Text messages from press row ...

Watching three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson congratulate best supporting actor Javier Bardem at the Academy Awards, it wasn’t hard to imagine the Lakers’ most recognizable fan making a similar salute to another supportive Spaniard -- Pau Gasol -- come June. . . .

By the way, does Nicholson sit in the front row wherever he goes? . . .

Oscars host Jon Stewart joked that Bardem’s character in “No Country for Old Men” combined “Hannibal Lecter’s murderousness with Dorothy Hamill’s wedge cut,” referring, of course, to the 1976 Olympic figure skating gold medalist. . . .

Thirty-two years on, the Hamill ‘do is still up for review. . . .

Winning 40 games before losing 20, a Phil Jackson measuring stick for a championship-caliber team, was accomplished by the Lakers in each of their nine title-winning seasons in Los Angeles. In the 1971-72 season, they won 40 before losing five. . . .

They missed the mark only twice in Magic Johnson’s 12 pre-HIV seasons, once when he sat out half the season because of a knee injury. . . .

By the way, even with Gasol on board, Kobe Bryant’s leading the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference would be more impressive than Kevin Garnett leading the Boston Celtics to the best record in the East. . . .

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens would be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2012 if they never played another game, which could be good news for Craig Biggio if voter sentiment on the steroids issue hasn’t softened before then. . . .

According to a USA Today/Gallup poll, 57% of baseball fans believe that Clemens lied when he testified before Congress this month. . . .

It’s hard to envision Bonds signing with the Tampa Bay Rays, who may have dropped the Devil from their name over the winter but still are expected to endure another hellacious season looking up at the free-spending Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in the American League East. . . .

As Tom Brady and the New England Patriots could tell John Calipari and the no-longer-unbeaten Memphis Tigers: Nobody’s perfect. . . .

Remember the speculation that marriage might dull Tiger Woods’ focus, diminish his dominance and slow his historic march to all-time greatness? . . .

Woods’ victory in the Accenture Match Play Championship was his 23rd in 54 starts on the PGA Tour since 2004, when he married Swedish model and former nanny Elin Nordegren. . . .

Five were majors. . . .

Washington Redskins Coach Jim Zorn is a former Cerritos College football player, as is the man he replaced, three-time Super Bowl winner Joe Gibbs. . . .

USC fans might have been confused by the recent headline “Trojans need to find a way without Hackett” - until they realized the story referred not to long-forgotten former football coach Paul Hackett but to injured and sorely missed Trojans basketball player Daniel Hackett, who could return to the lineup tonight. . . .

UCLA’s Kevin Love averages 17 points and 11 rebounds, so why is he apologizing after contributing 15 and 11 in a victory over Oregon? . . .

Five former USC players -- defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, offensive tackle Sam Baker, offensive guard Chilo Rachal, linebacker Keith Rivers and tight end Fred Davis -- have been projected as possible first-round NFL draft picks, a number that would surprisingly only match a team record. . . .

Five Trojans -- Ron Yary, Mike Taylor, Tim Rossovich, Mike Hull and Earl McCullouch -- were first-round picks in 1968, a record that stood until 2004, when Miami had six players taken in the first round led by the late Sean Taylor. . . .

With or without suspended quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, Louisiana State opens defense of its BCS national title Aug. 30 against giant killer Appalachian State. . . .

At Baton Rouge, of course. . . .

Candace Parker should provide a boost to the Sparks and the WNBA this summer, but Sparks Coach Michael Cooper torpedoes his credibility and does women’s basketball a disservice when he says the Tennessee All-American is “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Magic Johnson -- that’s how good she is.” . . .

Isn’t it enough that she might be the next Lisa Leslie?

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com