Notes on a Scorecard - May 8, 1995

The best thing that happened Sunday was that Hideo Nomo’s first Los Angeles television appearance was delayed by rain. . . .

Otherwise, I might have been watching the start of the Dodger-Colorado game instead of Reggie Miller’s heroics at Madison Square Garden. . . .

It was the greatest nine-second performance in NBA history. . . .

Imagine scoring eight points in that amount of time to single-handedly rally your team from a six-point deficit to a two-point victory in a playoff game in a building where you are hated. . . .

Leave it to rambunctious Reggie to talk about a sweep with Indiana ahead of New York, 1-0, in their best-of-seven series. . . .

But maybe this is the year of the UCLA Bruins, current and former, in basketball. . . .

Michael Jordan sure had his ups and downs at crunch time in Orlando, didn’t he? . . .

I thought the Clyde Drexler for Otis Thorpe deal favored Houston over Portland when it was made and I’m not going to change my mind now. . . .

The Rockets did something that too few teams do when Kenny Smith fouled John Stockton before the Utah guard could attempt a three-point shot with 3.5 seconds left and the Jazz trailing by three points. . . .

That really wasn’t a bad NBA tripleheader on NBC. . . .

No wonder the Lakers lost to San Antonio in Game 1. Nick Van Exel played only 42 minutes. . . .

Nomo got rocked in his second start as a Dodger, but it wasn’t very significant because the game was played at a launching pad instead of a ballpark. . . .

Any hitting records set by Colorado Rockies should have asterisks attached to them. . . .

The ultimate compliment was paid to Raul Mondesi when the Rockies walked him intentionally Friday and Saturday to get to Mike Piazza. . . .

After Piazza’s two-home run, six-RBI performance Sunday, they probably won’t do it again. . . .

*

Those who claimed that Oscar De La Hoya was being spoon fed too many soft opponents who did nothing for his development were proven wrong Saturday night in Las Vegas. . . .

The fact is that De La Hoya has been brought along perfectly since winning the gold medal in 1992 at Barcelona. . . .

In his 18th professional fight, he was good enough to annihilate a part-owner of the lightweight title, Rafael Ruelas, in less than two rounds. . . .

Another Olympic Games champion, Sugar Ray Leonard, knocked out journeyman Johnny Gant in the eighth round in Leonard’s 18th fight. . . .

Leonard didn’t win the undisputed world welterweight title until his 26th fight when he stopped Wilfred Benitez in the 15th round in the pavilion at Caesars Palace, only a few yards away from the outdoor arena where De La Hoya added the International Boxing Federation title to his less prestigious World Boxing Organization championship. . . .

Trainer Robert Alcazar deserves a lot of credit for helping to get De La Hoya into superb shape and the proper frame of mind and mapping an intelligent battle plan. . . .

Don’t look for De La Hoya ever to face Ruelas’ brother, Gabriel. . . .

Gabe said he would fight De La Hoya at 130 pounds, but Oscar’s future is in heavier divisions, not lighter. . . .

The crowd of 10,118 at Caesars Palace was nearly 5,000 short of the listed capacity. . . .

The battle of Southern California would have drawn nearly twice as many at the Forum or The Pond of Anaheim. . . .

Promoter Bob Arum, aware that the forecast called for a possibility of rain, removed the pay-per-view television ban in Las Vegas the day before the fight and a lack of hotel rooms on Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby weekend discouraged some potential ticket buyers from L.A. . . .

*

Look-alikes: Dodger announcer Ross Porter and Gregory Matheson, the forensic chemist who has been testifying in the O.J. Simpson trial. . . .

The NCAA men’s volleyball title won by UCLA over Penn State Saturday was national title No. 71 overall by the Bruins, 58 by men’s teams and 13 by women’s. . . .

There are too few horses in most big races, but too many in the Kentucky Derby. . . .

The field of 19 caused some of the usual traffic jams Saturday. . . .

The payoff of $51.20 on Thunder Gulch was one of the biggest overlays ever. . . .

I mean, here is a horse who was trained by Wayne Lukas and ridden by Gary Stevens and had won the Florida Derby as a 4-5 favorite. . . .

Actress Lolita Davidovich on her two favorite fighters: “I love George Foreman because he’s a minister and Johnny Tapia because he needs a minister.”