Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 25, 1990

It’s going to be awfully hard for Super Bowl XXIV to live down to expectations. . . .

If the game does become lopsided and boring, though, you can always switch to “Futbol” on Channel 34, “Hart to Hart” on Channel 9 or “Adventure: Highlights of the Monster Shark Tournament” on ESPN. . . .

San Francisco’s Joe Montana got a 116.3 passing rating for his first three Super Bowl appearances compared to 60.2 for Denver’s John Elway in his two. Among the differences were interceptions. Elway threw four, Montana none. . . .

The smartest thing new 49er Coach George Seifert did was to hand the ball to Montana at the start of training camp practice and tell him, “You’re my quarterback.”. . . .

People forget that Bill Walsh delighted in creating a controversy between Montana and Steve Young. . . .

Toughest individual Super Bowl record to break? The one safety recorded by the New York Giants’ George Martin in 1987, Chicago’s Henry Waechter in 1986, Pittsburgh’s Reggie Harrison in 1976 and Pittsburgh’s Dwight White in 1975. I mean, who’s going to get two? . . .

Last defensive player to win most valuable player honors was Chicago end Richard Dent four years ago. Quarterbacks have won 12 times, running backs four and wide receivers three. . . . Denver is 3-0 over San Francisco in the Elway era but needed the help of the infamous snowball that harmed Ray Wersching’s field-goal attempt in 1985, when the Broncos won, 17-16. . . .

Watch the pregame introductions closely. In 1981, Oakland looked relaxed and Philadelphia tense. The Raiders won, 27-10. . . .

The only Green Bay Packer who didn’t see action in the first Super Bowl at the Coliseum in 1967 was Paul Hornung, who had a pinched nerve in his neck. . . .

Look-alikes: Terry Bradshaw and Ron Howard. . . .

Rarely in the history of the franchise have the Lakers scored as impressive consecutive road victories as those in Detroit and New York. . . .

The Pistons showed something, too, in ending Chicago’s home-court winning streak only two nights after being blown out of the Palace by the Lakers. . . .

Hot Rod Hundley must have jumped for joy when it was announced that his old Laker number--33--was being retired. . . .

The NBA slam-dunk contest won’t be the same until Michael Jordan returns to the competition. . . .

His UCLA players might be caught looking past Oregon tonight to Oregon State Saturday, but not Jim Harrick. A couple of days ago, the coach was studying tapes of the Oregon-Washington State game and raving about the Ducks’ backcourt tandem of Terrell Brandon and Kevin Mixon. . . .

Paul Olden and Ann Meyers are making good impressions in their first season as the Bruin radio broadcasting team on KMPC. . . .

Anywhere from three to five Pacific 10 teams could get into the NCAA tournament. The probables are Oregon State, UCLA and Arizona, the improbables Stanford and Cal. . . .

If Guy Lewis was such a lousy coach at Houston, how come the Cougars haven’t been heard from since?. . . .

And whatever happened to Marquette since Al McGuire left? . . .

Florida’s Don DeVoe should worry more about his own coaching than about Dwayne Schintzius’ hairstyle. . . .

Hector (Macho) Camacho’s brother, Felix, is an unbeaten featherweight who has won nine consecutive fights. . . .

Greg Page’s knockdown of Mike Tyson in their Tokyo sparring session wasn’t a publicity stunt. Tyson’s ego would never allow that. . . .

After hitting a record 29 home runs in 1919, Babe Ruth said he wouldn’t return to the Boston Red Sox unless they boosted his salary from $10,000 a year to $20,000. Instead, they sold him to the New York Yankees. . . .

What made Mats Wilander’s straight-set victory over Boris Becker in the Australian Open so startling is that the Swede had fallen to 15th in the world rankings after a terrible year in 1989. . . .

Thumbs up to the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education for lifting the unfair rule that automatically barred students who received a single failing grade from participating in sports. Now a C average is the only requirement for eligibility. . . .

A minimum gift of $75,000 will permanently endow one grant-in-aid as part of UCLA’s new four-deep football campaign. . . .

Flo Jo, the new fashion designer for the Indiana Pacers, should be consulted by the Lakers. Those purple-and-gold uniforms never have done much for me.