Jones Eyes Record in 400 Just to Get Some Training

Marion Jones ran the 400 meters once last year--at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut, where she set the meet record of 50.36 seconds. That held up as the second-fastest time of the year by an American woman.

Then she got serious.

Turning to her main events--the 100, 200 and long jump--she went unbeaten for the next five months, finally losing in the long jump in mid-September. That was her lone loss in 37 individual competitions in 1998.

So why change a schedule that resulted in her becoming the overwhelming choice as track and field’s female athlete of the year?

Jones, who is from Thousand Oaks and trains in Raleigh, N.C., is returning to Mt. SAC on Sunday, again running what will probably be her first and last 400 of the year.

She is using the race as training for her immediate goal of winning four gold medals in this summer’s World Championships--100, 200, long jump and 400-meter relay--and her ultimate goal of winning five gold medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics--100, 200, long jump, 400 relay and 1,600 relay.

That doesn’t mean she will never take the 400 seriously.

Jones, who believes she can challenge Florence Griffith Joyner’s world records in the 100 and 200, also is pointing toward Valerie Brisco’s 15-year-old American record of 48.83 in the 400.

“I’m not sure anyone can beat Marion at any distance that she trains for,” said Scott Davis, Mt. SAC’s meet director. “If she told me she wanted to run the mile, I’d put her in there.”

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Dennis Rodman is right when he claims the media is persecuting him. . . .

I mean, look at all the times he did go back into games when Kurt Rambis called on him. . . .

Nobody in the media ever talks about that. . . .

If I were selling real estate in Los Angeles, I’d show property to Bob Costas and Doug Collins. . . .

NBC would save money if it bought them homes here instead of flying them out every weekend for Laker games. . . .

Better yet, the peacock network could stop showing the peacock team. . . .

I feel almost as strongly about that as Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal does. . . .

He wrote that NBC’s “obvious decision to showcase the Lakers has backfired, for the simple reason that they’re in a microcosm of everything that’s wrong with the NBA. The Lakers are an underachieving, selfish team, one that’s testimony to the theory that the NBA after Michael is a different place.” . . .

Must Masters officials insist that CBS announcers use the term “patrons” for the gallery? It’s a golf tournament, not an opera. . . .

Then again, Greg Norman has played so many death scenes, he should audition for “Madame Butterfly.” . . .

Except for Norman, the most discouraged person in Augusta was U.S. Ryder Cup captain Ben Crenshaw. . . .

Not only did the two-time Masters champion miss the cut, he witnessed a European resurgence that makes U.S. chances of regaining the Ryder Cup this year appear no better than even. . . .

Of 13 players who bettered par in the Masters, four, among them winner Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain, were Europeans and five were Americans. . . .

Another Spaniard, rising star Sergio Garcia, was low amateur. . . .

Officials of the Mercedes-Benz Cup, the July 24-Aug. 1 tennis tournament at UCLA featuring Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Marcelo Rios, are seeking entries from fans under 16 in a poster contest. . . .

A tip for contestants: Don’t draw pictures of Sampras or Agassi in U.S. Davis Cup uniforms. . . .

Or of Brooke (Suddenly Single) Shields in the stands as a spectator. I mean patron. . . .

Mario Andretti, who will serve as co-grand marshal with Dan Gurney for Sunday’s 25th anniversary Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, will arrive in town early for filming of the final episode of “Home Improvement.” . . .

He and son Michael have been frequent guests during the sitcom’s eight-year run. . . .

Gail Devers, the two-time Olympic champion in the 100, has moved to Atlanta to be with her boyfriend, the Braves’ Brian Jordan. She will not compete at Mt. SAC because of a hamstring injury. . . .

Kareem Rush, who is playing for the U.S. All-Stars in Sunday’s Dada All-Star Classic at Pauley Pavilion, is believed to be leaning toward UCLA over Missouri. His brother, JaRon, is heavily recruiting him. . . .

Kobe Bryant’s cousin, John Cox of Philadelphia’s Engineering & Science High, also will play for the U.S. All-Stars. He’s headed to the University of San Francisco. . . .

Among the Lakers, Carl’s Jr. and Carmen Electra, who would have guessed that the former “Baywatch” actress would be the only one with the good sense to dump Rodman?

Carl’s Sr. would not be proud.

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While wondering if the Angels can play like that against the Rangers in September, I was thinking: Michael Eisner and Rupert Murdoch could argue about who has the best right fielder, I’d like to see Paul Azinger make an Olazabal-style comeback, it will be a long time before any women pro basketball players have next if the WNBA can’t solve its labor dispute.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.