Notes on a Scorecard - Feb. 25, 1992

Attention Duke and UCLA: None of the last nine regular-season poll champions have won the NCAA tournament. . . .

A downtown broker said tickets for UCLA-Duke Sunday at Pauley Pavilion are the hottest ever for a college basketball game in Los Angeles. Asking prices range from $200 to $700. Tickets for the other sellout this week, USC-UCLA Thursday at the Sports Arena, are being offered for $50 to $250. . . .

Who ever thought that UNLV would rank right up there with NCAA as a four-letter word in Jerry Tarkanian’s vocabulary? . . .

The UNLV administration should have let Tarkanian go quietly. . . .

Notre Dame is the undisputed college basketball champion of L.A. . . .

Both local NBA coaches were coached by Frank McGuire in college--the Lakers’ Mike Dunleavy at South Carolina and the Clippers’ Larry Brown at North Carolina. . . .

Front-row Sports Arena season ticket-holder Billy Crystal is to the Clippers what Jack Nicholson is to the Lakers. . . .

Crystal grew up in Long Beach, N.Y., not far from Larry Brown. . . .

Charlotte Hornet guard Kendall Gill is developing into the prize of the 1990 draft. . . .

Vlade Divac will appear on an upcoming episode of “Coach.” . . .

Twenty years after Marques Johnson starred for the Crenshaw High basketball team that was ruled ineligible to participate in the L.A. City playoffs, his son Kris starred for the Montclair Prep team that was ruled ineligible for the Southern Section 5-AA playoffs. . . .

Seventeen of the top 25 teams in the Associated Press poll lost last week. . . .

Today is the 28th anniversary of Cassius Clay’s seventh-round TKO of heavyweight champion Sonny Liston at Miami Beach. . . .

All that cute stuff that worked for Larry Holmes against Ray Mercer won’t against Evander Holyfield. . . .

Terry Norris is a talented fighter, but he needs to be tested. . . .

The New York Rangers have the most U.S. players in the NHL, nine, and the Edmonton Oilers the least, none. . . .

Don’t look now, but the Pittsburgh Penguins might not make the Stanley Cup playoffs. The 1969-70 Montreal Canadiens were the last defending Cup champions who failed to reach the playoffs. . . .

The best thing about the Kings wearing black uniforms at the Forum during the second half of the season is that their fans finally are able to read the numbers. . . .

Randall Cunningham, whose rehabilitation from knee surgery is going fine, should be able to scramble again for the Philadelphia Eagles next season. . . .

It seems to me that a lot of Plan B free agents hurt their leverage by making pre-arranged deals with their old teams. . . .

Tommy Maddox, who skipped the Indianapolis combine, says he would be glad to work out for any NFL team. The former Bruin quarterback wants to be drafted by a team that will work him into the lineup slowly. . . .

The 1992 U.S. Olympic trials in synchronized swimming will be held April 2-5 at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. . . .

Author Steven King has donated $30,000 to his alma mater, the University of Maine, to keep its swimming and diving programs alive. . . .

A.P. Indy, the $2.9-million colt scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in the San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita Saturday, was flattered when Dance Floor was a convincing winner in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Dance Floor became the sixth horse to win his next race after losing to A.P. Indy in the Hollywood Futurity. . . .

The San Diego Padres probably will start an infield of first baseman Fred McGriff, second baseman Kurt Stillwell, shortstop Tony Fernandez and third baseman Craig Worthington, who were all American Leaguers two years ago. . . .

The Dodgers would be advised to win early. Only 12 of their last 35 games are at home, and the final six are on the road. . . .

Here is a vote for Dave Peterson to be replaced as coach of the U.S. Olympic hockey team in 1994. . . .

You read about a baseball player being upset because he lost arbitration and got only $2 million a year, and then you hear Olympic Games short-track speedskater Cathy Turner say she brought only one pair of skates to France because she could not afford to buy another. . . .

Magic Johnson and Sandy Koufax retired in the month of November after 12-year careers because of physical ailments. Both wore No. 32 for an L.A. team. Both lost a championship series their final year and were employed by NBC the following season.