Notes on a Scorecard - Feb. 3, 1994

I’m rooting for the Coliseum. . . .

I hope the earthquake victim will be well by football season. . . .

Too many people have told me that what happened was a blessing in disguise, that the gray old lady will be torn down and replaced by a gleaming new state-of-the-art stadium. . . .

Sure it will. . . .

If the Coliseum is leveled, how are we going to get the money to rebuild? Shucks, we couldn’t even fund a promised makeover. . . .

We’ll be lucky to get the $35-million-or-more needed for repairs. . . .

If the Coliseum isn’t ready for next season, USC might play in Anaheim and the Raiders in Oakland or even farther away. . . .

The Coliseum has been my Fenway Park, my Tiger Stadium, my Wrigley Field. . . .

I grew up watching the Rams, taking the Pico Boulevard and Vermont Avenue trolley cars to the Coliseum and sitting in the “Free Football for Kids” section. . . .

I don’t think I got in for nothing that day, but I remember when the Rams won their first and only NFL championship, beating the Cleveland Browns of Otto Graham and Lou (the Toe) Groza, 24-17, in 1951. . . .

Bob Waterfield, Elroy (Crazy Legs) Hirsch, Tom Fears, Tank Younger, Deacon Dan Towler and Don Paul were my first sports idols. The Rams were the only major league franchise around. No Raiders, Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Clippers, Kings or Mighty Ducks. . . .

The 1958 Rams--featuring the most acrobatic running back and kick returner of his era, Jaguar Jon Arnett--finished second in the Western Conference, but set an NFL home attendance average record of 83,680 that still stands. . . .

A year earlier, they drew a record 102,368 for a game against the San Francisco 49ers. . . .

I have seen five Heisman Trophy winners perform for the home team at the Coliseum--Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Charles White and Marcus Allen of USC and Gary Beban of UCLA. . . .

A confident young Navy quarterback named Roger Staubach nearly pulled off an upset of unbeaten USC in 1962, and a strong, swift halfback from Syracuse named Ernie Davis ran through UCLA in 1959. . . .

The great USC-UCLA and USC-Notre Dame games are too numerous to mention. . . .

The Coliseum is the only stadium ever to play host to the Super Bowl, Olympic Games and World Series. . . .

Right now, I’m just hoping that this L.A. treasure will play host to another football game. . . .

*

Reggie Miller still can’t get any respect. . . .

When he was a scoring machine at UCLA, the skeptics said he wouldn’t make it big in the NBA because of his temperament. Now that the Indiana Pacer is leading Eastern Conference guards in scoring, he’s being left off the All-Star team. . . .

Oliver Miller has become the best passing center in the NBA. . . .

If the Clippers ever get the opportunity to trade Danny Manning to the Phoenix Suns for Miller and Cedric Ceballos, they should jump at it. . . .

No Laker made the All-Star team for the second consecutive year. They had been represented in 31 of the previous 32 games. . . .

Responding to an item here last week about an “Oscar Night” canvas being painted for display at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Bruce Davis, director of the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences, told promoter Bob Arum that his organization held the rights to the name. As a compromise, the canvas will read “Oscar’s Night.” . . .

Lionel Butler, who fights Jerry Jones Tuesday at the Country Club in Reseda, has been elevated to No. 3 in the World Boxing Council heavyweight rankings. . . .

Butler, managed by former rock star Lee Michaels, had a 6-10 record when he came here two years ago to be promoted by Ten Goose and trained by Joe Goossen. Since then, he’s 15-0 with 15 knockouts. . . .

Frankie Randall’s 12-round upset of Julio Cesar Chavez will be replayed Friday at 9:50 p.m. and Saturday at 2:20 p.m. on Showtime. . . .

Long Beach State, which won the Big West pennant and reached the College World Series last season, will play the 49ers’ pro alumni Saturday at 1 p.m. at Blair Field. . . .

Jerry Bailey, who rode 133-1 longshot Arcangues to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last November, will return to Santa Anita to ride Kissin Kris in the $500,000 Strub Stakes Sunday. . . .

Free-agency season in the NFL opens Feb. 18. It will be especially important this year because of the salary cap. . . .

Among running backs who might interest the Raiders is Lorenzo White. . . .

Hank Aaron’s 60th birthday is Saturday. Babe Ruth’s 99th birthday is Sunday.