Notes on a Scorecard - Sept. 3, 1992

Sunday can’t come quickly enough. Cricket would be a welcome change during the kind of baseball season we have been suffering through. . . .

The Raiders will give Los Angeles a playoff team by finishing second to the Denver Broncos in the AFC West and winning a wild-card berth. The Rams will improve upon 3-13 but again finish last in the NFC West. . . .

This is the only week of the season when both local teams are on the road--the Rams at Buffalo and the Raiders at Denver. Both are at home Nov. 22--the Rams vs. the San Francisco 49ers and the Raiders vs. Denver. . . .

The importance of NFL exhibition games was demonstrated when the Rams cut Marcus Dupree and the Raiders stuck with Jay Schroeder over Todd Marinovich. . . .

Of the 103,000 seats at the Rose Bowl for the Super Bowl game Jan. 31, only 1,500 have been made available to the public through a random drawing that will be held this month. . . .

Those picking the New York Jets to win the AFC East remind me of those who picked the Chicago White Sox to win the AL West. . . .

The most consistent team in the NFL is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have lost at least 10 games each year since the strike-shortened 1982 season. . . .

The switch from Jerry Burns to Dennis Green should improve the Minnesota Vikings, who were 8-8 last season, by two or three victories. . . .

An early candidate for comeback-of-the-year is Mark Bavaro, the former New York Giant tight end who has made the Cleveland Browns’ roster. . . .

The Miami Dolphins say linebacker Marco Coleman, the rookie from Georgia Tech, may become to this defense what Bob Matheson was to the No Name defense. . . .

The Buffalo Bills like Kenneth Davis, who was a disappointment at Green Bay, as a backup to Thurman Thomas. And the Dallas Cowboys are confident that running back Swervin’ Curvin Richards can do the job if anything happens to Emmitt Smith. . . .

Nickel defenses will be more popular than ever in the Pacific 10 Conference. “One-back offenses spread you out so much that you have to be quick and be able to cover all those wide receivers,” says USC Coach Larry Smith, whose team will play the nickel on most downs. . . .

Ron Yary Photography of Orange County took the USC team picture a couple of weeks ago, and then Yary, the only Trojan to win the Outland Trophy, addressed the players. . . .

Among those making a good impression during UCLA practice has been sophomore strong safety Marvin Goodwin. His predecessor, Matt Darby, earned a spot on the Buffalo Bills’ roster after being drafted in the fifth round. . . .

What a major league debut Dodger catcher Mike Piazza enjoyed Tuesday at Wrigley Field. He doubled, singled twice, walked, threw out a runner and appeared on both the pregame and postgame radio shows. . . .

The Dodgers would have a better record if all their players took their jobs as seriously as Brett Butler, who played 13 innings Tuesday after undergoing a 2 1/2-hour root canal treatment in the morning. . . .

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame will be held today at 1:30 at Anaheim Stadium. The 7,200 square-foot museum will occupy the second floor of a three-story structure. . . .

Martina Navratilova delayed serving to Shaun Stafford in a first-round match of the U.S. Open on Tuesday night because a fan sitting behind Stafford was holding up a newspaper. . . .

Peter Daland will be honored by USC and the American Swimming Coaches Assn. on Sept. 11 at a dinner at the Anaheim Hilton. Before retiring in April, Daland coached USC to nine NCAA championships and a 318-31-1 dual-meet record. . . .

U.S. boxing promoters will have a profitable Mexican Independence Day weekend. Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas already is sold out for Julio Cesar Chavez’s defense of his World Boxing Council super-lightweight championship against Hector (Macho) Camacho Sept. 12 and the Forum is expecting a good crowd two nights later for Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez’s defense of his WBC light-flyweight title against Napa Kiatwanchai. . . .

So many people love to hate the challenger that I keep hearing the bout against Julio Cesar Chavez on Sept. 12 being called “the Camacho fight.” . . .

Kiatwanchai, the former straw-weight champion from Thailand, has bulked up from 105 to 108 pounds. . . .

My vote for the name of the 1994 World Cup pup mascot goes to Sidekick over Champ, Sweeper and Striker. Sure beats Whatizit.