Notes on a Scorecard - Dec. 22, 1994

At the start of the season, Howie Long picked the San Francisco 49ers and the Raiders to play in the Super Bowl. . . .

At the moment, it appears that he will be at least half right. . . .

“The Raiders match up well with anybody, but they’ve got to answer some questions,” he said. “They can accomplish a lot Saturday against Kansas City. A win over a team they’ve lost to nine of the last 10 times would help their psyche considerably and give them a tremendous lift going into the playoffs.” . . .

After 13 distinguished seasons on the Raider defensive line, Long is the rookie of the year in sports broadcasting. . . .

James Brown, Terry Bradshaw and Jimmy Johnson are fine, but the insightful, concise Long is the best thing on Fox TV’s pregame shows. . . .

Although Fox is the NFC network, Long has seen enough of the Raiders on live television and videotape to form some opinions. . . .

On Chester McGlockton: “There may be better pass rushers and better guys against the run, but I think he’s as good a defensive tackle as there is. He’s become a total player. He raises the level of performance of the people next to him.” . . .

On Terry McDaniel: “If we were doing AFC games, I’d be talking him up like crazy every week. People are just starting to realize how good he is. Nobody has better work habits.” . . .

On Raider penalties: “I jumped offsides a lot myself, Lord only knows. Art Shell keeps talking to them about it, and they’re trying to come up with solutions.” . . .

On Kansas City’s domination of the Raiders: “It gets to a point where you become frustrated, but the Raider players believe they can handle the Chiefs. They’ll have to dictate things on offense. They have to run the ball effectively, spread the attack around and pound people.” . . .

Saturday on Fox TV, Long will do a feature segment on his old teammate Sean Jones, whom he calls the renaissance man of the NFL. . . .

Long enjoys television and the weekly, syndicated radio show he conducts with Bob Trumpy, but acknowledges that he sometimes misses being a football player. . . .

“I miss playoff time, being with Chester (McGlockton), watching film, and the locker room,” he said. “I don’t miss haggling over money, and losing was hard. I got tired of apologizing for us not doing well.” . . .

*

I have many wonderful memories of the Rams’ years in Southern California, but none of them from the 1990s. . . .

The exhibition series against the Washington Redskins, sponsored by Times Charities, attracted huge crowds to the Coliseum every summer, but there will be a lot of vacancies Saturday when the Redskins are at Anaheim Stadium for what figures to be the Los Angeles Rams’ last game. . . .

What makes the Lakers’ fast start so surprising is that they’ve played fewer games at home than any other NBA team and as many on the road as any. . . .

Seven Mighty Ducks, including first-round draft pick Oleg Tverdovsky from Russia, will compete in the world junior hockey championships Monday through Jan. 4 at Red Deer, Canada. . . .

If not for the lockout, the Ducks and Kings would play games Monday at The Pond of Anaheim and Wednesday at the Forum. . . .

Santa Anita’s 60th anniversary thoroughbred meeting that opens Monday shapes up as one of the finest in the history of the track. . . .

Among the highlights are a probable Afternoon Deelites-Timber Country matchup in the Santa Anita Derby, a Strub Stakes field that is expected to include the first four finishers in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and an appearance by Holy Bull in the Santa Anita Handicap. . . .

Holy Bull will be the first horse of the year to campaign the following year since Sunday Silence in 1990. . . .

The trainers say they have their own agendas for prep races, but I’ll wager that Afternoon Deelites and Timber Country don’t meet until the Derby on April 8. . . .

A couple of colts that didn’t race in the Breeders’ Cup Classic--Strodes Creek and Wekiva Springs--should be prominent in the Strub series and the Big Cap. . . .

With Santa Anita’s signal going to off-track betting parlors in New York for the first time, perhaps the caliber of California racing finally will be appreciated by provincial Easterners. . . .

The girls’ 50-yard dash in the Sunkist meet Feb. 11 at the Sports Arena has been named in memory of Wilma Rudolph. . . .

Happy Holidays.