Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 17, 1995

On the day the San Diego Chargers were reaching the Super Bowl for the first time, Georgia Frontiere was preparing to put her signature on the deal that will move the Rams to St. Louis. . . .

What made it ironic is that the Chargers were the first professional football team to leave Los Angeles. . . .

The L.A. Chargers won the Western Division title of the American Football League in 1960, the league’s inaugural season. . . .

The championship game was supposed to have been played here but was shifted to Houston because attendance at the Coliseum during the season was so meager. . . .

The Oilers won, 24-16, before 32,183 fans at Jepperson Stadium, the winning players collecting $1,025 a share and the losers $718. . . .

The Chargers, including offensive end coach Al Davis, moved to San Diego and a new home at Balboa Stadium the next year. . . .

Of course, the L.A. Rams lasted a little longer than the L.A. Chargers. . . .

After relocating from Cleveland in 1946, they spent 34 years at the Coliseum and 15 years at Anaheim Stadium. . . .

On the eve of her flight to St. Louis, Georgia Frontiere said she didn’t want the team to leave California and that she had tried to keep it in Anaheim. . . .

Oh, did she try. . . .

In reality, Frontiere and John Shaw paved the way for the move by never giving any indication the past year that it wasn’t going to happen. . . .

They made little effort to promote their product and got what they wanted--lousy crowds that would justify their getaway. . . .

Talking about the lack of support by the fans, Frontiere said, “It was like, ‘Oh well, let them go.’ ” . . .

Not even in Washington, D.C., do fans flock to see last-place teams, let alone ones that are going to be leaving town the next season. . . .

” . . . I mean what did I do wrong here?” Frontiere said. “I don’t want to make the same mistakes. Where did I go wrong?” . . .

Where she went the wrongest was putting teams on the field that won 23 games and lost 57 the last five years. . . .

*

The 49ers, particularly Deion Sanders, already sound overconfident about beating San Diego. . . .

But the difference between them and Pittsburgh is that they probably can get away with it. . . .

Did anybody think that Neil O’Donnell would throw 29 more passes than Steve Young in the conference championship games? . . .

However, you can expect Young to throw more often against the Chargers than Hall of Famer Bob Griese did in Miami’s 24-7 victory over Minnesota in Super Bowl VIII. Griese completed six of seven for 73 yards. . . .

Time of possession fans please note that Dallas and Pittsburgh had wide edges. . . .

Reserve a spot in the Hall of Fame at Canton, Ohio, for Bobby Beathard, who has done terrific work shaping Super Bowl teams at Washington and San Diego. . . .

The officials did a pretty good job Sunday! . . .

About the only obvious bad call was one that couldn’t have been reversed by instant replay, Sanders not being called for apparent pass interference on Michael Irvin in the second half at Candlestick Park. . . .

That led to Barry Switzer’s bumping an official, being assessed a 15-yard penalty and costing his team just about whatever hope it had to win. . . .

Tough guy this Emmitt Smith, who was the leading NFL rusher Sunday with 74 yards and two touchdowns. . . .

Steve Scott, 38, ran his first race Sunday since undergoing surgery for testicular cancer last spring. He won the mile in the 30-to-40-year-old division at Santee in 4:22. . . .

*

Wekiva Springs’ victory in the San Fernando Stakes Saturday at Santa Anita gave trainer Bob Hess encouragement about the Santa Anita Handicap, let alone the Strub Stakes. . . .

Holy Bull is expected to run in the Big Cap on March 11, and his 1995 debut in the Olympic Handicap Sunday at Gulfstream Park will be simulcast at Santa Anita. . . .

Is Julie Krone accident prone? . . .

NHL teams normally don’t play on Super Sunday, but the Kings will face the Chicago Blackhawks at the Forum that night as part of the revised schedule. . . .

You realize what a difficult job NBA coaching has become when Dan Issel resigns in midseason as coach of the Denver Nuggets, who have a winning record and defeated the champion Houston Rockets in their last game. . . .

Duke’s basketball team already has lost more games this season than its football team did. . . .

I wonder if there will be much Charger stuff on XTRA radio the next couple of weeks.