Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 15, 1991

What the Raiders will have to overcome Sunday at Buffalo is the home-ice advantage and history. . . .

Warm-weather teams are 1-8 in AFC or AFL championship games and 1-9 in NFC or NFL championship games played in cold-weather cities. . . .

I doubt that Jay Schroeder will volunteer for another reduction in pay next season. . . .

The week off didn’t hurt San Francisco, New York, Buffalo or the Raiders, who won their opening playoff games by anywhere from 10 to 28 points. . . .

At least Sam Wyche won’t have to spend most of his time this week looking for bulletin board material. . . .

The capacity crowd at the Coliseum was so loud that the Cincinnati Bengals had trouble hearing signals in the east end. . . .

It was feared that Hampton would go down with a injury Sunday at the Meadowlands, but most people thought it would be Dan, not Rodney. . . .

Thumbs down on the Philadelphia Eagle players--unnamed, of course--who had the gall to criticize Randall Cunningham for speaking his mind after he was benched by Buddy Ryan. . . .

NBC commentator Paul Maguire made a good argument before the Buffalo-Miami game when he said Frank Reich should start at quarterback for the Bills instead of Jim Kelly. Maguire was just wrong, that’s all. . . .

The Bills and Raiders each will be paid full shares of $18,000 Sunday. For the first AFL championship game in 1960, the winning Houston Oilers got $1,025 apiece and the losing Los Angeles Chargers $718. . . .

That Oiler-Charger game was supposed to be played in the Coliseum, but was moved to Houston because the league thought it would draw better there. The game at Jeppesen Stadium drew 32,183. . . .

USC is a vastly improved basketball team that still needs to learn how to win close games. . . .

If I’m a Trojan, I get the ball to Harold Miner with the game on the line even if five people are guarding him. . . .

Wayne Lukas is doing one of his finest training jobs ever with Farma Way, the 4-year-old colt who has become a money machine since joining the nation’s leading stable five months ago. . . .

Winning the Smythe Division championship would be very important to the Kings, who could play Vancouver in the first round of the playoffs and let Calgary and Edmonton slug it out. . . .

Evander Holyfield, who was at the Coliseum Sunday, is making more personal appearances than any heavyweight champion since Buster Douglas. But he seems to be staying in better shape than Buster did. . . .

That Chicago Stadium organ isn’t the only thing Edmonton Coach John Muckler will hear at the NHL All-Star game in Chicago after picking his own goaltender, Bill Ranford, as Campbell Conference backup instead of the Blackhawks’ Ed Balfour. . . .

Fastest time in the mile last year was 3:49.31 by an American, Joe Falcon. . . .

Coliseum public address announcer Dennis Packer did the Japan Bowl, which started at 7 p.m. our time Saturday, and got back in time to work the Raider-Cincinnati game. . . .

Too bad amateur Phil Mickelson’s great escape to win the Tucson Open was overshadowed by all the football Sunday. It was one of the least likely golf stories in years. . . .

Wilt Chamberlain will become the first player to have his uniform retired by two NBA teams when Philadelphia honors him March 18 at the Spectrum. No. 13 also hangs from the north wall at the Forum. . . .

Not all that wind in Tiger Stadium will be coming from the mouth of Bo Schembechler. The acquisition of Mickey Tettleton gives Detroit three of last season’s six leading American League strikeout victims--Tettleton, Cecil Fielder and Rob Deer. . . .

Manager Bump Wills is advancing in the Texas Rangers’ farm system. If he makes it to the majors, Bump and Maury Wills will join Connie and Earle Mack and George and Dick Sisler as father-son managers in the modern era. . . .

J.T. Snow, son of former Ram wide receiver Jack Snow, is a first base prospect in the New York Yankees’ chain. . . .

“Cheers” scriptwriter Ken Levine, who has announced Tidewater and Syracuse games the past few years, will move into the Baltimore Orioles’ radio booth next to Jon Miller this season. . . .

Be sure to get home early Thursday, March 28. The Dodgers play Kirk Gibson and the rest of the Kansas City Royals at 4:30 p.m. in a spring training exhibition that day on ESPN. . . .

Host Tom Lasorda to Mike Ditka on the KABC sports-talk show: “You could have been a big league baseball player.” Ditka: “You know I couldn’t hit the curveball.” Lasorda: “Yeah, but today they can’t throw the curve.”