Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 30, 1996

I’m happy that Magic Johnson will be playing tonight at the Forum. . . .

However, I’m sad that he has missed the Lakers’ last 370 regular-season games and what would have been numerous playoff games. . . .

If we had had the same knowledge and understanding in 1991 of HIV that we have now, Johnson probably would not have retired. . . .

NBA games in Inglewood might have continued to be the special occasions that they were during his first 12 seasons with the Lakers. . . .

The question remains whether his body could have handled the stress of a full schedule the last 4 1/2 seasons, but he deserved the chance to find out. . . .

Magic’s hiatus is not the longest ever by a famous NBA guard. . . .

Bob Cousy retired after the Boston Celtics’ 1962-63 championship season, only to resurface briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969-70 season. . . .

As the Royals’ player-coach, Cousy, then 41, averaged 0.7 points while playing 34 minutes in seven games. . . .

Johnson, 36, is one of six Lakers whose jersey replicas are displayed on the north wall of the Forum. . . .

Of the others, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired at 42, Elgin Baylor at 37, Wilt Chamberlain at 36, Jerry West at 35, and James Worthy at 33. . . .

How effective will Johnson be at this stage of his career? . . .

Much more, I hope and believe, than Willie Mays was with the New York Mets, Henry Aaron with the Milwaukee Brewers, Johnny Unitas with the San Diego Chargers, Bobby Orr with the Chicago Blackhawks, or Muhammad Ali against Larry Holmes. . . .

Magic played in the 1992 Olympics and has traveled internationally with his all-star team, but, basically, there hasn’t been much wear and tear on his body the last five years. . . .

The NBA is watered down and he won’t be asked to do as many things as when he was a point guard running the show. . . .

*

The Super Bowl’s history of blowouts made a good game seem great. . . .

One of the best things about the game was that there were no offensive holding penalties. . . .

Considering the mammoth TV contracts and gate receipts, the Dallas Cowboys were not overpaid at $82,000 a player for the playoffs and neither were the Pittsburgh Steelers at $67,000 apiece. . . .

Joe Montana picked Pittsburgh, but what else did you expect from an old AFC guy? . . .

The Steelers still don’t put the ball in Kordell Stewart’s hands enough. . . .

On Jan. 26, 1997, the Super Bowl will be played at New Orleans for a record eighth time. Sharing the current record is Miami. . . .

Jimmy Lennon Jr. is the regular ring announcer at the Forum, but Michael “Get Ready To Rumble” Buffer will handle the duties Saturday night because the show will be televised by HBO. . . .

In the last two weeks, Coach Mark Schubert’s USC women’s swim team has defeated top-ranked Michigan and ended Stanford’s 55-meet winning streak. . . .

Trojan Cecil Mamiit, who became the first freshman to win the Quadrax Future Champions tournament at Indian Wells, has been a practice partner of Boris Becker, Monica Seles and Mary Pierce at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Sarasota, Fla. . . .

I assume that Jim Harrick is putting UCLA through a couple of hours of ballhandling drills daily this week at Pauley Pavilion. . . .

My NCAA championship pick at midseason is Kentucky. . . .

Coach Bob Bender, who played for Bob Knight at Indiana and Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, has turned it around at Washington. The Huskies have won 12 games already this season after winning 14 during Bender’s first two seasons combined. . . .

Santa Anita President Cliff Goodrich is confident that an agreement will be reached this week with the MGM Grand that will mean a $1.8-million bonus for any horse sweeping the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic and, Goodrich hopes, lure Cigar west. . . .

Michelle Kwan, the 15-year-old from Torrance who won the national title and will be among the leading contenders in the world championships in Edmonton in March, is giving U.S. women’s figure skating a much-needed, positive change in image. . . .

L.A. is such a great NBA town that a Tuesday night game between the Lakers and Golden State at the Forum is a hot ticket.