Toledo’s Bruins to Get Show on the Road Early

Bob Toledo is midway through his first spring practice as UCLA head football coach. . . .

No wins, no losses, no ties and so far, so good. . . .

“The thing I like best is the kids’ attitude,” he said. “Normally, it might be hard for them to get excited about spring practice. But with a new coaching staff, a new offense and a new defense, they’ve been really attentive.” . . .

He will have no trouble getting their attention, either, when fall practice begins. Not with two of the first three games at Tennessee and at Michigan. . . .

“If you try to compete for national honors and be big time, you have to compete against those kinds of teams,” Toledo said about the Bruins’ murderous early schedule. “On the other hand, we’ll be young. Only one senior probably will start on offense and three or four on defense. Playing in a hostile environment like Tennessee will be a little scary.” . . .

The lines, both on offense and defense, will be particularly inexperienced. . . .

The successor to Terry Donahue says the strengths of his team will be at quarterback, tailback, linebacker and the secondary. . . .

“Cade McNown is making nice strides,” Toledo said about the sophomore left-hander whom he has directed as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. “Steve Buck is showing that he can play at this level too.” . . .

“Unfortunately, our tailback, Skip Hicks, pulled a hamstring the first 10 minutes of practice and didn’t come back until yesterday,” Toledo said Tuesday. “But Ryan Roques, a redshirt freshman, has been impressive. He’s a slasher and a glider.” . . .

On defense, Toledo has made two significant changes, switching Abdul McCullough from linebacker to strong safety and Phil Ward from end to linebacker. . . .

Toledo, whose head coaching experience consists of four years at Pacific and two at UC Riverside, likes to think of himself as a players’ coach. . . .

“I get along with the players and they respect me,” he said. “The important thing is that they’ve been responding to what I’ve been saying.” . . .

Did you get the feeling that Greg Norman took his demise in the Masters too well and maybe that’s why he folds so often on the last day of majors? . . .

However, his behavior afterward was a refreshing change from what we usually get from fallen sports stars--or even those who have won. . . .

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If the New York Jets sign Keyshawn Johnson before the NFL draft, I hope they don’t take all of their allotted time to announce him as the No. 1 pick Saturday. . . .

Laffit Pincay and Bill Spawr have combined for 17 victories during the Santa Anita meeting, most of any jockey-trainer tandem. Yet Spawr is the only trainer who uses the 49-year-old Hall of Famer regularly. . . .

First base is probably the position that has the most former greats not in the Hall of Fame. Among them are Orlando Cepeda, Tony Perez, Steve Garvey and Gil Hodges. . . .

The Angels are close to signing shortstop Gary DiSarcina to a multiyear deal. . . .

USC’s 16th annual “Swim With Mike” on Saturday raised a record $190,000 for scholarships for physically challenged athletes. . . .

The Olympic Games paintings of James-Paul Brown will be on exhibition at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine starting next Tuesday. . . .

Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe will be the featured performers in the Coopers and Lybrand Champions tournament at the Riviera Country Club next week, but Andres Gomez might be the favorite. . . .

Gomez has won three of the last seven events on the seniors’ tour and beat Connors and McEnroe on consecutive days in February in Florida. . . .

Many of the Southland’s outstanding high school and junior college basketball players will participate in the second annual Southern California All-Star Classic today at Long Beach City College. The high school girls’ game starts at 5:30 p.m., the high school boys at 7 and the junior college men at 9. . . .

Cal State Bakersfield Coach Pat Douglass is the front-runner to succeed Seth Greenberg at Long Beach State. . . .

Actress Nancy Travis will host the fourth annual celebrity bowlathon benefit for neurofibromatosis on May 4 at the Sports Center Bowl in Studio City. Details: (310) 470-3888. . . .

The remake of “Sleepless in Seattle” should be about a baseball team that blows a 9-1 lead to the Mariners one night and has to face Randy Johnson the next night.