Notes on a Scorecard - June 14, 1990

The Trail Blazers were right. They probably won’t have to go back to Detroit. . . .

It’s time to give the Bad Boys their due. They’ve won seven of their last eight games in the NBA finals, including four in a row on the road. And this year’s achievement is more significant than last year’s, when they swept a Laker team that was crippled. . . .

Brains, more than brawn, are winning the series for Detroit. . . .

The officials guessed right Tuesday night in Portland when they ruled that Danny Young’s potential game-tying basket failed to beat the buzzer by tenths of a second. But it shouldn’t be guesswork. In such cases, the officials should be given the opportunity to look at the videotape replay before making a decision. . . .

If this were boxing, Portland’s Buck Williams wouldn’t have been allowed to continue after suffering that mean gash in Game 4. . . .

After the Trail Blazers’ trapping defense brought them back from a 16-point deficit Tuesday night, you have to wonder why the tactic isn’t used more often in the NBA. The Pistons resembled a high school team in attempting to handle it. . . .

He will be remembered more for other things, but Bill Laimbeer shoots the three-point shot as well as any big man. . . .

News item: Bernadette Locke becomes an assistant coach for Kentucky’s men’s basketball team. Reaction: Men coach women’s teams, so why not vice versa?. . . .

Running back Roger Craig of the San Francisco 49ers is earning $5,000 a week to act in Roger Corman’s “Dark Obsession,” now filming in Venice. It doesn’t match his football salary, but it is more than Jack Nicholson, Robert DeNiro and Sylvester Stallone combined earned in their screen debuts for Corman. . . .

The Kings will benefit from the conveniences of Bruce McNall’s new plane next season when they play nine consecutive games on the road. But wasn’t Detroit Coach Chuck Daly exaggerating when he said former Pistons in the NBA would give back $100,000 of their salary to fly in a private plane again?. . . .

Don’t invite me to the same party with someone who paints his face in the colors of his favorite team. . . .

One advantage Anaheim Stadium has over Dodger Stadium is that the stands are closer to the field. . . .

Now that Jose Canseco has hurt his back, the Oakland Athletics may discover how hard it is to three-peat in the American League West. . . .

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds, who are off to better starts in the 1990s, are the only teams in the National League that didn’t win a divisional championship in the ‘80s. . . .

Delino DeShields doesn’t sound like the name of a guy from Delaware. . . .

The least the Dodgers could have done for Mike Maddux was to buy him a first-class ticket for the plane ride from Houston to Albuquerque. . . .

Pete Rose hit only one grand slam homer in his career, and a no-hitter was never pitched at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. . . .

TV and radio commentator Tim McCarver claims that the texture of the dirt at Chicago’s Wrigley Field is one reason it’s such a good hitter’s park. Put some on your bat, says Tim, and it gives you a good grip. . . .

The Clippers, who have the Nos. 8 and 13 choices in the NBA draft on June 27, are interested in guards Bo Kimble of Loyola Marymount, Kendall Gill of Illinois, Rumeal Robinson of Michigan and Travis Mays of Texas. . . .

John Nash, who resigned as general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, is the leading candidate to become head of basketball operations for the Denver Nuggets. . . .

You may not like soccer, but you’ve got to appreciate the lack of TV-commercial timeouts during the World Cup. . . .

Horses for courses: Peace is five for five on the Hollywood Park turf course--and one for 16 elsewhere--during his career. Sunday, the 5-year-old Charlie Whittingham trainee will try for his third victory in a row over Eclipse Award winner Steinlen on the lawn in the $100,000 Inglewood Handicap. . . .

Michael Wrona, the new track announcer from Australia, is learning the styles of the horses at Hollywood Park quickly and beginning to anticipate their moves. . . .

I hope a gentleman named Henry Tillman doesn’t get hurt Saturday night when he fights Mike Tyson. . . .

George Foreman, the good humor man, has been conducting sports trivia contests before his workouts at Caesars Palace. The winners get Foreman T-shirts. . . .

Well-dressed Mike Dunleavy shouldn’t have to defend his wardrobe.