Notes on a Scorecard - April 26, 1990

Welcome to Magic time, otherwise known as the National Basketball Assn. playoffs. . . .

During his first 10 seasons in the league, Earvin (Magic) Johnson led the Lakers to the finals eight times and to the championship five times. He averaged 19 points, 12.4 assists and 7.7 rebounds. In postseason games in which he has played, the Lakers are 111-47. . . .

With good health and Magic, the team of the 1980s should become the first champion of the 1990s. . . .

While we’re saying hello to Magic, it’s time to say goodby for a few months to the Forum’s other marquee name, Wayne Gretzky. . . .

The Trade remains the best thing that ever happened to hockey in Los Angeles. The puck landed here the day Gretzky did. Sellouts are commonplace. Silver and black merchandise is everywhere. Jim Healy no longer snickers when he gives the hockey odds on radio. . . .

But the answer to the question that first was asked Aug. 9, 1988--Can Wayne Gretzky turn the Kings into a legitimate Stanley Cup contender?--is still no. . . .

You’re not terribly close to winning the Cup when you are swept twice in a row in the second round of the playoffs, no matter how good you look beating the defending champions in the first round. . . .

The fact is that a skater such as Gretzky isn’t going to mean quite the same thing to a hockey team that a player such as Magic means to a basketball team. If the Great One could play 60 minutes a game, maybe so. But he wasn’t even able to play one minute in Game 4 of the Edmonton series because of his bad back. . . .

The Kings need more defense from their defensemen, forwards and goaltenders. Having goaltender Kelly Hrudey, who was injured or sick much of the year, and defenseman Rob Blake, who played for Bowling Green, full time will help. So will the speed of the former New York Ranger wingers, Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato. . . .

Quick, Mike Port, before your Angels fall completely out of the pennant race, make a trade for Vince Coleman. . . .

Biggest confidence booster pitcher Mike Morgan got from the Dodgers was his first two-year contract. . . .

Pretty soon Pascual Perez will be giving his teammates directions to Yankee Stadium. . . .

If the rest of the world recycled products the way the NBA recycles coaches, we wouldn’t need an Earth Day. . . .

Sure to become collector’s items one day are Pro Set football cards showing Jeff George wearing uniforms of the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. Oh yes, there was also a picture taken of him wearing an Indianapolis Colt uniform. . . .

First it was Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s divorce that held back a Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard rematch. Now it’s Leonard’s divorce. . . .

Henry Tillman might have beaten Mike Tyson twice in the amateurs, but he figures to be little more than a confidence re-builder for the former heavyweight champion June 16 at Caesars Palace. . . .

UCLA will be heavily favored to beat USC for the 12th consecutive time in their dual track and field meet Saturday at the Coliseum. But the Trojans still lead the series, 38-18, because they won the first 33. . . .

Coaching the Bruins to their first six victories in the streak was Jim Bush, who now is an assistant at USC and doing a terrific job with the hurdlers. . . .

Mary Decker, 31, is suffering from a calf injury and you have to wonder about the future of her career. . . .

Former high jump champion Dwight Stones sounded good as the lead announcer on the TBS telecast of the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. . . .

Four of the seven Breeders’ Cup winners--Sunday Silence, Prized, Steinlen and Bayakoa--are stabled at Hollywood Park. . . .

Nothing new on the Raider front from Oakland or Sacramento. . . .

Former Raider tackle Henry Lawrence is making his theatrical debut as a producer of the musical “De Obeah Mon,” which runs through Sunday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. . . .

John Jackson wasn’t the only local wide receiver ignored in the NFL draft. Mike Farr, who is UCLA’s second-leading career receiver, didn’t get a call, either. . . .

A couple of redshirt freshman offensive linemen--6-foot-6, 250-pound Craig Novitsky and 6-4, 260-pound Vaughn Parker--have impressed Bruin Coach Terry Donahue in spring practice. . . .

USC’s Tim Ryan could bring back some toughness to the Chicago Bear defense. . . .

Nice timing by Chicago Bull forward Horace Grant, asking to be traded on the eve of the playoffs. . . .

The Lakers enter the Houston series not having lost a first-round playoff game since 1983, but look for Pat Riley to shake up his lineup from last Sunday.