Notes on a Scorecard - Sept. 11, 1990

I’m not sure which hurt the New Orleans Saints more Monday night, their prevent defense or their prevent offense. . . .

Did you get the feeling that ABC commentator Dan Dierdorf was talking to Al Michaels and Frank Gifford instead of the audience most of the time? . . .

Parity is a weekend when Kansas, Kansas State, Southern Methodist, the Dallas Cowboys, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons win, and Miami, Clemson, the Los Angeles Rams, the Minnesota Vikings and the Denver Broncos lose. . . .

The NFL ought to scrub the in-the-grasp rule. Quarterbacks remain an endangered species. Besides, referees blow too many quick whistles. One of them cost the Raiders’ Jay Schroeder what would have been an important completion Sunday against Denver. . . .

On his way to Canton, Ohio, Howie Long is playing as well as he ever has. . . .

Forget about that team by the Bay for the moment. The Rams are going to have enough trouble with the Bays--Green and Tampa--this season. . . .

His darting, six-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was vintage Curt Warner. . . .

Kickoffs are underrated. Green Bay’s Chris Jacke kept booting them into the end zone to prevent the Rams from starting out with good field position. . . .

What’s Jerry Glanville doing picking on a nice guy like Jack Pardee? . . .

The trouble with the Patriots playing Miami in New England early in September is that the Patriots can’t use the old snowplow trick. . . .

Sammie Smith isn’t supposed to have any moves, but he gave the Dolphins hope that they may finally have a running game by rushing for 159 yards. . . .

I doubt that Detroit Coach Wayne Fontes will use Barry Sanders as a decoy again. . . .

Weight isn’t the only thing Chuck Knox is going to lose this year. . . .

On opening day, the Perry brothers made six tackles--under-publicized Michael Dean five for Cleveland against Pittsburgh and over-publicized William (the Refrigerator) one for Chicago against Seattle. . . .

Most inexact guessing game in football officiating is trying to determine where a punt goes out of bounds on the fly. . . .

I like the New York Jets’ green britches. . . .

USC is expecting 75,000 for its Coliseum opener Saturday against Penn State. Weather will be a factor. Hot, smoggy days cost UCLA and the Raiders at the gate last weekend. . . .

With all those blue chippers UCLA has recruited the last few years, you would think the Bruin defense would be quicker. . . .

The new national contenders in college football are BYU and Virginia, which upset Miami and Clemson, respectively, and have relatively light schedules. Virginia’s remaining non-Atlantic Coast Conference games are against Navy, William & Mary and Virginia Tech. Outside the Western Athletic Conference, BYU plays Washington State, Oregon and Utah State. . . .

Watch out for the Arizona schools. . . .

I guess Tim Belcher’s agent, Bob Farley, had a point when he complained about Belcher’s going nine innings in his first regular-season outing after the lockout. . . .

Few managers have used the suicide squeeze more successfully than Tom Lasorda. . . .

The Dodgers have a chance to draw 3 million fans at home for the first time since 1986. . . .

Tommy Hawkins, Dodger vice president, says the club still plans to build a museum at Dodger Stadium. . . .

Here it is crunch time in baseball and only one of the Dodgers’ three games from San Diego--tonight’s--is being televised by Channel 11. . . .

Consistent Willie McGee remains at .335 every day in the National League top 10. . . .

Even if they didn’t play the New York Yankees, the Oakland Athletics would still have the best winning percentage in the major leagues this season. . . .

San Francisco is interested in Darryl Strawberry. Just imagine a murderers’ row of Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Matt Williams and Strawberry. . . .

Roger Clemens’ injury could help Nolan Ryan to the American League strikeout championship. . . .

Thirteen rookies have played for the Montreal Expos this year. . . .

Versatile Steve Wynn is doing his own commercials for the Buster Douglas-Evander Holyfield fight. . . .

The surprise at the U.S. Open was that Andre Agassi was a more gracious loser than Steffi Graf. He gave credit to his opponent, she didn’t. . . .

Now that he has eight more minutes at his disposal, Paul Westhead might produce a 200-point game or two at Denver. . . .

The CBS pregame show needs some oomph. Wonder if Brent Musburger is available?