Notes on a Scorecard - March 26, 1991

Valuable Ronnie Lott will supply the Raider secondary with leadership, experience and vicious hits. . . .

Lott would have been a natural for the Rams, who are in dire need of defensive help and are coached by his old USC mentor John Robinson. But the supposed new era of Plan B free agents in Anaheim doesn’t seem much different from the old one. The Rams have yet to sign a high-priced, big-name player. . . .

How accurate are the news service polls? Nevada Las Vegas is trying to become the first Associated Press and United Press International regular-season champion to win the NCAA basketball tournament since North Carolina in 1982. . . .

Falling by the wayside the past eight years have been Oklahoma, Arizona, Temple, UNLV, Duke, Georgetown, North Carolina and Houston. . . .

Last year, the Rebels finished third in the polls, behind Oklahoma and Kansas. . . .

The AP writers and UPI coaches have agreed on the regular-season No. 1 every year since 1975 when the vote was split between UCLA (AP) and Indiana (UPI). . . .

Dean Smith is tied with John Wooden for most tournament victories at 47. The difference is that Wooden’s UCLA teams lost 10 games and won 10 championships and Smith’s North Carolina teams lost 21 games and won one championship. . .

Bill Walton has noticed something that has escaped most of us. “Vegas is looking tired,” he said on CBS Sunday. . . .

A testimony to Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching ability is that he has brought several players into the Final Four the past four years. Only Greg Koubek and reserve Clay Buckley have been members of all four teams. . . .

Too many tournament games, among them the Final Four, are played in domes. . . .

Some TV station ought to show the most entertaining basketball movie ever, “Hoosiers,” this week. Or maybe the underrated, “Drive, He Said,” directed by Jack Nicholson and filmed at MacArthur Court at the University of Oregon. . . .

Best thing about Channel 5’s telecast of the Kings-Edmonton game Sunday--besides that marvelous, game-winning assist by Wayne Gretzky in overtime--was the between-periods feature on the Kings’ 24-year history. . . .

It was fun to re-live the days when NHL players and Jiggs McDonald’s sidekick, Dan Avey, didn’t wear headgear. . . .

Max Truex, who died Sunday, was a 5-foot-6, 128-pound distance runner when he was co-captain of USC’s unbeaten national championship track team in 1958. The other co-captain was 6-5, 245-pound discus thrower Rink Babka. . . .

The second-year NBA expansion teams, Orlando and Minnesota, have won more games this season than the third-year teams, Miami and Charlotte. . . .

Some pro scouts believe that the best point guard prospect, other than Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson, is Abdul Abdullah, a sophomore at Community College of Rhode Island. . . .

The flip side of the Benoit Benjamin trade: Seattle is 9-8 with Benjamin after going 23-27 without him. . . .

Not unlike golf, the senior bowling tour, which stops at Cal Bowl in Lakewood this week, boasts more big names than the regular tour. . . .

A day after undergoing angioplasty heart treatment at Houston Medical Center, Evander Holyfield’s manager, Lou Duva, flew to Atlantic City to receive a man-of-the-year award from Donald Trump. . . .

Don King already has a title for the Mike Tyson-Razor Ruddock rematch: “Desert Storm II.” . . .

Johnny Bench, a two-handicapper, will be among those competing in the pro-am at the Dinah Shore LPGA tournament today and Wednesday at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage. . . .

When a certain World League of American Football team starts winning, will it be said that Frankfurt is on a roll? . . .

There is more interest in women’s tennis than men’s. . . .

The loss of Bo Jackson has Kansas City thinking about acquiring Von Hayes from Philadelphia. . . .

Still another unhappy training camper is Jose Rijo, whose feelings were hurt when Lou Piniella announced that Tom Browning would be the Cincinnati Reds’ opening-day pitcher. . . .

In the motion picture “Guilty By Suspicion,” set in 1951 and ‘52, a Milwaukee Braves’ pennant is seen hanging on a wall. The Braves didn’t move from Boston to Milwaukee until 1953. . . .

Too bad Fred Claire is denying those reports that the Dodgers are interested in Dan Plesac of Milwaukee. They could use a left-handed reliever. . . .

Like father, like son: Miami Miracle president Mike Veeck, son of Hall of Famer Bill Veeck, will give Minnie Minoso, 68, an at-bat April 13 in a Florida State League game against the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees. . . .

I understand why the Dodgers released Mickey Hatcher, but the laughs will be fewer this summer in Chavez Ravine.