Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 4, 1993

The selection of John Robinson as USC football coach was, as they say on campus these days, a real no brainer. . . .

I mean, why bother to look anywhere else when someone who has won 67 games, lost 14 and tied two at your university and is 6-1 against Notre Dame and 5-2 against UCLA is available? . . .

“He’s the ideal choice,” said Marcus Allen, the tailback who won the Heisman Trophy while playing for Robinson in 1981. . . .

“They got it right this time,” said Mike Lamb, a not-so- famous offensive lineman from the Robinson era. . . .

It would be unfair to expect Robinson to duplicate his earlier record when the scholarship limit was higher, the USC admission requirements were lower, and the Pacific 10 was a weaker conference. . . .

But don’t expect the Trojans to go 3-8 or 4-6-1 as they did a couple of times during the Ted Tollner and Larry Smith regimes--or to be beaten every year by Notre Dame. . . .

“Robinson is a master motivator,” Allen said. “He always set his goals high. I remember once he told the team, ‘Bring on the Los Angeles Rams. We’ll play ‘em in the parking lot right now.’ ” . . .

“You can be sure that his players won’t wear towels or half-shirts or celebrate when they hold some runner to a five-yard gain,” Lamb said. “He told us, ‘We’re a team. Everyone is going to look and act the same.’ ” . . .

Lamb, a sportscaster for KFI radio, said he got a lot of calls from former teammates during the season and then again Sunday. “They used to call to complain,” he said. “Now, they’re thrilled.” . . .

Alabama deserves to be crowned national champion, but Notre Dame probably would be favored to win an NCAA tournament. . . .

Stanford, not Washington, might be the toughest obstacle facing Robinson in his bid to bring USC back to the Rose Bowl. . . .

Robinson’s first assignment will be Sept. 4 at the Coliseum against the University of Houston and his first Pac-10 game Sept. 25 at home against Washington State. Six of the 11 games--including those at Penn State, Notre Dame and Washington--will be played on the road. . . .

Best conference in the nation must have been the SEC, which went 5-1 in bowl games. The most overrated must have been the Pac-10, which went 2-4. . . .

The first bowl game of the year, the Las Vegas Bowl that was won by Bowling Green over Nevada in the final minute, turned out to be the most exciting. . . .

The much-maligned Rose was the most watchable game on an otherwise boring New Year’s Day. . . .

It might have been tempting, but I hope you didn’t switch from the AFC wild-card playoff game to the national miniature golf championships on ESPN during the third quarter Sunday when the Houston Oilers were handing the Buffalo Bills a beating. . . . Quarterback Warren Moon will get much of the blame for the Oilers’ collapse, but their defensive performance in the third quarter ranks right up there with the all-time worst in postseason play. . . .

The San Diego Chargers’ eighth consecutive victory Saturday tied them with the San Francisco 49ers for the longest current winning streak in the NFL. With their defense, the Chargers have as good a chance as any AFC team of reaching the Super Bowl. . . .

In his first year, Charger Coach Bobby Ross exudes the confidence of a longtime winner. . . .

Another rookie, Dennis Green of the Minnesota Vikings, had the misfortune of facing a Joe Gibbs-coached team in his first playoff game. That is much more difficult than facing, say, a Marty Schottenheimer-coached team. Schottenheimer seems capable of bringing teams into the playoffs, but not getting them into the Super Bowl because he is too conservative. . . .

On New Year’s Eve, Tom Lasorda said: “I’m getting rid of everything that reminds me of 1992. My briefcase, my address book, everything. I want to get year completely out of mind.” . . .

Sportsman of the week: Jockey Pat Valenzuela, who rescued a 9-year-old boy from a burning motor home in Pasadena Wednesday. . . .

As a sixth man, Gary Grant is a lot more valuable to the Clippers than he was as a starter. . . .

Wouldn’t you know it, the day after Larry Smith resigns, USC beats Notre Dame. . . .

The more things change, the more they stay the same. In 1977, John Robinson coached USC, Terry Donahue coached UCLA, Chuck Knox coached the Rams, and Tom Lasorda managed the Dodgers.