Notes on a Scorecard - July 23, 1992

Bound to happen at the Olympic Games: . . .

A swimming record or two will be broken. . . .

Cuba will have a better infield than the Dodgers. . . .

Italy will have a better infield than the Dodgers. . . .

Spain will have a better infield than the Dodgers. . . .

Despite the new computer scoring system, there will be some poor decisions in boxing. . . .

A TripleCast viewer will complain that not enough of the preliminaries in the 114.5-pound class of Greco-Roman wrestling are being shown. . . .

Juan Antonio Samaranch will make a boring speech. . . .

The best basketball will be played during U.S. intra-squad scrimmages. . . .

During a lull in the action, NBC’s Bob Costas will pull his Mickey Mantle trading card out of his wallet. . . .

Emilio Sanchez and his sister Arantxa Sanchez Vicario will use the home-court advantage to win the tennis tournaments. . . .

When a certain American female swimmer wins, headlines will refer to the “Summer Olympics.” . . .

Matt Biondi will swim the 50-meter freestyle in three strokes. . . .

Oscar De La Hoya will be the best fighter, pound-for-pound. . . .

An American promoter will offer Cuban heavyweight Felix Savon a bout against Evander Holyfield. . . .

The equestrian events will put some to sleep and thrill others. . . .

Those residing in the media village, which lacks air conditioning, will dub it “Stalag 92.” . . .

The great debate will be whether synchronized swimming is a sport. . . .

Team handball will be worth a look. . . .

The U.S. contingent will make Mr. Blackwell’s 10 worst-dressed list with its opening-ceremony attire. . . .

A women’s pro basketball league will be proposed after the United States wins the gold medal. . . .

No Canadian will win a medal in the Canadian singles, Canadian pairs, Canadian singles slalom or Canadian pairs slalom canoeing competition. . . .

The walk races will be pedestrian. . . .

Dave Johnson will clear 15 feet 9. . . .

After Dave wins the decathlon, Dan will hug him. . . .

American male runners will dominate everything up to 800 meters but will need a taxi to get home in the distance races. . . .

A man named John Smith will be the most uncommon wrestler. . . .

Documentary film maker Bud Greenspan will wear his glasses on his forehead. . . .

Any team coming within 40 points of the Dream Team will declare it a moral victory. . . .

Hundredths of a second will be the difference between a gold medal and fourth place in a swim sprint. . . .

The long jump duels, Mike Powell vs. Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee vs. Heike Drechsler, will steal the track and field show. . . .

Bela Karolyi will be compared to Bela Lugosi. . . .

California will win more medals than most countries. . . .

An athlete who read the bus schedule incorrectly will miss his event. . . . Nobody will chant, “Beat the Unified Team!” . . .

Kenyans will sweep the steeplechase. . . .

An unpaid kayaker will be as skilled at his sport as a millionaire tennis or basketball player. . . .

Smallest medalist will be 4-4, 68-pound Kim Kwang Suk of North Korea in the uneven bars. . . .

If athletes from what used to be East Germany fail, people will say it is because they are off steroids. . . .

If they succeed, it will be because they still are on steroids. . . .

A boxing referee will deserve a warning for issuing so many warnings. . . . Barcelona merchants will complain that business is bad. . . .

Visitors will complain that prices are high. . . .

A U.S. relay team will drop the baton. . . .

An Olympic official from Atlanta will say that his city will do it better in 1996. . . .

Butch Reynolds will get more attention than anyone who qualified to run in the 400 meters. . . .

Chuck Daly will worry. . . .

Shotputter Huang Zhihong of China will win her country’s first gold medal in track and field. . . .

The best team competitions will match the United States against Cuba in baseball and men’s volleyball. . . .

There will be more politics than at the United Nations. . . .

Sergei Bubka will set a record. . . .

Someone will wonder why there is no golf. . . .

A 15-year-old gymnast will win a gold medal and announce her retirement. . . .

Charles Barkley will ask to be traded.