990

In the middle of his second season as coach, you begin to get the impression that Jim Harrick is the best thing to happen to UCLA basketball since John Wooden. . . .

Gene Bartow had rabbit ears. Gary Cunningham didn’t really want to coach. Larry Brown had wanderlust. Neither Larry Farmer nor Walt Hazzard won enough to satisfy high expectations. . . .

Solid. That’s Jim Harrick. Twelve wins, three defeats. A conference championship contender. An exciting, fast-breaking style. Renewed fan interest. . . .

Among other things, Harrick has brought Tracy Murray along perfectly. He didn’t rush the hotshot freshman from Glendora High, who is now contributing heavily as a starter. . . .

Sellouts for Oregon State Saturday and DePaul on Feb. 3 at Pauley Pavilion already have been announced, and the March issue of Sport magazine is about to hit the newsstands with a story proclaiming the “Bruins Are Back.” . . .

There never will be another Wooden, but here is a guy who could very well stay on the job longer than the first five coaches combined who followed the Wizard of Westwood. . . .

The knockdown Mike Tyson suffered in a sparring session with Greg Page in Tokyo probably is meaningless. Most gym workouts are. . . .

However, I remember watching a ferocious George Foreman knock a sparring partner out of the ring a few days before he did virtually the same thing to Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1973. . . .

Veteran promoter Don Chargin says Sugar Ray Robinson was the best gym fighter he has ever seen and former featherweight champion Raul Rojas the worst. . . .

If you were making an instructional film on the art of self-defense, WBC bantamweight champ Raul Perez would be your man. . . .

Ram owner Georgia Frontiere was in a generous mood this week, signing Jim Everett for six years the same day she took out a full-page advertisement in The Times to thank the team’s fans. . . .

Saddest sight in the NBA is Ralph Sampson limping up and down the court. . . .

One good thing about playing for an organization with the history of the Los Angeles Clippers is that club records always are within easy reach. For instance, the Clippers’ best won-loss record since moving to Los Angeles for the 1984-85 season was a sparkling 32-50 in 1985-86. . . .

Now that Ron Harper can’t make the All-Star Game, how about a spot on the Western Conference roster for teammate Charles Smith? . . .

A two-point victory at home over an expansion team (Minnesota) and a 32-point loss to a cellar-dweller (Sacramento) tells me the Clippers have to make a deal for a guard. . . .

The Clippers could have had Charlotte guard Dell Curry, who was signed to a multiyear contract Tuesday, for Greg Kite last year. . . .

Four NBA teams with losing records--Charlotte, Sacramento, Golden State and Miami--have sold out every home game this season. . . .

The Cal State Long Beach uniforms that supposedly are gold look more like fluorescent pistachio. . . .

We got everything--including dissertations on Michael Jordan--except the score from ESPN announcers Barry Tompkins and Quinn Buckner on the Long Beach-Nevada Las Vegas telecast Monday. . . .

Joe Harrington is doing an outstanding job coaching Long Beach, but must he also referee every game? . . .

One of the most remarkable streaks in sports is Jerry Tarkanian’s 73 consecutive victories in Long Beach--63-0 as coach of the 49ers, 10-0 as coach of the Runnin’ Rebels. . . .

Members of the last college basketball team to have a perfect record--Indiana’s 1975-76 national champions--congratulate Bobby Knight each season after the final previously unbeaten team has lost. The calls began coming in Saturday after Kansas was beaten by Missouri. . . .

That NCAA proposal to move conversions back to the 25-yard line would have made two-point attempts somewhat risky. . . .

I break into a sweat watching five-set Australian Open matches on TV. . . .

One of the keys to the rise of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the absence of ailing owner Harold Ballard from the front office. . . .

Those who don’t believe alcohol ranks right up there with drugs as a problem in sports should check the police blotter of the Minnesota Vikings. . . .

Vince Lombardi once called the Playoff Bowl, which used to match the losers of the NFL Western and Eastern Conference championship games, “a hinky-dink game for hinky-dink teams.” . . .

Try telling members of the U.S. World Cup soccer team, who are being paid anywhere from $26,000 to $40,000, how much their sport is gaining in popularity.