Notes on a Scorecard - April 24, 1995

TV Guide once asked readers to name their favorite sports announcer and their least favorite. . . .

Howard Cosell won both honors. . . .

He had an opinion about everyone, and everyone had an opinion about him. . . .

I liked him personally. He was friendly. His ego was immense, but so was his greeting to a young boxing reporter when I would see him at the big fights. He always made for lively conversation and, at times, could be a pretty good listener. . . .

*

Sunday morning in Las Vegas, I would have loved to talk with him over bagels and lox about the controversial decision awarded George Foreman over Axel Schulz the previous night. . . .

I gave Schulz a two-point edge in what appeared to me to be a close fight. . . .

A ringside poll of reporters showed that 11 favored Schulz, six had Foreman ahead, and two scored it even. . . .

Times columnist Mike Downey thought Schulz won easily. Staff writer Tim Kawakami had Foreman winning. . . .

HBO scorer Harold Lederman had Schulz ahead by six points, but his colleague, Larry Merchant, thought Foreman earned his victory. . . .

Foreman dominated much of the action with his heavy jab, especially in the first half of the fight, but Schulz staged eye-catching flurries and finished most rounds strongly. . . .

There was nothing close to a knockdown, something that makes competitive matches even more difficult to score. . . .

The most exciting rounds were the last two. . . .

I thought Foreman’s best was the 11th, Schulz’s the 12th. . . .

The surprise was that judge Keith McDonald gave Foreman the 12th. If he had given the round to Schulz, McDonald’s card would have been even, the decision would have been a draw, and Foreman still would have retained his International Boxing Federation title. . . .

Perhaps the challenger was given too much credit on many of the unofficial scorecards because so little had been expected of him and so much more of the champion. . . .

Schulz takes a punch better than he delivers one. . . .

According to CompuBox, Foreman threw more punches than Schulz and landed more. . . .

But when it was all over, there was a veteran columnist claiming that this was the worst decision in a heavyweight title fight since the one awarded Joe Louis over Jersey Joe Walcott in 1947. . . .

Two seats down, another reporter scoffed and said he had Foreman winning by a couple of points. . . .

It’s a shame that Howard Cosell wasn’t able to add his four cents worth. . . .

*

I nominate Larry Robinson to be the next coach of the Kings. . . .

Future Hall of Fame member Robinson finished his playing career in Los Angeles, has done an outstanding job as assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils, and has the smarts and personality to succeed as a head coach. . . .

It was sad to see Barry Melrose go. . . .

He was a breath of fresh air when he coached the Kings

into the Stanley Cup

finals against the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. . . .

But he contributed to the overhaul of a franchise that didn’t need it. There’s no comparison between this group and the one that got to the finals--not even behind the bench. . . .

In contrast, their future Inglewood neighbors, the Raiders, seem to be making all the right moves. . . .

The choice of Napoleon Kaufman, the dazzling running back from Washington, in the first round should give the offense something important that it has lacked: balance. . . .

Running back, as Jerome Bettis and Marshall Faulk have demonstrated recently, is a position where rookies often have an impact. . . .

And with Rocket Ismail and Kaufman as kickoff returners, exactly where are Raider opponents supposed to kick the ball? . . .

San Francisco’s trading up to draft J.J. Stokes was a stroke of genius. . . .

Don’t forget, John Taylor is 33 and Jerry Rice will be 33 in October. . . .

The Carolina Panthers have two quarterbacks from Lebanon, Pa., veteran Frank Reich and draftee Kerry Collins. . . .

At 5-8 1/2, Kaufman is a half-inch taller than Barry Sanders, but, at 182, weighs 21 pounds less. . . .

Did anybody around here care about the Rams’ draft? . . .

I realize ESPN had an awful lot of air time to kill on Saturday, but the Warren Sapp drug story was overplayed. . . .

At the next NFL rules committee meeting, they ought to change the time allowed between picks on the first round from 15 minutes to five.