Notes on a Scorecard - Feb. 15, 1990

Hottest rumor in town is that Al Davis soon will announce that the Raiders are moving to Oakland. . . .

However, a public hearing on Oakland’s tentative offer to Davis isn’t scheduled until March 7. As for Sacramento, that city’s offer of a $50-million franchise relocation fee to Davis expires Feb. 28. . . .

It’s time for Clipper owner Donald Sterling to give Coach Don Casey a contract extension. Forget the rest of the season. This is a crippled team. But Casey is the man who can bring the Clippers into the playoffs as early as next season. . . .

News item: Sacramento Kings trade Kenny Smith and Mike Williams to Atlanta Hawks for Antoine Carr, Sedric Toney and a second-round draft choice. Reaction: Is Bill Russell still making the deals for the Kings? . . .

Phoenix Sun rookie guard Greg Grant is listed at 5-7 and 145 pounds, but doesn’t look that big. . . .

Basketball fan Al Davis took an overnight flight to Miami so he could attend the NBA All-Star game. . . .

UCLA forward Don MacLean is the cover boy of this week’s issue of the Sporting News, which has a piece on the Bruins, “Return to Glory?”. . .

Those who saw Ed O’Bannon at Pauley Pavilion the night UCLA beat USC, 89-72, know the Trojans aren’t 3-0 when he’s been in attendance. . . .

Ignored in the preseason ratings, UCLA’s baseball team has advanced to No. 15 in the Baseball America rankings and will be tested for class in a three-game series against second-ranked Stanford Friday through Sunday at Jackie Robinson Stadium. . . .

The considerable difference in talent between Missouri and Kansas was apparent the other night when the Tigers won handily in Lawrence. Roy Williams of the Jayhawks deserves to be coach of the year. . . .

That game between the nation’s first- and second-ranked teams was worked extremely well by officials who refused to be intimidated by the crowd and sent the visitors to the free throw line many more times than the home team. . . .

Visors make too many golfers on the PGA Tour look the same. . . .

Worst mistake the Kings made was signing Larry Robinson instead of another free-agent defenseman, Doug Wilson. . . .

The Ottawa Palladium will have 48 hotel rooms overlooking the playing floor, a la the SkyDome in Toronto. . . .

Trainer Neil Drysdale will try to emulate his mentor, Charlie Whittingham, by bringing Prized into the Santa Anita Handicap March 4 off workouts alone. Prized hasn’t run since winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 4. . . .

In 1973, Whittingham won the Big ‘Cap with Cougar II, who hadn’t raced in four months. In 1986, he did the same thing with Greinton. . . .

About the only boxing expert who gave Buster Douglas a good shot to upset Mike Tyson was Angelo Dundee. . . .

Dundee has been wrong before, but I remember sitting next to him before Salvador Sanchez beat Wilfredo Gomez in Las Vegas and hearing him analyze the fight exactly the way it turned out. . . .

Interest in the Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor junior-welterweight title fight March 17 will be even greater now that boxing is on so many minds. Chavez is the 2-1 favorite. And Michael Nunn has been established as a 7-1 choice over Marlon Starling. . . .

One result that was reversed was Cornell’s 7-3 victory over Dartmouth in football in 1940. Films showed that Cornell scored its only touchdown on fifth down. . . .

Former gymnastics coach Val Rodriguez sends along a picture of a storage room at Banning High full of equipment and sadly notes that University, Huntington Park, Wilson, Monroe and San Fernando are the only L. A. city schools still competing in the sport. . . .

Billie Jean King, 46, and Jennifer Capriati, 13, will form a doubles team in the Virginia Slims of Florida March 5-11 at Boca Raton. . . .

Thumbs up to Fay Vincent for at least participating in the labor negotiations, something other sports commissioners have refused to do. . . .

Donald Sterling, on the preservationists who don’t want the Coliseum to be torn down: “They must think it’s the Roman Colosseum, not the L.A. Coliseum.”