Notes on a Scorecard - March 11, 1992

Subject--March Madness in Los Angeles. . . .

Schedule--Thursday night: USC vs. Arizona State at the Sports Arena, UCLA vs. Arizona at Pauley Pavilion. Saturday afternoon: USC vs. Arizona, UCLA vs. Arizona State. . . .

Prizes--The Pacific 10 Conference basketball championship and probably a No. 1 seeding in the NCAA West regional. . . .

Standings--UCLA (14-2) has a one-game lead over USC and Arizona. . . .

Television--Surprise! All four games will be televised live. The Thursday doubleheader: USC-Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. (Prime Ticket), UCLA-Arizona at 8:30 (ESPN). The Saturday doubleheader: USC-Arizona at 1 p.m. (Prime Ticket), UCLA-Arizona State at 3. (Channel 2). . . .

Tickets--Both UCLA games are sold out. Nearly 6,000 seats remain at $13 apiece for USC-Arizona and a lot more at $8 apiece for USC-Arizona State. . . .

Tiebreakers--Teams tying for first place in the standings would be co-champions. The results of head-to-head competition between those teams would determine only the winner of the conference’s automatic NCAA tournament berth, which is meaningless because UCLA, Arizona and USC will make the field no matter what happens this week. . . .

Keys--UCLA needs improved backcourt play against Arizona and another strong performance from Don MacLean, who scored 38 points when the Bruins ended the Wildcats’ 71-game home winning streak last Jan. 11. USC needs a return to form by Harold Miner and must show confidence against Arizona, which crushed the Trojans, 107-68, at Tucson. . . .

Honors--Miner has been selected first-team and MacLean second-team All-American by Basketball Times and Basketball Weekly. . . .

Spoiler--Arizona State is not without incentive. Coach Bill Frieder’s Sun Devils are 9-7 in the conference, 18-11 overall and could land an NCAA tournament berth with a victory or two. . . .

History--Arizona has won three of the last four championships outright and tied with Oregon State in 1989-90. UCLA last won the title in 1986-87 and USC shared it in 1984-85 with Washington. . . .

It may not mean anything by then, but the Lakers and Clippers will close out the regular season on April 19 at the Forum. . . .

Indiana, the winner of the most NCAA basketball championships since 1976, has only two players active in the NBA--Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons and Randy Wittman of the Indiana Pacers. . . .

Gary Player says: “The seniors tour is a Mulligan in life for golfers over 50.” . . .

Look-alikes: King forwards Corey Millen and Mike Donnelly. . . .

Former King Don Kozak, who is the finance director at a Ford dealership in Westminster, would like to be remembered as an exciting, crowd-pleasing player and not as a flake. . . .

The Kings are 8-0-0 since Tomas Sandstrom returned to the lineup on Feb. 23 at Winnipeg after sitting out the previous 26 games because of a dislocated shoulder. . . .

Jockey Alex Solis, on Bertrando, who begins his 3-year-old season Sunday in the $200,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita: “I rode Snow Chief (the 1986 Santa Anita Derby and Preakness winner). He was a hard-trying horse who was all heart. But Bertrando, he’s something else.” . . .

Dance Smartly, the champion filly, has been nominated for the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 27. . . .

The most talented female jockey ever, Julie Krone, is the leading rider in Florida this winter. . . .

More than 11,000 runners will compete in the 13th annual Mobil St. Patrick’s Day Run for the Blind Sunday in Torrance. The event is expected to raise $300,000 for blind children and their families. . . .

I’m surprised Kirk Gibson, a designated-hitter candidate, was traded to a National League team. . . .

The New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays each are paying seven players at least $3 million a year. . . .

Howard Johnson is not reminding anyone of Willie Mays in center field. . . .

Consider yourself a baseball fanatic if you check out the exhibition standings every morning. . . .

If Dodger shortstop Jose Offerman has a good year, Joey Amalfitano will be a coach-of-the-year candidate.