Notes on a Scorecard - Feb. 22, 1995

The L.A. Open was a major league event when this was a minor league city. . . . It began in 1926, long before the arrival of the Rams, Raiders, Dodgers, Lakers and Kings and the subsequent departure of the Rams. . . .

Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Fred Couples and Tom Kitt have won the L.A. Open. . . .

So have Bob Lunn, Pat Fitzsimons, David Edwards, Doug Tewell, Tze-Chung Chen and Ted Schulz. . . .

Playing sites have included the L.A. Country Club, El Caballero, Wilshire, Hillcrest, Griffith Park, Fox Hills, Inglewood, Rancho, Brookside Park and Riviera. . . . This year’s renewal begins Thursday at Riviera, and Couples, who is returning to the PGA tour after winning the Dubai Desert Classic and the Johnnie Walker Open on the European circuit, is among the favorites. . . .

Couples won here in 1990 and 1992 and has finished second the last two years. . . .

Look for him at Riviera again in August when he will try to win the PGA Championship on one of his favorite courses. . . .

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The Forum teams are handling adversity in different ways. . . .

Hours after learning that Eddie Jones was joining Cedric Ceballos on the disabled list for at least four weeks, the Lakers upset the Seattle SuperSonics at Tacoma on Monday. . . .

Realizing that the team needed a lift, Nick Van Exel and Vlade Divac responded with exceptional performances. . . .

It has been that kind of a season for the Lakers. . . .

A trifle north, the Kings, whose defense is devastated by injuries, fell, 8-2, to the Canucks at Vancouver. . . .

On a night when their team was in dire need of some offense, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Rick Tocchet failed to supply it. . . .

The Kings and Mighty Ducks are in a tie for last place in the Pacific Division, and only Dallas, Washington and Ottawa have fewer points. . . .

This is the type of college basketball season during which Villanova can beat Connecticut, then ranked No. 1, by 23 points on the road on a Saturday and lose by 25 to Georgetown at Landover, Md., the following Monday. . . .

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Glenn Robinson is making a run at the Detroit Pistons’ Grant Hill in the NBA rookie-of-the-year race. . . .

However, the only race involving their teams is that for next-to-last place in the Central Division. . . .

Assistant Jim Fassel’s hiring should mean that quarterback Jeff Hostetler and the Raiders’ play-caller will be on the same page, unlike last season. . . .

Thumbs up to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for signing punter Reggie Roby to a three-year contract worth nearly $2 million. I’ve always thought that NFL kickers were underappreciated and underpaid. . . .

Former Winnipeg and Ram quarterback Dieter Brock was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame on Monday, but don’t look for him in Canton, Ohio, unless he’s visiting. . . .

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Joe Namath and George Foreman will be presented lifetime achievement awards at the Cedar-Sinai Sports Spectacular June 11 at the Century Plaza. . . .

Talk about runners who have a nose for the goal line--

3-year-old filly Serena’s Song has a nose for the finish line. . . . The feature race at Laurel on Presidents’ Day was the General George Handicap. . . .

Funny, but Kings-Canadiens games are played at the Forum and Long Beach State-Memphis basketball games at the Pyramid. . . .

In a vote of 50 boxing writers across the country, 25 named Roy Jones Jr. as the best fighter, pound for pound. Twenty-three selected Pernell Whitaker. One picked Julio Cesar Chavez and another a combination of the Ruelas brothers. . . .

The same survey ranked Riddick Bowe, who fights Herbie Hide March 11 at the MGM Grand, as the outstanding heavyweight, followed by Foreman, Evander Holyfield, Oliver McCall and Michael Moorer. . . .

John O’Brien, 41, and Eliseo Torres, 36, will make their pro boxing debuts Thursday at the Irvine Marriott. I guess it’s OK, as long as they’re fighting each other. . . .

Buster Douglas, who weighs at least 285 pounds, says he will begin training this week and wants a rematch with Mike Tyson, whom he upset for the heavyweight title in 1990. . . .

Sign of the times: To lose two ounces at the weigh-in for his light-heavyweight fight last Saturday against Montell Griffin in Las Vegas, James Toney removed his undershorts and a diamond-studded earring.