Notes on a Scorecard - Nov. 21, 1995

There were 17,547 no-shows for the Browns’ loss to Green Bay in Cleveland on Sunday, but the surprise was that there were 55,388 shows. . . .

The crowd was bigger than those for six of the 13 other NFL games the same day. . . .

Beware of the wild and crazy Pittsburgh Steelers. . . .

Count Detroit Lion wide receiver Herman Moore among the most underrated players in the league. . . .

News item: Buddy Ryan says the Arizona Cardinals haven’t lived up to the high expectations he had for them. Reaction: They haven’t even lived up to the low expectations others had for them. . . .

Postpone the retirement dinners for Warren Moon. . . .

The Dallas Cowboys were out-rushed and out-passed during their 34-21 victory at Oakland, but were a plus-two in turnovers. It also didn’t help the Raiders that they regained their old form in penalties, committing 13 for 113 yards. . . .

John McKay, whose USC football teams won three national titles outright and shared another, says that John Wooden winning his 10th NCAA basketball title at UCLA should have been voted the greatest moment in Los Angeles sports history. . . .

USC is coming into the Rose Bowl on a roll, compared to the 1966 season, when the Trojans were beaten by UCLA and substitute quarterback Norman Dow, 14-7, and then Notre Dame, 51-0, at the Coliseum before losing to Purdue, 14-13, at Pasadena. . . .

David Israel, Northwestern class of 1973, dreams about the Wildcats winning the national title and offers this scenario: Nebraska loses to Oklahoma, Ohio State loses to Michigan, and Florida loses to Florida State. Northwestern becomes No. 1 and beats USC in the Rose Bowl. . . .

Former UCLA All-American linebacker Donn Moomaw is working as a consultant for a company that buys and manages golf courses. . . .

The Lakers showed the Clippers who’s still boss in this town on Sunday at the Forum, but that was quite a duel between young point guards Nick Van Exel and Brent Barry. . . .

Look for many more between them the next 10 years. That is, if the Clippers can keep Barry. I have fewer doubts about Van Exel staying with the Lakers. . . .

I’m beginning to wonder if Shaquille O’Neal or Anfernee Hardaway is the most valuable basketball player in Orlando. . . .

In assessing the New York Knicks’ prospects this season, a lot of people forgot about Don Nelson’s coaching ability. . . .

Mike Marienthal, who played for UCLA in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day of 1943, is embarking on his 50th and final season as official scorer for Bruin home basketball games. Marienthal began his duties two years before Wooden arrived from Indiana State. . .

Cigar’s running in the Santa Anita Handicap, Pacific Classic, and Hollywood Gold Cup if a proposed series awarding $3 million to the winner of all three races materializes, would be the greatest thing to happen to Southern California horse racing in years. . . .

All in the family: Christiane (Cricket) Head trains Matiara, the 3-year-old filly who will compete in the $700,000 Matriarch Stakes on Sunday at Hollywood Park. Her father, Alec, owns Matiara and her brother, Freddie, rides him. . . .

New York-based Bill Mott, the trainer of Cigar, seldom ventures west, but is shipping five horses to Inglewood for this weekend’s Turf Festival. . . .

Best fight on the horizon might be boxer Pernell Whitaker against slugger Felix Trinidad for a unified welterweight title. . . .

The Baltimore Stallions winning the Grey Cup on Sunday doesn’t quite make up for the Toronto Blue Jays winning the World Series in 1992 and 1993. . . .

I have no complaints about Mo Vaughn winning the American League’s most-valuable-player award over Albert Belle because Vaughn was more valuable to the Boston Red Sox than Belle was to the Cleveland Indians. . . .

I also agree with the choice of Barry Larkin in the National League. There’s more to this game than statistics, not that Larkin’s were shabby. . . .

Don Larsen, who has been released from the hospital after suffering cuts and scrapes in an auto accident, always will be remembered for his perfect game for the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series. Not so well remembered is that he recorded the last of his four World Series victories for the San Francisco Giants in relief against the Yankees in 1962. . . .

Don King always hypes his fight shows by giving them names. So let’s call King’s retrial on insurance-fraud charges the Remarkable Rematch.