Notes on a Scorecard - May 10, 1990

Quick, somebody, wake up the Lakers before the Suns set on their season. . . .

Tuesday night’s defeat by Phoenix was no fluke. The defending NBA runners-up have played only one outstanding game in the playoffs. That was Game 4 in Houston. Otherwise, their performances have ranged from lousy to fair. . . .

I’m still waiting for Magic Johnson to take over the flow of a game as only he can. . . .

And shall we conduct a manhunt for Michael Cooper? He has scored a grand total of two points in 67 minutes in the playoffs. The most prolific three-point scorer in playoff history is zero for five from long range. . . .

However, one problem the Lakers shouldn’t have to face again tonight at the Forum is overconfidence. . . .

They took Phoenix as lightly as their fans did Tuesday. . . .

Whew, no Utah. Welcome back, Phoenix. After all, the Jazz nearly beat the Lakers two years ago in the playoffs, and the Suns were swept last year. Besides, Cotton Fitzsimmons-coached teams lost 37 consecutive games in Inglewood. Utah had the style to make it tough, Phoenix didn’t. Or so the Lakers seemed to believe. . . .

In Game 1, the Lakers acted as though they could turn it on or off at will. But when it came to crunch time, they fell into a trance. . . .

If the Spurs are eliminated by the Portland Trail Blazers, the college game will really seem appealing to San Antonio Coach Larry Brown. . . .

Clipper owner Donald Sterling will put on his annual NBA draft lottery party in Beverly Hills May 20. . . .

What does it say about the NBA regular season when the Boston Celtics win 52 games and then fire their coach? . . .

Mike Tyson will earn a minimum of $5 million, including $4 million from his HBO television contract, for his comeback bout against Henry Tillman June 16 at Caesars Palace. George Foreman is guaranteed $1 million for fighting Adilson Rodrigues on the same card. . . .

Bob Arum on Mirage Hotel owner Steve Wynn: “This man makes all of us in boxing look like angels and, believe me, we’re not.” . . .

Tyson on Buster Douglas: “He’s a very good fighter who caught me on a very bad night.” . . .

The former heavyweight champion says he weighs 226 pounds and expects to be 218 for Tillman. . .

Mark Messier is the Gordie Howe of his era. . . .

Just because Dave Winfield’s name is missing from the All-Star ballot doesn’t mean I’m going to write him in. . . .

Steve Bedrosian didn’t come cheaply to the San Francisco Giants last season. Dennis Cook, one of the pitchers sent to the Philadelphia Phillies, is 4-0. . . .

Jim Kaat says Kent Hrbek is as good a fielding first baseman as he has ever seen. . . .

Two expansion teams for the National League are two too many. . . .

The Tour de Trump is comparable to the Tour de France only in ego. . . .

San Francisco 49er owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. will pay partially paralyzed Jeff Fuller $100,000 a year for the rest of his life. . . .

It figured all along that a son of Fappiano would win the 1990 Kentucky Derby. But most experts originally thought it would be Grand Canyon, not Unbridled. . . .

Trainer Neil Drysdale is showing confidence in his mare Gorgeous by sending her after Ruhlmann in the Pimlico Special Saturday. Ruhlmann won the Santa Anita Handicap on a day when another mare, Bayakoa, finished up the track. . . .

The only unbeaten jockey at Hollywood Park, Vicky Frontiere, will try it make it two for two aboard Feeling Tipsy in the seventh race today. . . .

Bel-Air Country Club has turned down an offer of $200 million from a Japanese group. . . . A treat for anyone who ever attended a ballgame at Gilmore Field or Wrigley Field in Los Angeles will be the fifth annual meeting of the Pacific Coast League Historical Society Saturday at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Buena Park from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. . . .

More than 30 former PCL stars from the 1930s through the ‘50s will attend, including Babe Dahlgren, Gene Lillard, Lou Stringer, Joe Stanka, Roger Bowman, Roger Osenbach, Paul Pettit, Carmen Mauro and Charlie English. Admission is free. . . .

Phoenix Sun President Jerry Colangelo, in a victorious dressing room at the Forum Tuesday night: “The law of averages? Sure, they were on our side. But they’ve been there for a long time.”