Notes on a Scorecard - Nov. 7, 1990

Starting Thursday night, a reminder will hang from the north wall of the Forum that the Kings had a superstar skater long before Wayne Gretzky and silver and black. . . .

His name is Marcel Dionne, a.k.a. Little Beaver and Lou Costello. His purple and gold No. 16 sweater will be retired before the Kings’ game against Detroit, and a facsimile will be placed next to that of Los Angeles’ first hockey superstar, non-skater Rogie Vachon. . . .

Dionne was a sportswriter’s delight. . . .

Oh, what a joy it was to watch him deke a defenseman, skate around another, and flip home a wrist shot on his way to 1,771 points, which now is No. 3 on the NHL’s all-time list. . . .

And, oh, how useful were the quotes volunteered by an outspoken, glib, and brutally honest man who said everything except “no comment.” . . .

The retirement of Dionne’s sweater is another example of the NHL’s being one of the few leagues where you don’t have to be big to excel. Marcel played at 5 feet 8 and 190 pounds, goalie Vachon at 5-7 and 165. . . .

The opening of the Hollywood Park fall meeting today couldn’t come soon enough for horsemen after the recent tragedies at Belmont and Santa Anita. The Inglewood oval long has been acclaimed as one of the safest in the country. . . .

Kent Desormeaux, who set a national record when he worked primarily on the Maryland circuit, proved he could ride with the best when he won the Oak Tree jockey title in only his third full Southern California meeting. . . .

An interesting newcomer to Hollywood Park is trainer Billy Cesare, who will saddle horses in all three stakes races this week. The 35-year-old from Miami played safety with the Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and three USFL teams. . . .

Only two weeks after his surprising second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup mile, Itsallgreektome will race in the Hollywood Derby Sunday. . . .

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! The Soviets will be at the Bren Center on the UC Irvine campus for the U.S. Badminton championships today through Sunday. . . .

Look-alikes: Bob Welch and James Taylor. . . .

Wasn’t that segment with Vice President Dan Quayle on “Monday Night Football” a little long? Well, I guess anything to get the viewer’s mind off the New York Giant-Indianapolis Colt game. . . .

Best female sportscaster is CNN’s Hannah Storm. . . .

If you’re not familiar with the John Hancock Bowl in El Paso, where USC is supposed to play Michigan State on New Year’s Eve, it used to be known as the plain old Sun Bowl. . . .

Comparative scores against common opponents of the nation’s No. 1 and 2 teams: Notre Dame 37, Purdue 11. Washington 20, Purdue 14. Stanford 36, Notre Dame 31. Washington 52, Stanford 16. . . .

Tommy Maddox is the first UCLA quarterback to pass for more than 330 yards twice in a career, let alone a season. . . .

Another Cleveland Brown fall guy could be player personnel director Mike Lombardi. . . .

The San Francisco 49ers have the highest payroll in the NFL, $27.7 million. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the lowest, $13.1 million. . . .

If Dexter Manley comes off the suspended list Nov. 18, the Washington Redskins will either have to activate him or put him on waivers. . . .

Duval Love is a Big Brother to a group of kids at the Child Studies’ Center at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica and has invited them to a Ram practice Thursday. . . .

Kevin Dobson will be master of ceremonies for the California Special Olympics’ Spirit of Friendship awards dinner Saturday at the Beverly Hilton, which will honor the 12 very special people who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro--Diane Hall, Joe Hayden, David Heffernan, Steve Hickey, Patrick Hulsbus, Damon Parker, Jeff Scott, Steven Sepulveda, Stoney Sherman, Tim Shorten, Gary Stubblefield and Francisco Villasenor. . . .

Riviera Country Club hopes to land the U.S. Open golf tournament sometime before the end of the century. The last time the tournament was played in Southern California was in 1948 at Riviera. . . .

Who cares if the World Boxing Council doesn’t sanction the Evander Holyfield-George Foreman heavyweight title fight? . . .

Horse racing movies usually are hokey, but “Phar Lap” was an exception. . . .

Edmonton’s poor start couldn’t have happened to a nicer general manager than Glen Sather or a nicer owner than Peter Pocklington. . . .

If the Dodgers don’t sign Darryl Strawberry, it could be 1977 all over again. That’s when they failed to sign another free agent named Reggie Jackson and he beat them in the World Series.