Notes on a Scorecard - Aug. 10, 1992

Some highlights, lowlights, and unofficial awards after a fortnight spent watching the NBC singlecast from Barcelona:

Outstanding male athlete--Vitaly Scherbo of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the gymnast who won six gold medals. . . .

Outstanding female athlete--Kristina Egerszegi of Hungary, the swimmer who won three gold medals in individual events. . . .

Six most dreaded words--”We will return to rhythmic gymnastics.” . . .

Best couple--Jackie Joyner and Bob Kersee. . . .

Red Klotz awards--The basketball teams of Angola, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Lithuania and Croatia. . . .

Best race--The women’s 100-meter dash, won by Gail Devers in a blanket finish among five sprinters. . . .

Dan O’Brien award--Sergei Bubka, who failed to clear a height in the pole vault. . . .

Dodger infield award--Kazemi Ali, the light-heavyweight boxer from Iran who entered the ring without his gloves. . . .

Best announcing team--Chris Marlowe and Paul Sunderland, who blended expertise, enthusiasm and humor at the volleyball arena and refused to shave their heads. . . .

Fastest columnist--Carl Lewis. . . .

Foot in mouth award--Charles Barkley. . . .

Mouth in foot award--Gwen Torrence. . . .

Outstanding single performance--Kevin Young, who shattered Edwin Moses’ world record in the 400-meter hurdles. . . .

Slow-draw award--Boxing judge Keith Dadzie of Ghana, who went through two entire fights without scoring a single punch. . . .

Best video--

“Unforgettable,” starring Magic Johnson, Natalie Cole and the late Nat (King) Cole. . . .

Best team--Dream. . . .

Sportsmanship award--The first-, second-, and third-place horses in the equestrian events who refused to complain although they received only ribbons while their riders got gold, silver and bronze . . .

Oscar De La Hoya should have a more successful professional boxing career than the last gold medalist from East Los Angeles, Paul Gonzales. Unlike Gonzales, who was voted the outstanding boxer at the 1984 Games, De La Hoya doesn’t have hand problems and is a powerful puncher. . . .

In the not-too-distant future, the Forum would love to match De La Hoya with World Boxing Assn. junior-lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez of Los Angeles. De La Hoya has handled himself well in sparring sessions with Hernandez. . . .

Among the reasons for the superiority of the Cuban boxers is their trainers. They have so many good ones that nine worked for other countries during the Olympics. Our best--and the number is diminishing--primarily train pros. . . .

Everyone at USC was delighted by the success of Quincy Watts in Barcelona. He made a lot of friends on both the track and football teams during his collegiate career. . . .

I liked the low-key, sincere approach of Mike Marsh during his postrace interviews after the ex-UCLA Bruin won the 200-meter dash and ran the opening leg on the winning 400-meter relay team. . . .

Marsh was far more gracious than Michael Johnson, who insisted that he was still the best 200- and 400-meter runner in the world. . . .

John Wooden must have appreciated Chuck Daly not calling a timeout during the entire basketball tournament. Wooden didn’t like to call timeouts at UCLA. He always thought they were a sign of weakness. . . .

Sean Higgins and Trevor Wilson are among those who have played well for the Laker team in the Summer Pro League. . . .

Bob Arum is trying to match George Foreman with Tommy Morrison. . . .

Trainer Jackie McCoy is bullish on Jeff Crawford, who has shown tremendous punching power during his two amateur bouts. The 21-year-old welterweight is the son of the late Frankie Crawford, who once beat McCoy’s lightweight champion, Mando Ramos. . . .

John Rebenstorf broadcast Cal State Fullerton football games for eight years. Two years ago, he became the UCLA analyst on KMPC and last season was elevated to the play-by-play job. The last time I saw him, he was very much looking forward to working the opening game between the Bruins and Titans Sept. 12. It won’t be quite the same at the Rose Bowl that night without Rebenstorf, 41, who died much too young Sunday morning.