In Pre-View, This Version Has Better Track Record

The new Warner Bros. movie about Steve Prefontaine is called “Without Limits.” As an alternative title, I like, “Better Than the Last Movie About Steve Prefontaine.”

For a more comprehensive review from a genuine critic about the movie that opens Friday, turn to that day’s Calendar section.

From a sportswriter’s perspective, I was impressed with the movie’s respect for details. At the invitation of Kenny Moore, who collaborated with Robert Towne on the screenplay, I went to a filming session two summers ago at Citrus College, where a re-creation of the 1972 Olympic 5,000-meter race from Munich was choreographed like a Balanchine ballet.

Moore, an Olympic marathoner whose coverage of track and field in Sports Illustrated is as graceful as it is knowledgeable, obviously approached this project as a labor of love.

As compelling as Prefontaine was as a runner and a rebel, I’m not sure two movies about him within 18 months were necessary. But I’m glad Moore persisted with his version because he, as a former Oregon teammate of Prefontaine’s, presented actor Billy Crudup with a much more soulful, likable character to play than Jared Leto had in Disney’s “Prefontaine.”

More real too. After the premiere Tuesday night in Westwood, Kate Schmidt, an Olympic javelin thrower and contemporary of Prefontaine’s, said the film was “like watching home movies.” I’m pretty sure that was a thumb’s up.

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The Dodgers shouldn’t be all that disappointed to lose Dave Dombrowski as a general manager candidate unless he was going to bring Gary Hughes with him. . . .

Hughes is Dombrowski’s baseball man, the scouting guru largely responsible for finding players in Montreal when Dombrowski was there and now Florida. . . .

That leads to this question: Why wasn’t Hughes a more serious candidate for the Dodger general manager job? . . .

I feared the answer would be that Hughes, a Craig Stadler look-alike, wasn’t polished enough for Fox. . . .

Maybe that was one reason. But sources close to the Marlins say Hughes, like Tom Lasorda, wouldn’t like the tedium of day-to-day general managing, and is best suited as a talent evaluator. . . .

The Dodgers’ other leading candidate, Baltimore assistant GM Kevin Malone, knows more baseball than Dombrowski. . . .

Marquis Grissom, who gravitated through the Montreal system, once said of Malone: “He was my first coach in the minor leagues. You could say he developed my talents.” . . .

While serving as a scout for the Angels, Malone refereed youth league basketball games in the San Fernando Valley. What would you expect of a Kentucky native? . . .

If Malone doesn’t come to L.A., the Dodgers should start over in their search. . . .

Baseball insiders say they’ve overlooked a number of qualified candidates. . . .

The low point of the season for the Dodgers? Their fans didn’t even get a chance to see Mark McGwire because he sat out the Cardinals’ three games here because of a bad back. . . .

The home run McGwire never should have hit came against the Dodgers in the second game of the season, when they let Frank Lankford pitch to him with two on and two out in the bottom of the 12th. . . .

Everybody in the ballpark, except Bill Russell, knew McGwire was going to hit it out. . . .

Poor Russell. He’s in Taiwan to work for 10 days with the Sinon Bulls professional team and still can’t escape second-guessing. . . .

What kind of guy is Sammy Sosa? As an honoree at an Angels Care dinner last winter to benefit the team’s Orange and Riverside county charities, he wrote a check for $20,000. . . .

After McGwire, my vote for athlete of the year would go to Marion Jones, who has won all 35 of her competitions in the 100, 200, 400 and long jump. . . .

“I don’t recall anyone, not even Carl Lewis, having that kind of year,” says Vic Holchak, the radio voice of track and field who has been traveling on the European circuit. . . .

Nada Kawar, UCLA shotputter and discus thrower, is one of 10 finalists for the NCAA’s woman of the year. . . .

That sigh of relief you heard came from potential investors in an NFL expansion team for Los Angeles when they learned the price tag in Cleveland was $530 million. . . .

They thought a new team was going to cost a lot of money.

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While wondering if Manchester will still be United after Rupert Murdoch takes over, I was thinking: Some Dodgers could cross over with their experience at kicking the ball, tell me again why the Dodgers didn’t sign Rod Beck, Cammi Granato might be needed on the power play if Rob Blake doesn’t sign.