Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 14, 1991

Welcome back, Jim Everett. Goodby, Dan Henning. . . .

On a day when Everett, the Ram quarterback, returned to form in Anaheim, the strategy of Henning, the coach of the 1-6 San Diego Chargers, was so mind-boggling that it won’t be surprising if the next thing he loses is his job. . . .

Henning neglected to call a safety-first quarterback sneak in the closing moments of the first half when the Chargers were pinned near their goal line, and they yielded a safety that gave the Rams the lead for good. . . .

With little more than two minutes remaining in the game and San Diego trailing by six points, Henning called a run instead of a pass on fourth and 10 on the Chargers’ 38-yard line, even though rookie quarterback John Friesz was throwing the ball well. . . .

It is difficult to summon any sympathy for Henning, who is calling the plays only because he fired Ted Tollner as his offensive coordinator one game into the season. . . .

Charger penalties also aided the Rams, but Everett earned the victory by throwing two touchdown passes and showing the patience and poise that he has lacked most of the season. . . .

Everett was happy to have tackle Jackie Slater back in the starting offensive line, Doug Smith back at center and Tom Newberry back playing his regular guard position. . . .

While the Chargers were playing it dumb, the Rams were smart enough to call the two timeouts in the last six seconds of the first half that gave Kevin Greene the opportunity to tackle Marion Butts in the end zone. . . .

San Diego wasn’t exactly big box office the last couple of weeks in the Southland, drawing a total of 90,220 fans for their games at Anaheim and the Coliseum. The Ram-Charger game was the only one of 11 played in the NFL in Week 7 that wasn’t sold out in advance. . . .

How gratifying was the Raiders’ overtime win Sunday at Seattle? Art Shell actually smiled. . . .

Comeback players of the night: Jay Schroeder, who had an outstanding second half after a nearly disastrous first half, and Ronnie Lott, who was stung on the long completion that led to the field goal that gave Seattle a 20-17 lead and then made the interception that set up the winning field goal in overtime. . . .

The Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints, the NFL’s only unbeaten teams, will not play each other in the regular season. . . .

Rick Venturi sure has turned around the Indianapolis Colts. . . .

The quality of the American League West this season was reflected in the Minnesota Twins’ quick elimination of the Toronto Blue Jays from the postseason tournament. . . .

Minnesota’s appearance in the World Series will give viewers the pleasure of watching Kirby Puckett play baseball. . . .

Of all the managerial changes, the New York Mets should benefit the most by going from Bud Harrelson to Jeff Torborg. . . .

After that tough loss to California, UCLA needed a confidence builder and got one in a 54-14 rout of Arizona. . . .

If the Bruins can maintain the pass-rush balance they displayed Saturday, they will finish high in the Pac-10 standings and earn a bowl bid. . . .

Four Los Angeles ball carriers gained at least 100 yards the same day--Kevin Williams and Shawn Wills for the Bruins and Mazio Royster and Deon Strother for USC against Washington State. . . .

If you want to know why some people think the Pacific 10 Conference should be realigned, consider that only 23,997 saw the USC-Washington State game in Pullman, Wash. . . .

Stanford played Cornell for the first time Saturday. I hope it was the last time, too. . . .

How good is Notre Dame? On a day when Rick Mirer completed only four of 15 passes for 40 yards and two interceptions, the Irish beat previously unbeaten Pittsburgh, 42-7. . . .

Top-ranked Florida State should breeze the next four weeks--Middle Tennessee State, at LSU, at Louisville and South Carolina--in preparation for Miami Nov. 16 in Tallahassee and Florida Nov. 30 at Gainesville. . . .

Things change: Among Saturday’s winners were Columbia, Rice and Kansas State. . . .

Houston is the most disappointing team in the nation. . . .

It doesn’t exactly have the ring of, say, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton, but the Lakers could have two former UCLA centers on their roster, Jack Haley and Keith Owens. . . .

NBA exhibition scores are not real high on my priority list these days. . . .

Kingston, the Kings’ mascot, is no relation to George Kingston, the San Jose Sharks’ coach. . . .

Injury of the year: Golden State Warrior guard Mitch Richmond suffered an infection caused by his pierced ear.