Advertisement

Notes on a Scorecard - March 30, 1994

Share

The Dallas Cowboys’ dynasty in the making ended Tuesday. . . .

Now Jerry Jones will learn that head coach is the most important position on a football team. . . .

What do Purdue forward Glenn Robinson and Chicago White Sox farmhand Michael Jordan have in common? . . .

Each was held to 13 points in the last basketball game of his junior year. . . .

All-American Grant Hill put the clamps on Robinson Saturday during Duke’s 69-60 upset of the Boilermakers in the NCAA East Regional final. . . .

Advertisement

Role player Dan Dakich shadowed Jordan during Indiana’s 72-68 upset of North Carolina in the 1984 East Regional semifinals. . . .

Jordan then declared for the NBA draft, was taken third overall by the Chicago Bulls, after Hakeem Olajuwon had gone to Houston and Sam Bowie to Portland, and had a pretty eventful nine-year career. . . .

Robinson, who would be the No. 1 pick this year, has indicated that he will return to Purdue, but please do not hold your breath waiting for that to happen. . . .

Olajuwon played his junior season at Houston, but a lesser center from Nigeria, Yinka Dare of George Washington, has decided to try the NBA draft after his sophomore season. . . .

The shaky NCAA choice here is Arkansas. The Razorbacks are the best balanced and deepest team. Even so, they lack the Final Four experience of Duke and have a tougher semifinal opponent, Arizona, than the Blue Devils, who will play Florida. . . .

Florida is back in the headlines 25 years after Gator center Neal Walk was selected second in the NBA draft by Phoenix. The Suns had lost a coin flip to the Milwaukee Bucks, who picked Lew Alcindor of UCLA. . . .

Advertisement

It should be fun to watch freshman Marion Jones, the greatest female high school sprinter ever when she was at Thousand Oaks, lead the North Carolina fast break against Purdue in the NCAA semifinals Saturday morning on CBS. . . .

Larry Brown is doing another fine coaching job with the Indiana Pacers, who should be in good hands for, oh, another year or so. . . .

Injured Clipper center Stanley Roberts has donated $10,000 to the Midnight Basketball League at the Harvard Recreation Center. . . .

The Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles will conduct an open house of its facilities April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2141 W. Adams Blvd. A tour of the Paul Ziffren Sports Resource Center Library, the only facility of its kind in the nation, is worth the trip alone. . . .

Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg is concentrating his efforts on Southern California this year and the results are dramatic. . . .

With 27 winners, Van Berg is on his way to his first Santa Anita title and a $2 flat bet on each of his meet-high 194 starters would show a $75.40 profit. His average win payoff is $17. . . .

Advertisement

Zachary Padilla of Azusa will defend his World Boxing Organization junior-

welterweight title April 18 against Harold Miller at Rotterdam, Netherlands. . . .

In other boxing news, 300 more fighting penalties than last season have been called in the NHL. . . .

*

When the New York Rangers made five trades on deadline day, they tied the record set by the Kings in 1981. Most of the King deals were quickly forgotten, but among them was one of the worst in franchise history. They got damaged goods Rick Martin from the Buffalo Sabres for a No. 3 draft choice in 1981 and a No. 1 in 1983, who turned out to be goaltender Tom Barrasso. . . .

Assistant Coach Larry Robinson, the future Hall of Famer who ended his playing days with the Kings two years ago, is being given some of the credit for the New Jersey Devils’ late-season surge. . . .

Former Dodger Rick Sutcliffe--who has pitched opening-day games for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles--is expected to start for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Cincinnati Reds Sunday night. . . .

Baseball America rates the Atlanta Braves’ and Toronto Blue Jays’ organizations 1-2 for the third consecutive year. The Dodgers are ranked 13th and the Angels 26th. . . .

I will need convincing that Al Osuna is the answer to the Dodgers’ left-handed relief problems. . . .

Advertisement

The only thing worse than listening to a friend analyze his rotisserie league would have been paying $19.95 to watch some so-called experts give advice on TV about how to draft a team. . . .

I wonder if Sandy Koufax, a pitching instructor in the Texas Rangers’ camp, was able to smooth out Jose Canseco’s delivery.

Advertisement