Notes on a Scorecard - June 21, 1994

John Thompson is going to watch Patrick Ewing try to lead the New York Knicks to the NBA title on Wednesday, but the Georgetown coach is not thinking about basketball. . . . “I can’t get O.J. Simpson out of mind,” Thompson said. “I’ll focus on something for a little while, but my thoughts keep coming back to O.J.” . . .

So do mine. . . .

Probably yours, too. . . .

Of course, television, radio, and the newspapers won’t let us forget about this enormous tragedy, even if we want to. . . .

I was watching the U.S. Open playoff Monday when ABC interrupted its coverage to show Simpson’s arraignment. . . .

Somebody commented that it was routine court stuff. . . .

The difference, though, was that this involved the most famous American ever to be charged with murder. . . .

Not long after the network returned to the U.S. Open golf tournament, a Denver radio sports talk-show host called. . . .

Irv Brown said that every call to his program the previous hour had been about Simpson. . . .

Brown also said that these have not been the best of times for those idolized by Southern California fans, and he was right. . . .

First, a single-car auto accident left Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, who was legally drunk, paralyzed. . . .

Next, Hall of Fame-to-be guard Magic Johnson contracted HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, acknowledged that he had been promiscuous, and announced his retirement at 32. . . .

Then Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale died of a heart attack at 56. . . .

Monday, the Hall of Fame tailback from USC, the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers stood in a courtroom and pleaded not guilty to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. . . .

I could give no definitive answer to Brown when he asked me how long Simpson would be the main topic of conversation in L.A. . . .

*

It would take a miracle for the United States to win the World Cup, but why can’t we at least win the U.S. Open? . . .

The most memorable shot of the day was a miss--the near-miss, 20-foot putt for par by Loren Roberts on the second hole of sudden death. . . .

Look-alikes: Colin Montgomerie and Bill Parcells; Ernie Els and Liam Neeson. . . .

The Cleveland Indians have the second-best record in baseball. . . .

Funny, but the Raiders have a lot more success against the Denver Broncos than the Dodgers have against the Colorado Rockies. . . .

The 1941 Yankees, whose record of home runs in 25 consecutive games was tied by the Detroit Tigers, featured Joe DiMaggio. He had 30 home runs that year. Charlie (King Kong) Keller led the team with 33, and Tommy Henrich had 31. . . .

Frank Thomas, Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Jeff Bagwell, Andres Galarraga, Gregg Jefferies and Fred McGriff are making this the year of the first baseman. . . .

At the start of this week, the Dodgers had 69 home runs and 323 runs batted in. The Angels had 68 home runs and 323 RBIs. . . .

If you have pitched one shutout in the National League this season, you are only one away from the league lead. . . .

Scouring the box scores every morning is even more fun than usual because of all the big numbers being compiled by batters. . . .

Don’t look for a rematch of the 1992 American League championship series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics. . . .

What a pleasant surprise the injured Delino DeShields’ replacement, Garey Ingram, turned out to be for the Dodgers. He hit for a higher average in 26 games than last year in 84 games for San Antonio of the Texas League. . . .

Baseball Coach Andy Lopez, who has left for Florida, will be missed by Pepperdine. . . .

Tommy Morrison fights more often outside the ring than Riddick Bowe does inside the ring. . . .

Two years ago, 400-meter hurdler Kevin Young and 400-meter runner Quincy Watts won Olympic gold medals. Since then, they have left coach John Smith. Last weekend, Young failed to qualify for the finals in the national meet and Watts didn’t even compete. . . .

Bobby Bonilla’s horses are having even less success than his baseball team. In their racing debuts, horses co-owned by the Met third baseman finished seventh and eighth during the weekend at Hollywood Park. . . .

Don’t worry about the Coliseum being ready for the NFL exhibition season because all five of the Raiders’ games are out of town, although one will be as near as Anaheim. . . . At least you can’t accuse soccer of using juiced-up balls.