At Many Levels, the Sport Has Become a Basket Case

Beyond the NBA’s players and owners, this is one effect the lockout is having: Santa Claus couldn’t give away basketballs at Christmas.

Steve Soboroff, president of Los Angeles’ Recreation and Parks Department, dressed as Santa for Sweet Alice Harris’ annual Christmas party for 2,500 schoolchildren on Dec. 16 in South Central and said he dispensed all of his footballs and soccer balls.

For the first time, however, he had basketballs left over.

“The kids didn’t want them,” he said.

That prompted him to check with some of L.A.’s 150 recreation centers. All reported that there has been a dramatic decrease in enrollment for the city’s basketball programs for children 8-12.

“Throughout the loss of football in Los Angeles, because NFL games have continued on television, we haven’t seen any dropoff in our football programs,” Soboroff said Tuesday.

“But for the first time in 12 years, our basketball programs are off in numbers. The kids need the whole NBA system operating in order to keep basketball on their radar screens. When it’s on their radar screens, they sign up for after-school and weekend programs.

“When it’s not on their radar screens, I don’t have to tell you what they do after school, especially those kids who come from broken homes. It’s obvious.

“When you see it in L.A., you know it’s happening in New York and Chicago and other cities. It’s a critical issue.”

Soboroff said he wrote to NBA Commissioner David Stern and agent David Falk, alerting them to the problem in Los Angeles. The NBA replied, thanking him for his input, but he hasn’t heard from Falk.

“When they’re negotiating over millions of dollars,” Soboroff said, “I just want them to factor this into the equation.”

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Of all the Hall of Fame pitchers, none--not even Don Sutton--is more maligned than Nolan Ryan. . . .

Each time I write something positive about him, I get letters from critics who complain because his winning percentage is barely over .500 or because of his emphasis, particularly early in his career, on strikeouts. . . .

Me? I would have voted for him. . . .

Bill Bavasi? He should invite him to spring training. . . .

How good a hitter was Ted Williams? Since he batted .406 in 1941, no one has come as close to .400 for a full season as George Brett did when he hit .390 in 1980. . . .

How good a hitter was Brett? Since 1980, the best batting average for a full season was Tony Gwynn’s .372 in ’97. . . .

I thought Keith Jackson’s career would never end. Is it really necessary for a college football game to last four hours--4 hours 6 minutes 53 seconds to be exact? . . .

The bowl championship series achieved its mission, identifying an undisputed No. 1 team. . . .

But it’s not a legitimate national championship game if one team hasn’t played in a month and a half. . . .

A postseason tournament involving eight or 16 teams would guarantee sharper teams in the title game because that would be the third or fourth playoff game for the two finalists. . . .

When you consider all the variables, most preseason prognosticators weren’t far off. . . .

The Times’ Chris Dufresne, the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated correctly guessed, uh, I mean calculated, two of the top three teams--Ohio State and Florida State. . . .

In five publications I reviewed, Tennessee ranked between ninth and 12th, which means everyone either overrated Peyton Manning’s impact on the Vols or underrated Tee Martin’s. . . .

This year’s NFL draft might not rival the one in 1983 that included John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly for the quality of its quarterbacks, but it does for quantity. . . .

If Tuesday’s ESPN report is accurate that Kentucky’s Tim Couch will declare for the draft, six quarterbacks could be taken in the first round. . . .

Cade McNown probably would be the sixth behind Couch, Central Florida’s Daunte Culpepper, Oregon’s Akili Smith, Syracuse’s Donovan McNabb and Kansas State’s Michael Bishop. . . .

McNown would be in good company. Marino also was the sixth quarterback drafted. . . .

Of the five who might be selected ahead of McNown, four are African Americans. So is Tennessee’s Martin. . . .

That’s convincing evidence that the stereotype of quarterback as a white man’s position is dead. . . .

UCLA wide receiver Danny Farmer didn’t spend much time dwelling on the Bruins’ loss to Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, starting volleyball practice Monday. . . .

The Catch II in San Francisco should be known as the Throw I. . . .

Quarterback Steve Young made the play by threading the pass through three Green Bay defenders. All Terrell Owens did was catch it and hold on. . . .

E-2: I should have reported that the flyover at the Rose Bowl on Friday was performed by Navy F-18s, not F-14s. I was misinformed. Keyshawn Johnson and Vinny Testaverde are the only Jets I know on sight. . . .

The Dodgers’ newest outfield prospect, Chen Chin-Feng of Taiwan, hit a home run off Chan Ho Park in last month’s Asian Games. . . .

The Dodgers begin voluntary workouts at Chavez Ravine on Monday, not a day too soon.

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While wondering if anyone will ever say “Whoa, Nellie!” again, I was thinking: Bill Parcells has the kind of singing voice he looks like he would have, maybe next year for Tony Perez, Stern and Falk--I’d like to see Goliath crush them both.

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