Notes on a Scorecard - March 25, 1991

Nevada Las Vegas remains the heavy favorite to win the championship, but the greatest accomplishment in the NCAA tournament so far has been Kansas beating Knight (Bobby) and Day (Todd) the same week. . . .

UNLV can’t complain about any NCAA vendetta by the officials. In their four tournament games, the Rebels have been called for 51 fouls and the opposition for 75. . . .

Famous last words from Seton Hall Coach P.J. Carlesimo: “If we’re tied with Vegas with four minutes left, we’ll have the advantage.” . . .

All those Bobby Knight shoe commercials seemed a bit out of place while Indiana was being demolished by Kansas Thursday. . . .

The mentor-pupil matchup Saturday between North Carolina’s Dean Smith and Kansas’ Roy Williams will bring to mind 1987, when Knight and Indiana beat Mike Krzyzewski and Duke, 88-82, in the regional semifinals and 1975, when John Wooden and UCLA beat Denny Crum and Louisville, 75-74, in overtime in the national semifinals. . . .

Average point margin of the regional semifinals and finals was 14 points. Even the overtime game was without suspense at the end, Temple running away from Oklahoma State by nine. . . .

Two of the final three games should be lopsided, too. Duke lost to Nevada Las Vegas by 30 points in the championship game last year and the Rebels are better this year. They’re also older. Most interesting graphic of the weekend showed that the average Vegas starter is 22.5 and the average Duke starter 19.4.

Thumbs up to CBS commentator Billy Packer for not trying to turn the Duke-St. John’s rout into something it wasn’t and telling viewers that the outcome already was decided with 17 minutes left. . . .

Stanford is the only university that has two basketball teams still playing--the men in the NIT and the women in NCAA. . . .

Now I can understand why Temple guard Mark Macon caused all that excitement his freshman year. . . .

Everywhere you look, there’s Bill Walton on the tube. He did commentary on the Clipper-Golden State game in Oakland on Channel 5 Saturday night and NCAA tournament analysis in CBS’ New York studio Sunday. . . . The mighty Big East will be without a representative in the Final Four for the third time in the past four years. . . .

I won’t miss Louie Carnesecca’s sweater. . . .

Should Bo Jackson have played pro football? The injury risk was far greater than if he had concentrated on baseball. But he never would have made a fortune from commercials and endorsements had he been merely a one-sport man. . . .

What is your doctor’s opinion on Bo’s future in sports? I’ve heard from just about everyone else. . . .

It was worth the six-year wait to see the Kings on free TV Sunday, when they beat Edmonton in overtime.

It’s a shame the fights got as much attention as the hockey Saturday at the Forum. The Kings’ stampede of Calgary with the Smythe Division lead at stake was their best performance of the season. . . .

Another trade that keeps looking better for Rogie Vachon is the one that brought Todd Elik to the Kings from the New York Rangers Dec. 12, 1988. Igor Liba and Mike Boyce came with Elik for Dean Kennedy and Denis Larocque. . . .

Elik, a streaky scorer, had two goals and two assists Saturday. . . .

Flames the Forum fans love to hate: Little Theoren Fleury and big Joel Otto. . . .

The Kings’ “half-court offense”--they work the puck beautifully inside the blue line on the power play--is more effective than the Lakers’.

The London Monarchs, who won at Frankfurt Saturday, always have been tough on the road. . . .

The liberalization of the in-the-grasp rule helps the draft prospects of huge San Diego State quarterback Dan McGwire, who shrugged off potential tacklers from Miami to make big plays in the final regular-season game of the year. . . .

Dr. Ferdie Pacheco has become the Dick Vitale of boxing. . . .

The Rolando Pascua-Melchor Cob Castro World Boxing Council light-flyweight title fight tonight will be the Forum’s 17th world championship match in the past 25 months. . . .

Reports from his Houston training camp are that George Foreman’s hands are becoming quicker as he sheds the pounds for his April 19 challenge at Evander Holyfield in Atlantic City. . . .

Since the Feb. 20 trade that sent Benoit Benjamin to Seattle for Olden Polynice and two first-round draft choices, the Clippers are 9-9 after going 16-35. . . .

Hey, Wayne and Bruce, wanna trade some cards?