Notes on a Scorecard - May 20, 1992

The argument that the Lakers should have hired a coach with a marquee name to boost dwindling attendance at the Forum is silly. Nobody ever buys a ticket to see a coach. Only the performance of his team matters. . . .

I hope Randy Pfund sticks to his pledge to get the Lakers to play at a faster pace. The most legitimate complaint about Mike Dunleavy was that his offense often was stagnant. . . .

Bill Sharman is the only one of the Lakers’ 10 coaches since they moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960 who had previous experience as an NBA head coach. . . .

The Kings are making a mistake by not putting Jacques Demers on their short--or long--list of possibilities to replace Tom Webster. . . .

This time, the Edmonton Oilers’ mystique will not enable them to pull off another NHL playoff series upset. . . .

Some of New York’s sports regulations need revision. The ban against Lasix means Kentucky Derby winner Lil E. Tee might not run in the Belmont Stakes June 6. Worse yet is the archaic New York round system of scoring in boxing. If baseball results were determined the same way, the team that won the most innings would win the game. . . .

It would take a return to competition by A.P. Indy to get me excited about the Belmont, which always suffers when there is no Triple Crown candidate. . . .

Jan Stephenson, Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley and Meg Mallon will participate in the LPGA Skins Game near Dallas this weekend. Prize money will be $450,000, the same as for the seniors’ Skins and $90,000 less than for the PGA version. . . .

Look-alikes: Laker assistant coach Bill Bertka and America 3helmsman Buddy Melges. . . .

You know about Harold Miner of USC and Don MacLean and Tracy Murray of UCLA, but a lot of NBA scouts believe Trojan point guard Duane Cooper also will be drafted. . . .

If Miner is taken by the Denver Nuggets with the fifth pick, he will be near his parents, who live in Colorado. . . .

Listening to the objectivity of Marv Albert during the Chicago Bull-New York Knick telecast Sunday on NBC, it was difficult to tell that Albert is the Knicks’ regular TV announcer. . . .

Fastest human in the world might be Andre Cason, who beat Leroy Burrell by a yard in a wind-aided 9.88 for the 100 meters at Modesto last weekend. . . .

World Boxing Assn. cruiserweight champion Bobby Czyz, who claims he has never been cut above the mouth during a fight, suffered 30 facial cuts in an automobile accident last week in New Jersey. . . .

Raider defensive end Anthony Smith says boxing workouts at the Ten Goose Gym are improving his footwork. . . .

What ever happened to Michael Nunn? . . .

If the Bulls repeat as champions, they will be the first Chicago team to do so since the 1941 Bears. . . .

When only 28,700 pay to see the first game of a Dodger-Chicago Cub series at Dodger Stadium on a pleasant night in May, you know each team is off to slow start. . . .

Many of those people demonstrated their awareness of the Dodgers’ inability to rally by leaving in the seventh inning with the home club trailing badly, 1-0. . . .

Only Ernie (Let’s Play Two) Banks could love the Dodgers’ schedule July 3, 6, 7 and 8. . . .

Next time you read about the bulging Dodger payroll, consider that the franchise will be paid an estimated $37.5 million for television and radio rights next season. . . .

Montreal second baseman Delino DeShields wears his socks high in tribute to players in the Negro League, who wore them that way. . . .

Terry Pendleton is showing that last season might not have been a fluke. . . .

Twelve members of the 1984 U.S. Olympic baseball team are playing in the major leagues, two are in the minors, and six are out of the sport. That team was loaded with stars such as Mark McGwire, Will Clark, Barry Larkin, Shane Mack and Billy Swift, but lost the honorary gold medal game to Japan, 6-3, at Dodger Stadium in what was then a demonstration sport. . . It can’t be long before the Mark McGwire-Babe Ruth-

Roger Maris comparison charts start appearing. . . .

Thumbs down on inflexible managers who overdo the setup and closer roles of relief pitchers. . . .

Disappearing species: Outfielders with great throwing arms. . . .

George Carlin’s takeoff on baseball and football, which he performed the other day on the revamped KLAC “Sports Nuts” show conducted by Gary Owens and Stu Black, ranks with the best sports comedy routines ever. . . .

Now USC can’t even beat Notre Dame in tennis. . . .

First, lights at Wrigley Field. Now, night-time racing on the NASCAR circuit. What’s next after dark, the Masters?