Notes on a Scorecard - Nov. 25, 1991

I guess Steve Beuerlein isn’t such a bad guy to have around, after all, in case your first-string quarterback goes down. . . .

Definition of a Raider fanatic is someone who didn’t switch from the Raider-Cincinnati Bengal game on Channel 4 to the Dallas Cowboy- Washington Redskin game on Channel 2 in the second half Sunday. . . .

Plan B free agent Ronnie Lott deserves an A. . . .

Denver may have the easier schedule, but the Raiders are playing the best football in the AFC West. . . .

Rarely has an NFL quarterback had less to do with a 38-14 victory than Jay Schroeder at Riverfront Stadium. . . .

Sam Wyche is more interesting to watch than his football team. . . .

Quote of the day from CBS commentator John Madden in the closing moments of the Cowboys’ upset of the previously unbeaten Redskins: “Jimmy Johnson did one of the best coaching jobs I’ve ever seen.” . . .

The closest the Miami Dolphins came to losing during their perfect 1972 season was a 16-14 win over the Vikings at Minnesota the third week. . . .

Redskin quarterback Mark Rypien was booed by the home crowd. Of course, what had he done lately? . . .

You know the Kansas City Chiefs are in trouble when they throw 50 passes during a single afternoon. . . .

There were plenty of no-shows, but the UCLA-USC game was a sellout for the seventh consecutive year. . . .

At halftime, the deep thinkers in the press box were trying to remember a worse Trojan-Bruin game. At the end, they were saying it was another exciting game in the tradition of the series. . . .

I liked the old days better when the crowd was half-Bruin, half-Trojan and both teams wore home uniforms. . . .

Tommy Maddox will be the UCLA quarterback next season, but it’s uncertain whether Reggie Perry, Rob Johnson or Kyle Wachholtz will start for USC. . . .

How little respect did opponents have for the Trojan offense this season? Both UCLA and Washington, not afraid of the possibility of giving USC good field position, made first downs from punt formation. . . .

Michigan’s Desmond Howard should win the Heisman easily. Contender Casey Weldon of Florida State may not even be the best quarterback in the state of Florida. Saturday, he has to face Shane Matthews in Gainesville. . . .

If short, swarming Bert Cooper can dictate the style of fight against Evander Holyfield and have him in serious trouble, what will Mike Tyson do to the heavyweight champion when, or if, they meet? . . .

Referee Mills Lane did the right thing when he stopped the fight late in the seventh round, but he can be questioned for giving Holyfield a count after he was staggering against the ropes in the third round. . . .

Lane was going by a strict interpretation of the Atlanta rule book, which says a count can be administered to a fighter who is in that predicament, but Cooper was deprived of a chance to put Holyfield down and maybe out. . . .

Holyfield also got a break when time was called in the fifth round after his right glove split open. He was arm weary after bombarding Cooper, who refused to fall, and his mouthpiece was hanging out. . . .

Say this for the superbly conditioned Holyfield, who was awarded five of the first six rounds by all three judges: He has an enormous heart and excellent recuperative powers. . . .

Lennox Lewis, the 1988 Olympic Games super-heavyweight champion, displayed good tools in knocking out washed-up Tyrell Biggs, but remains untested. . . .

The public is being asked to pay to see ordinary events on pay-per-view TV, but three of the best action fights the past couple of years--Holyfield- Cooper, Buster Douglas- Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez- Meldrick Taylor--have been televised on HBO. . . .

How nice of New York Giant Coach Ray Handley finally to give Phil Simms a chance to play quarterback.