Notes on a Scorecard - April 2, 1990

I’ll be rooting for the sentimental underdog, Nevada Las Vegas, in the NCAA championship game tonight. . . .

Duke is snobbish. UNLV is the Cornell of the west (in hotel administration). Duke Law School gave us Richard Nixon. Jerry Tarkanian stood up to Walter Byers. Coach K deserved an F for bawling out the student-journalists on the Duke Chronicle. UNLV is exciting. Duke is mechanical. . . .

Besides, a national championship would finally give Tarkanian the recognition he deserves as one of the most successful coaches in college basketball history. . . .

You can look it up. Only Clair Bee (Rider College 1929-31 and Long Island University 1932-45, 1946-51) has a higher winning percentage than Tark the Shark among those who have coached in Division I for more than 10 seasons. . . .

Biggest upset of Final Four weekend was the firing of Brent Musburger by CBS. . . .

The ill-timed announcement came the day after Musburger and the network graphic people remembered to give us the score regularly during Saturday’s doubleheader. . . .

Musburger should have done less play-by-play announcing and more studio work, where his background as a newspaperman served him best. . . .

Best way to shorten the last two minutes of college basketball games would be to give the team fouled its option of taking the ball out of bounds or shooting free throws. . . .

Let’s see now, there’s Mel Gibson and there’s Danny Glover, but who’s the other guy in Lethal Weapon III? . . .

If you think the Final Four is big, just think what an NCAA football tournament would be like. . . .

Most impressive thing about the Runnin’ Rebels’ victory over Georgia Tech is that they extended their lead without Larry Johnson at crunch time. . . .

Unlike the NBA, college basketball is over-officiated. A sixth foul would keep more players in the game, but would also result in even more fouls and stoppages of play. . . .

Tarkanian on why he was watching the Duke-Arkansas game from the stands: “I like to watch the team we’re going to play next.” . . .

Stacey Augmon and Michael Cooper are two athletes from Pasadena who put the same emphasis on defense. . . .

Last player from a losing team to be voted outstanding player of the Final Four was Akeem Olajuwon of Houston in 1983 when the Cougars lost at the buzzer to North Carolina State. . . . Notice how the Lakers raise their level of play when something is at stake at the Forum against contenders such as Portland and Utah? . . .

Michael Jordan is slumping--69 points against Cleveland Wednesday, 49 against New York Friday, and then only 47 against Miami Sunday. . . .

The Pittsburgh Penguins may have been fortunate not to make the NHL playoffs and risk further injury to Mario Lemieux. . . .

Look-alikes: Scott Simpson and Dwight Evans. . . .

USC Coach Larry Smith says Todd Marinovich’s backup at quarterback, Shane Foley, was outstanding in spring practice and could start almost anywhere else. . . .

Junior Seau won’t be playing linebacker for the Trojans next season, but two of his cousins, Junior Moi and Al Aliipule, will. . . .

Look for talented USC freshman Curtis Conway to get plenty of work as a tailback and punt returner. . . .

Smith says he let his returning players decide whether they wanted to play in the Kickoff Classic against Syracuse and the vote was unanimous in favor of the extra game. . . .

Happy 2,000th show to ESPN’s “SportsLook,” and the best interviewer in the business, Roy Firestone. . . .

Leave it to the Rams’ John Robinson to turn Curt Warner into a productive runner again. . .

Eddie Murray, who sounds happy at last, will give the Dodgers a huge boost if he starts the season the way he usually finishes it. . . .

Nevada Las Vegas has come a long way, but was pretty tough to beat at home even when it was known as Nevada Southern. Writer-director Ron Shelton, then Westmont College co-captain, recalls a pregame meal at the old El Rancho Vegas Hotel in 1966. “It was a buffet and the guy in the chef’s hat carving the roast beef kept telling us we couldn’t win,” says Shelton. “He said there was absolutely no way for us to beat the Rebels in their gym.” When the captains met the officials before the tipoff, Shelton recognized the referee. He was the guy who carved the roast beef. Westmont then got whipped by Nevada Southern.