Notes on a Scorecard - March 29, 1990

The last NBA Finals was a sweep. So was the World Series. The Super Bowl wasn’t even that close. But look for something different and exciting Monday. Only one of the past eight NCAA basketball championship games--Georgetown’s 84-75 victory over Houston in 1984--has been decided by more than four points. . . .

The game drawing the highest TV rating in the history of the tournament remains Michigan State and Magic Johnson over Indiana State and Larry Bird, 75-64, in 1979. . . .

Can Nevada Las Vegas play as well again as it did Sunday against Loyola Marymount? Maybe not, but the Runnin’ Rebels shouldn’t have to equal that performance to eliminate talented but limited Georgia Tech in the semifinals Saturday. . . .

Duke, which has matched up extremely well inside against Connecticut and UCLA, won’t have quite the same advantage against Arkansas. . . .

How nice to have a Final Four inside an arena instead of beneath a dome. . . .

Best matchup: UNLV defender Stacey Augmon versus Georgia Tech bomber Dennis Scott. . . .

Patrick Ewing’s legacy to college basketball is the T-shirt. . . .

And whoever thought sneakers would become one of the raging controversies in sports? . . . Nobody was more responsible for Central L.A. sending so many ballplayers to the major leagues than Chet Brewer, founder of the Chet Brewer All-Stars semi-pro team, who died this week at 83. . . .

Most ludicrous statistic in baseball is that Tony Gwynn is the seventh-highest-paid San Diego Padre. . . .

Unless there are some hot pennant races yet to be decided, the makeup games the first week of October are going to be real snorers. Doubleheaders spread throughout the season would have been more interesting, but fewer dates would have meant refunds and less profit for the owners. . . .

That boycott of exhibition games by major league umpires sure is bringing baseball to its knees. . . .

Ex-Dodger Alejandro (Slow) Pena pitched a couple of innings for the Mets against the Yankees on TV the other night but obviously wasn’t in form. Not nearly enough time between pitches. . . .

Latest sport to hit the silver screen is volleyball. “Side Out”--starring Peter Horton and C. Thomas Howell and featuring volleyball stars Sinjin Smith, Steve Timmons and Tim Hovland--will have its premiere tonight in Honolulu. . . .

Boxing has had its share of long counts, but not nearly as many as pro wrestling. . . .

I can’t believe that Guy Lafleur is still playing in the NHL--if Quebec is still considered the NHL. . . .

Quarterbacks Ty Detmer of Brigham Young, Todd Marinovich of USC and Paul Justin of Arizona State will pose together in L.A. today for the photo that will adorn the western edition cover of the Sporting News’ preseason football magazine. . . .

Junior Seau would fit very nicely into the Chicago Bears’ defense. . . .

It figured that a Madison Square Garden team would win a division title this year, but the surprise is that it’s the Rangers. . . .

The Rangers’ Roger Neilson is to hockey what the Phoenix Suns’ Cotton Fitzsimmons is to basketball--a retread coach who actually is good. . . .

If Portland defeats Atlanta tonight, the Trail Blazers will join the Lakers and Utah as the only NBA teams to have beaten every other team at least once this season. . . .

Look-alikes: Joe Theismann and Channel 9 sportscaster Joe Fowler. . . .

There are more talented players than Steve Kerr in the NBA, but few with more enthusiasm than the Cleveland Cavalier guard, who leads the league in three-point shooting percentage. . . .

UCLA’s Steve Lewis, gold medalist in the 400 meters at Seoul, and California’s Atlee Mahorn, who finished fifth in the 200 for Canada, could hook up on the anchor leg of the 1,600-meter relay that culminates the Bruin-Bear dual meet Saturday at Drake Stadium. . . .

You’re not alone if you missed the NIT championship game Wednesday night. . . .

Michael Nunn’s split with Ten Goose is hardly unique in boxing. Among other champions who have split from their managers, trainers or advisers are Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Joe Frazier and Donald Curry. . . .

However, Michael is second to none in lack of gratitude. The Goossen family put an enormous amount of hours and dollars into building him into a professional champion after he failed to make the 1984 U.S. Olympic team. . . .

I saw the future of the Lakers and Kings Tuesday night--no Magic, no Gretkzy--and didn’t like it for two quarters and two periods until the Kings came to life against Winnipeg.