Notes on a Scorecard - Dec. 21, 1995

Unlike most sporting events around here, the Rose Bowl is sold out. . . .

However, plenty of seats are available. . . .

Your friendly neighborhood ticket broker is offering them today for $50 to $175 above the face value of $75. . . .

“Despite what you may have heard, the Rose Bowl isn’t a hot ticket,” Curtis Autenrieth of Southern California Tickets in Pasadena said about the Northwestern-USC game on New Year’s Day. . . .

“The demand was bigger last year when Penn State played Oregon. It’s a buyers’ market, not a sellers’. It’s nothing like the UCLA-Wisconsin game was two years ago when half the state of Wisconsin came out.” . . .

USC is the only school that had two players named first-team GTE Academic All-American--center Jeremy Hogue and defensive tackle Matt Keneley. Northwestern kicker Sam Valenzisi, who won’t play in the Rose Bowl because of an injury, and UCLA defensive lineman George Kase also were selected. . . .

The University of Pacific, which is dropping football, enjoyed its best days in the sport when it was known as the College of Pacific or COP. The Tigers’ most famous players were Dick Bass and Eddie LeBaron and their most famous coach Amos Alonzo Stagg. . . .

Ohio State isn’t the first football team to practice at Vero Beach, Fla. In fact, when Hank Stram was coach, the New Orleans Saints held training camp there. . . .

It never ceases to amaze me how often Jerry Rice gets open. I mean, he’s not exactly a secret weapon. . . .

NFL teams depending on ties to reach the playoffs should forget about it. The last tie in the league was between the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs in 1989.

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One of the most storied rivalries in women’s basketball will be renewed tonight when USC plays Long Beach State at the Pyramid. . . .

The Trojans have won the last two meetings, but haven’t beaten the 49ers in Long Beach since the 1968-69 season. . . .

In building their 18-game home streak, the 49ers have upset some outstanding USC teams, including those featuring Cheryl Miller. . . .

First Cleveland loses the Browns, and now Los Angeles is about to lose the Ice Dogs. What next? . . .

ESPN’s updates on other scores take up too much space on the TV screen. . . .

You know the box office isn’t exactly boffo for the Clippers at the Sports Arena when the crowd for a game against the Washington Bullets is announced as 6,194. . . .

Native Diver and Best Pal are the two most prominent California-bred geldings ever and, on Saturday, Best Pal will try to make it 19 wins in 47 starts when he races in the $100,000 Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park. . . .

Ed Sabol, founder of NFL Films, has been elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. . . .

Tennis’ Grand Slam Committee didn’t show much moxie by reducing Jeff Tarango’s fine after he apologized months later for accusing an umpire of corruption last summer. . . .

The Philadelphia Flyers would be better off not playing the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup playoffs. . . .

Sparky Anderson will be guest speaker at the Long Beach State baseball leadoff dinner Jan. 16 at the Long Beach Airport Marriott. . . .

One of the best coaching jobs in the NBA is being done by Mike Fratello, whose Cleveland Cavaliers have surpassed the .500 mark. . . .

Rookie center Bryant “Big Country” Reeves of the Vancouver Grizzlies no longer is a joke. . . .

Oscar De La Hoya, energized by the reception he got in New York before, during and after his knockout of James Leija, now is talking about fighting for five or six more years. . . .

The De La Hoya-Julio Cesar Chavez bout will be either May 6 at the MGM Grand or June 7 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. There will be no home TV of any kind. Instead, it will be an old-fashioned closed-circuit event with the telecast being shown in arenas and auditoriums. . . .

Both will have tuneups at 140 pounds on a Feb. 9 doubleheader on HBO from Las Vegas. . . .

The last fight show of the year at the Irvine Marriott will feature Westminster light-heavyweight Ernie Magdaleno, ranked seventh by the World Boxing Council, against Roman Santos next Thursday. . . .

Any NBA team in the market for a 5-11 boxer-puncher should contact Roy Jones, who says he wants to play basketball. . . .

Losing Chuck Finley and Jim Abbott would be Mickey Mouse moves by the Angels.