Notes on a Scorecard - March 17, 1993

I would get more excited about the Raider quarterback auditions if Steve Beuerlein showed up. . . .

Look for the Rams to lose more free agents than they sign. . . .

USC Coach John Robinson demonstrated his commitment to hard-hitting football by having his players put on the pads the second day of spring practice. . . .

First Bill Walsh, then Robinson and now John Ralston. Is there a college coaching opening out there somewhere in California for Tommy Prothro? . . .

No wonder the Lakers are so inconsistent. One day Jon Koncak outplays Vlade Divac in Atlanta and the next night Divac holds his own against David Robinson in San Antonio. . . .

Maybe the Houston Rockets’ Rudy Tomjanovich, not the San Antonio Spurs’ John Lucas, will be the one from the state of Texas who deserves NBA coach-of-the-year honors. . . .

How deep are the Phoenix Suns? During the four games that Richard Dumas has been sidelined, replacement Cedric Ceballos has scored 94 points. . . .

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Among those affected by the Eastern storms was Marv Albert, who missed an announcing assignment for the first time in 25 years, that being the Chicago Bulls-Detroit Pistons game on NBC Sunday. . . .

If Duke and California advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament as expected, that will be some point guard matchup between Blue Devil senior Bobby Hurley and Bear freshman Jason Kidd. . . .

John Wooden believes the tournament field should either be cut down or expanded to include all 298 Division I schools. . . .

“For economic reasons, expansion is probably better,” Wooden said. “And the TV receipts should be divided more evenly. Give each school one share for each game it plays in the tournament.” . . .

The size of the tournament fields during Wooden’s 10 NCAA championship seasons at UCLA ranged from 25 in 1964 to 32 in 1975. . . .

Call it the Louisiana Invitational--The Final Four will be played in New Orleans and more schools are entered from Louisiana, five, than any other state. . . .

The physical condition of Indiana forward Alan Henderson, coming off a knee injury, could be the key to the tournament. . . .

Among the five finalists for the Naismith Award, the women’s basketball version of the Heisman, are Lisa Leslie of USC and Natalie Williams of UCLA. . . .

Marianne Stanley, whose Trojans will play the Nebraska-University of San Diego winner Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Sports Arena, is trying to become the first person to coach two different schools in the NCAA women’s Final Four. In 1985, her Old Dominion team won the championship. . . .

Every time Jennifer Capriati is upset early in a tournament, such as the Lipton on Monday, I think that her career has been a disappointment. Then I realize she is still only 16. . . .

More than $140,000 is expected to be raised for physically disabled students at the 13th annual Swim With Mike at the USC Olympic Swim Stadium from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. . . .

Dave Righetti, 2-7 with a 5.06 ERA in 54 games last year, has appeared to have regained some of his old form in the San Francisco Giants’ bullpen. . . .

In balloting conducted in Las Vegas recently, the United States’ upset of the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics hockey tournament was voted the biggest ever. However, 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas was a much longer shot when he knocked out Mike Tyson for the heavyweight title in 1990. . . .

The World Boxing Council’s board of governors has approved a one-year pension covering rent, food and medical expenses for Kid Gavilan. The former welterweight champion from Cuba is 67, living in Miami, and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. . . .

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George Foreman will be honored at the annual Magic Johnson Sports Star Dinner and Auction, a benefit for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. on April 26 at the Century Plaza hotel. . . .

The Foreman-Tommy Morrison fight has been switched from Saturday, June 5, to Monday, June 7, at the Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV to avoid a possible conflict with the telecast of a seventh game of the NBA Western Conference championship series. . . .

A comprehensive Olympic Games museum will open in a five-story building in Lausanne, Switzerland, June 23. . . .

Lucy Wilkes, a prominent lawyer who died at 42 last Friday, was believed to have been the first woman to negotiate a major sports contract, that of her brother Jamaal with the Lakers. . . .

An $18 single-game ticket seems awfully stiff for a franchise, the Mighty Ducks, that is supposed to appeal to kids.