Notes on a Scorecard - March 16, 1992

It has been this kind of a college basketball season in Los Angeles: Arizona came to town ranked second in the nation and left third in the Pacific 10 Conference. . . .

UCLA followers, who are among the most critical in the sport, should realize that the Bruins fulfilled their regular-season goals by winning the league championship and earning the No. 1 seeding in the NCAA West Regional. . . .

The Bruins also improved their preseason ranking of No. 11 in both the Associated Press and USA Today/CNN polls. That’s right, No. 11. Bet you thought it was higher. . . .

Coach Jim Harrick has made the proper move by giving Tyus Edney most of the work at point guard lately. Edney, a freshman with the savvy of a senior, makes the Bruins quicker. It is too bad that Darrick Martin’s feelings might have been hurt, but Harrick’s primary concern is winning basketball games. . . .

Thumbs up to the wildly enthusiastic USC student rooting section that finally has given its team a legitimate home-court advantage. The Trojans’ victory over Arizona was their ninth in a row at the Sports Arena and 18th in the last 19 games. . . .

Signs of the times: “Please Stay, Harold,” and “Please Stay, Rav.”. . . .

Harold Miner is bound to receive some national player-of-the-year recognition, and George Raveling already has been honored by Basketball Weekly as coach of the year. . . .

Asked if he would be back, Raveling said, “Yeah, I’ll be back at practice at 5:45 Monday morning.” . . .

The benching of Lorenzo Orr, who missed practice for the third time this season, meant that Miner was the only Trojan on the court Saturday who was heavily recruited out of high school. . . .

There might have been controversy had Rodney Chatman not delivered what was the game-winning shot at an arena that has the NBA-style, tenths-of-a-second clock. Presumably, one of the three officials was looking at the clock when Chatman fired with 0.1 seconds showing. Beginning next year, such clocks will be mandatory at venues hosting NCAA tournament games. . . .

UCLA, seeded No. 1 in the West Regional, and USC, seeded No. 2 in the Midwest Regional, got what they deserved. . . .

CBS critic Mike Francesa, who questioned USC’s No. 2 seeding, should be aware that the Trojans are 4-1 against top 10 teams. . . .

Among the biggest winners of the tournament are the airlines. All those plane tickets that can’t be bought early at discount rates. . . .

Most intriguing first-round matchup: Syracuse vs. Princeton, much-maligned Orangeman Coach Jim Boeheim vs. much-praised Tiger Coach Pete Carril. . . .

Most surprising seeding: Massachusetts being ranked as high as No. 3 in the East Regional. . . .

Most significant closing-day result: Purdue’s upset of Indiana that gave Ohio State the Big Ten championship and the No. 1 seeding in the Southeast. . . .

Don’t count out Campbell, which plays Duke in the first round. Remember, the Campbell Conference won the NHL All-Star game. . . .

Three old USC sparring partners--Robert Morris, Delaware and Howard--made the 64-team field. . . .

For the first time, the UCLA and USC men’s and women’s teams have reached the NCAA tournament the same season. . . .

Nevada Las Vegas (26-2) had the best regular-season record in the nation, but the Big West tournament exposed the weakness of the Rebels’ competition. . . .

The NCAA shot itself in the foot again by suspending Connecticut center Rod Sellers for the first round of the tournament because of an altercation with Christian Laettner of Duke in the round-of-16 last year. Sellers wasn’t even called for a foul. . . .

I usually don’t attach much importance to spring training performances, but Orel Hershiser’s work has been eye opening. . . .

If the Dodgers had picked Robin Ventura instead of Bill Bene in the first round of the June, 1988 draft, they would not have any problems at third base. . . .

Former UCLA quarterback Tommy Maddox threw to receivers Mike Sherrard and Michael Moore in front of representatives from 10 NFL teams, including the Raiders and Rams, last week at West Los Angeles College. . . .

The Ram-Raider exhibition game at Anaheim Stadium this summer will be the first between the teams since the Raiders moved to Los Angeles from Oakland in 1982. . . .

Bo Jackson told Dick Schaap on ESPN Sunday: “I don’t want to be known as Bo Jackson, the ex-athlete. I want to be known as Mr. Jackson, the businessman.” . . .

Reports of the demise of Larry Bird have been greatly exaggerated.