Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 10, 1990

After the 1971 season, the University of Oregon Alumni Assn. asked football Coach Jerry Frei either to fire his assistants or resign. He resigned. And his assistants left the school with him. Wonder whatever happened to two of them, named John Robinson and George Seifert. . . .

Frei, incidentally, is now a scout for the Denver Broncos. . . .

“If I could change anything in my seven years with the Rams,” says Robinson, “it would be to have the 49ers in the Canadian League.”. . . .

Teams winning the coin toss in overtime have won only five of 11 NFL postseason games. And Sunday against the Giants, the Rams became the first team to score on the opening series of plays.. . .

Terry Donahue’s recruiting coup of the year would be to lure Homer Smith back as UCLA offensive coordinator. . . .

Listening to Terry Bradshaw is fun. . . .

If Bill Walsh is so critical on the air of teams he has nothing to do with, imagine how difficult it must have been to play for him. . . .

Notice that Bud Carson is calling for the officials to enforce the crowd noise-interference rule this week at Denver after not saying a word about it before last week’s Browns-Buffalo game at Cleveland? . . .

Donald Trump wasn’t the only surprise guest in Art Modell’s box Sunday. Also seen on TV was Don Klosterman, the former Ram general manager who belongs somewhere in the NFL. . . .

Bronko Nagurski, who made the All-American team at defensive tackle in 1929, was known as the “Paul Bunyan” of football. He stood 6-feet-2 and weighed 230 pounds, still big enough for a fullback, but not for a defensive tackle. . . .

If they perform half as well as they talk, Juan Samuel, Hubie Brooks, Jim Gott and Mike Maddux will be worthwhile additions to the Dodgers. . . .

The highlight tape of these four players shown the other day at the Stadium Club included footage of Maddux getting Chris Gwynn out on a called third strike. Gwynn also happens to be a member of the Dodger organization. . . .

Indiana’s come-from-behind victory over Michigan Monday night must rank as one of the greatest wins of the Bobby Knight era. . . .

Perhaps less surprising was Nevada Las Vegas’ come-from-ahead loss to New Mexico State in hostile Las Cruces, N.M., where it was billed as the game of the century. . . .

The Big East and the Big Ten get more attention, but the Big Eight has three teams in the top five of the wire-service college basketball rankings. . . .

Arizona State insisted on playing USC this Saturday in the afternoon as planned, but it could backfire. For a change, the Trojans will have a definite home-court advantage in cozy Lyon Center. . . .

Patrick Ewing has developed into a dominant center in his fifth NBA season because he has built up his upper body and is far more aggressive on the offensive end. . . .

The poor man’s John Henry, King’s Swan, made his 1990 racing debut as a 10-year-old by finishing third in the Grade III Aqueduct Handicap. . . .

Brian Mayberry, the early leader in the trainers’ standings at Santa Anita, is particularly good with first-time starters. . . .

It got ridiculous Sunday, but this usually is a crazy time of the year at Santa Anita. Lots of shippers and horses coming off layoffs make for upsets. . . .

Marv Albert, John Davidson and Mike Emrick will be the announcers on Jan. 21 when NBC televises the NHL All-Star game. The network hasn’t shown an NHL game since the 1975 Stanley Cup, when Tim Ryan did the play-by-play and Ted Lindsay the commentary. . . .

A matchup of two of the light heavyweight champions, Virgil Hill and Prince Charles Williams, would be a dandy. . . .

Forum matchmaker Antonio Curtis is working on what would be one of the more attractive heavyweight bouts, Tony Tucker vs. Michael Dokes. . . .

George Foreman has lost some weight but probably won’t dip below 250 pounds for his bout on Monday night against Gerry Cooney. “Any lower and I’d feel weak,” he says. I know what you mean, George. . . .

How come you never hear about a major league baseball prospect having a lousy Winter League season?