Notes on a Scorecard - Aug. 5, 1992

Want to become the world’s fastest woman? Attend UCLA. The last three Olympic 100-meter champions--Gail Devers, Florence Griffith Joyner and Evelyn Ashford--all did. . . .

The flame that used to burn throughout every Olympics atop the peristyle at the Coliseum has been relegated to spot duty. The decision was made before the 1988 Games to keep it lit only during the opening and closing ceremonies for environmental reasons. . . .

I doubt that Gwen Torrence’s competitors are going to vote her Ms. Congeniality. . . .

No matter how spirited the competition, I find myself dozing off every night at some point during NBC’s taped coverage. Four and a half hours is too much, especially when you already know who won the events. . . .

Oscar De La Hoya might be the best fighter in Barcelona, but NBC continues to try to keep the 132-pounder from East Los Angeles a secret. After one of his bouts was shown a day late, the next was hidden on the post-midnight program. . . .

It is apparent that NBC dislikes baseball even more than CBS. . . .

Another gripe. The baldies-but-goodies’ upset victory over Italy in volleyball was cut into little bits and pieces. Every time you got interested, the network would switch to another venue. . . .

Cliche of the week: He really nailed that dive. . . .

Larry Donald was hardly poetry in motion against Cuban super-heavyweight Roberto Balado. . . .

Intrasquad fights are a tradition in Raider camp. But any player who fights a coach deserves to be booted. Good riddance, Elvis (Toast) Patterson. . . .

It is a coincidence that Chuck Knox will begin his second Ram coaching career against the Seahawks, whom he coached the last nine years, Thursday night in Seattle. The exhibition game was scheduled long before Knox returned to the Rams. . . .

Funny, but Knox’s Rams will open the regular season against the Bills, whom he coached in 1978-82, on Sept. 6 at Buffalo. . . .

A second NFL supplemental draft will be held on Aug. 31. The prize is Darrin Mickell, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound defensive end who was being touted as the best pass rusher in the NCAA before he dropped out of Florida. . . .

Terry Donahue of UCLA has the ninth-highest winning percentage, 69%, among football coaches who have been active at the Division I-A level for at least five years. . . .

Dong Koo, a USC freshman offensive tackle from Warren High School in Downey, holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo. He is 6-4, 285, and turned down an offer to become a sumo wrestler in his native South Korea. . . .

Norm Nixon is Terrell Lowery’s basketball agent. . . .

Saratoga continues to live up to its reputation as the house of upsets. Highly regarded, but previously untested, 3-year-old Furiously finished fourth and Belmont Stakes runner-up

My Memoirs eighth in the Jim Dandy Stakes, which was won by 24-1 longshot Thunder Rumble. . . .

The Baltimore Orioles’ chances of overtaking the Toronto Blue Jays aren’t good, but they

are better now that Glenn Davis has returned to his old

form. . . .

A prospect in the Seattle Mariners’ farm system is first baseman Bubba Smith, no relation to the former football player. . . .

Felipe Alou is doing one of the best managing jobs in baseball, so what is keeping the Montreal Expos from extending his contract? . . .

Another outstanding manager is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jim Leyland, but there has to be a crackdown on his cigarette smoking in the dugout. Too often, television cameras are catching him in the act. . . .

Dennis Eckersley is the most valuable player in the American League right now. . . .

Mark McGwire probably will keep Cecil Fielder from equaling Babe Ruth’s feat of leading the major leagues in home runs and runs batted in three consecutive seasons. . . .

Rene Arocha, the pitcher who defected from Cuba, is doing well at triple-A Louisville and could make the St. Louis Cardinals’ staff within a couple of seasons. . . .

Members of the last-place Dodgers--Brett Butler and Eric Karros--have been named National League player of the week in consecutive weeks. . . .

Karros is one of only six Brooklyn or Los Angeles Dodger rookies to hit at least 15 home runs. . . .

The Dodgers used to dominate the rookie of the year award, but Karros would be their first winner since Steve Sax in 1982. . . .

Bo Schembechler’s Detroit Tigers were about as successful in the American League as his Michigan Wolverines were in the Rose Bowl. . . .

The salaries of the players on the New York Mets’ disabled list are higher than those on the entire Cleveland Indians’ roster.