Notes on a Scorecard - Dec. 11, 1990

Now that was entertainment. . . .

There was more action in the first three minutes of the Raider-Lion game Monday night than in the 60 minutes of the Giant-49er game. . . .

The only participants who slowed the play in the Silverdome were the officials. It’s almost as though they are trying to get rid of the instant replay rule by carrying it out so poorly. . . .

Poor Cleveland Gary. He keeps fumbling and people refuse to drop the subject. But he shouldn’t give up hope. Better running backs, such as O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson and Marcus Allen, have suffered from fumble-itis too. It’s curable. . . .

I just hope Gary’s Ram teammates don’t show him up as Wilbur Jackson’s San Francisco 49er teammates did at practice several years ago. They presented him a football with handles. . . .

Better luck to the Colorado State Rams against Oregon in the Freedom Bowl Dec. 29 at Anaheim Stadium, where the other Rams have lost three games in a row and five of seven this season. . . .

Elvis Presley isn’t the only person not picking up tickets to watch Jerry Glanville’s Falcons these days in Atlanta, where only 36,222 saw them lose to Phoenix. . . .

The New York Giants not only play hurt, they coach hurt. . . .

Thurman Thomas, who is among those most responsible for Buffalo’s great season, doesn’t get enough ink. . . .

Any event that uses Roman numerals takes itself too seriously. . . .

ESPN announcer Mike Patrick said Randall Cunningham would get most of the votes in an NFL most-valuable-player balloting. What about that other quarterback, Joe Montana? . . .

Patrick’s sidekick, Joe Theismann, continues to do some of the best football commentary on TV. . . .

The prevent defense once again prevented a team using it, the Philadelphia Eagles, from winning. . . .

Hitting high notes in the NFL this year have been Miami Dolphin wide receiver Tony Martin and Green Bay Packer linebacker Tony Bennett. . . .

A ring-card girl at a Don King-promoted fight gets about as much work as a 24-second clock at a Denver Nugget game. . . .

Actually, Mike Tyson might not be completely through with HBO. The network has the rights to the delayed telecast of the proposed bout matching Tyson against the Evander Holyfield-George Foreman winner. . . .

Donovan (Razor) Ruddock says his other nickname is “the Calculated Assassin.” . . .

Ruddock’s latest victim, Mike Rouse, went down from a right hand to the shoulder Saturday in Atlantic City. . . .

That all-heavyweight card at the Country Club in Reseda tonight is particularly unusual for Southern California, where the staple always has been little men. . . .

Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who still complains that he was robbed of the decision over Sugar Ray Leonard, reportedly refused to shake hands with Leonard in Atlantic City. . . .

Look-alikes: Clipper assistant coach John Hammond and Dan Quayle. . . .

Every time I look, Kentucky is playing basketball on the tube. . . .

Don MacLean is averaging 25.3 points a game, but he’s not the highest scorer on the UCLA campus. Junior guard Rehema Stephens is averaging 26.8 for the women’s team. . . .

If Shaquille O’Neal decides to leave Louisiana State after his sophomore year, he will be to the NBA draft what Eric Lindros will be to the NHL draft. . . .

The California Bowl, matching the Big West and Mid-American Conference champions, has become the Mismatch Bowl. . . .

Ray Perkins lost out on the Mississippi State job to his old Alabama buddy, Honest Jackie Sherrill. . . .

Jim Young’s successor at Army has a tough act to follow. . . .

If you don’t think the token, five-minute overtime in the NHL is a joke, consider all the ties the Kings have been playing lately. . . .

The Grand Slam Cup can offer $6 million in purses, but it will never catch up with the true Grand Slam tennis events in prestige. . . .

World-class marathoner Frank Plasso, who was told by doctors last August that his career was over after he was hit by a pickup truck while on a training run, will compete in the Redondo Beach Super Bowl Sunday 10-kilometer run Jan. 27. . . .

Brett Butler insists he never asked San Francisco for $15 million and would have re-signed for considerably less. . . .

The Giants want to make Robby Thompson their new leadoff man, but he has averaged more than 100 strikeouts each of his last five years. . . .

All those free-agent signings and trades got me excited. Play ball!