Dodgers Make Like the NFL, Vote Against Instant Replace

Charlie Blaney, director of minor league operations for the Dodgers, on the organization’s decision to go with minor league players instead of replacement players this spring:

“We’re trying to delay the replacement issue. We got one letter from a 42-year-old attorney in New York who offered to play for $500,000 because he looked good in a uniform and knew all the words to the national anthem.

“And we got one from a guy who has spent the last five years in prison but said he’s in great shape.”

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Trivia time: Who won the first L.A. Open in 1926, and where was it held?

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Looking back: On this day in 1980, the U.S. hockey team stunned the Soviet Union with a 4-3 victory in the medal round of the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y.

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Like father. . . .: Pat Knight, a senior basketball player for Indiana, and son of Coach Bob Knight, said he feels more comfortable playing on the road than at home because of the harsh treatment he gets from fans. Knight jokingly told Tom Rietmann of the Indianapolis Star that he has considered composing a poem and reading to the crowd, as his father did after a final home game last year. There’s only one drawback. “When he does it, it’s looked at as being colorful,” the young Knight said. “But if a kid like myself did it, people would think I’m a jerk.”

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Any trade value? Detlef Schrempf of the Seattle SuperSonics complained of foot pain after a game against Golden State last week. No wonder. He discovered three basketball cards inexplicably lodged in his right shoe.

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Home improvement: Herb Brooks, former U.S. Olympic hockey coach, recently attempted to unfreeze pipes at his home in Shoreview, Minn. His tools--a propane torch and a hair dryer--ignited a fire and Brooks burned his right hand, trying to put it out. Said Brooks: “I’ve done a lot of stupid things, but this. . . .”

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Trivia answer: Lighthorse Harry Cooper at the Los Angeles Country Club.

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Quotebook: Roman Oksiuta, Russian right winger for the Edmonton Oilers, on his improved scoring this season: “No more beer. Nine and a half months now, no bottle. I am good boy now.”