Notes on a Scorecard - May 17, 1995

Remember the Alamodome. . . .

That is something the Lakers finally are able to do with pleasure this morning, thanks to Nick Van Exel. . . .

Now that they have proven that they can win in San Antonio, who is to say they can’t continue to climb off the canvas and take the series from the Spurs? . . .

The Lakers characteristically did it the hard way in Game 5, blowing a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, barely surviving a Spur charge in regulation, then rallying from six down in overtime. . . .

Among those who didn’t lose faith after San Antonio took a 3-1 series lead on Sunday at the Forum was Coach of the Year Del Harris. . . .

“I really feel good about this game,” Harris told Chick Hearn before Tuesday’s game. . . .

However, if the Lakers had lost, the coach would have been second-guessed for not using the hot-handed Anthony Peeler more in the fourth quarter. . . .

Dennis Rodman’s change of hair color from green to orange and red was his 10th of the season. . . .

Put a Chicago uniform on Orlando’s Horace Grant and guess who would be leading the Bull-Magic series? . . .

*

Players react to demotions in different ways, but Jose Offerman’s 56-game stay in Albuquerque last summer seems to have helped him. . . .

Offerman, who had been batting .210 for the Dodgers, didn’t mope in the Pacific Coast League. Instead, he batted .330. Now he is tearing up the National League and is showing tremendous confidence at the plate. . . .

Tom Candiotti is the only knuckleball pitcher in the major leagues. . . .

Mark Johnson of the Pittsburgh Pirates is the second-leading passer in Dartmouth history and the best first baseman from the Ivy League since Gene Larkin. . . .

Thumbs up to Manager Jim Leyland for blaming the Pirates’ poor home attendance on the product, not the strike. . . .

Since realignment at the start of the 1994 season, all four AL West teams never have won on the same day. . . .

Maybe the Mighty Ducks will lower their ticket prices after they reach the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time. . . .

Eager to see an American boat win a sailing title? The national collegiate sailing championships will be May 30-June 4 at Alamitos Bay and the outer Long Beach Harbor. . . .

A television pilot modeled after the old Home Run Derby show will be filmed Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga. The contestants will be George Foster and Dave Kingman. Producer and co-host Jay Johnstone says the public is welcome free of charge. . . .

Look-alikes: San Antonio guard Vinny Del Negro and Raider quarterback Jeff Hostetler. . . .

A show stealer on promoter Peter Broudy’s third card at the Grand Olympic on Thursday might be Hector Quiroz, 19, who has won all 15 of his fights by knockout. . . .

Former two-time world champion Michael Nunn will end a six-month layoff June 13 against Earl Butler on the USA network. Nunn, 32, has been reunited with his former manager, Dan Goossen, now a Top Rank Inc. executive. . . .

George Foreman will autograph his autobiography, “By George” Friday at the USC bookstore from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. . . .

Best Pal, the 7-year-old gelding who has won 17 races, will try to win his first on grass in the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Handicap on Labor Day. His record on the lawn is 0-2. . . .

The five Kentucky Derby winners previous to Thunder Gulch in the 1990s went on to win 10 of 58 races for 17%. . . .

In contrast, Derby winners from 1955-89--Swaps to Sunday Silence--won 37% of their remaining races. . . .

The Kirk Collins Award, formerly given to the outstanding Ram defensive back, will be presented to a UCLA Bruin or USC Trojan starting this season. . . .

The Save the Rams Club and the Rams Booster Club have been merged into the NFL Booster Club in an effort to help bring pro football back to Anaheim. . . .

Quarterback Gus Ornstein, who would have been nothing more than Ron Powlus’ backup, has left Notre Dame. . . .

George Gervin Jr., son of the former NBA star, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Arizona State. He is a 6-2 guard who averaged 27.5 points for MacArthur High in San Antonio last season. . . .

It seems to me that the Raiders could increase season-ticket sales at the Coliseum considerably the next two years by offering buyers priority deals for the opening season of a new stadium in Inglewood in 1997. . . .

Dennis Firestone used to race on Goodyears.