Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 9, 1991

This Doc Rivers contract dispute should teach the Clippers never again to trade for a veteran who is supposed to be a team leader with a terrific attitude. . . .

I mean, who does Rivers think he is, Patrick Ewing? . . .

During the billboard on ABC Monday night, Buffalo Bill quarterback Jim Kelly said, “People don’t want to see the pitch left, the pitch right. They want to see exciting football.” . . .

Then the Kansas City Chiefs pitched left and pitched right the exciting Bills to death, 33-6. . . .

But I still think the worst thing that happened to pro football last season was Scott Norwood missing the field goal that would have given the Bills a Super Bowl victory over the New York Giants. . . .

Everyone would be trying to imitate the Bills instead of the Giants, more points would be scored, and fewer TV viewers would fall asleep if that darned kick had gone a few feet to the left. . . .

The next NFL draft could be among the best. A record number of underclassmen are expected to make themselves eligible in the belief that a rookie wage scale will be imposed for the 1993 season. . . .

Only nine of the 28 first-rounders this year have started at least one NFL game. . . .

The Indianapolis Colts would be wise to hire Raider assistant Mike White as head coach next season. He would do wonders with young quarterback Jeff George. . . .

The NFC East is football’s equivalent of the American League West. No team is under .500. . . .

Buffalo’s next six games are against teams--Indianapolis, Cincinnati, New England twice, Green Bay and Miami--with six victories among them. . . .

The Minnesota Vikings have been outscored, 56-9, in the fourth quarter. . . .

Artist Fred Stone and jockeys Chris McCarron, Laffit Pincay, Pat Valenzuela, Corey Nakatani, Alex Solis and Kent Desormeaux will autograph Stone’s new horse racing poster tonight from 6:30 to 9 at the Glendale Galleria. The posters will be available for a $50 donation to the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund. . . .

John McKay, the Hall of Fame football coach, will make a rare Southland public appearance when he speaks to the Orange County Trojan Club Tuesday at the Revere House in Tustin. . . .

In a listing of the Kings’ opening-night lineup in 1967, nicknames for Eddie (the Jet) Joyal and Real (Frenchy) Lemieux, among others, were omitted. Owner Jack Kent Cooke loved nicknames. One that stuck was “Jiggs” for announcer Ken McDonald. . . .

After 13 years, Mark Messier and Mike Gartner have been reunited with the New York Rangers. They played with the Cincinnati Stingers of the old World Hockey Assn. in 1978-79. . . .

Brett Lally has been signed to fight Gianfranco Rosi, the International Boxing Federation junior-middleweight champion, Nov. 21 at Perugia, Italy. It must have been Lally’s first-round knockout loss to Terry Norris, the World Boxing Council champion, Aug. 17 at San Diego that made him such an attractive challenger. . . .

Martin Keino, 19, is the leading cross-country runner at the University of Arizona. His father, Kip, the Olympic gold medalist, is a successful businessman in Kenya. . . .

The last baseball game has been played at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, but Maryland and Penn State will play football there on Nov. 9. . . .

I can’t imagine the Dodgers not re-signing Orel Hershiser. . . .

And the Angels ought to keep Wally Joyner. . . .

The Boston Red Sox should have replaced Joe Morgan with Joe Morgan. . . .

Rodney McCray, the outfielder from West Los Angeles College who gained fame by crashing through the outfield wall during a Pacific Coast League game at Portland, has been released by the Chicago White Sox after refusing reassignment to Vancouver. . . .

Key to the Atlanta-Pittsburgh series will be the performances of the Braves’ young starting pitchers.