Notes on a Scorecard - Dec. 8, 1992

I hated to discriminate against all those long-neglected quarterbacks and running backs, but here is the way this first-time Heisman Trophy voter cast his ballot: 1. Florida State linebacker Marvin Jones. 2. Miami linebacker Micheal Barrow. 3. San Diego State tailback Marshall Faulk. . . .

Barrow’s coach, Dennis Erickson, convinced me when he said Jones was the best linebacker he had seen. . . .

A blanket could be thrown over three running backs--Faulk, Notre Dame’s Reggie Brooks and Georgia’s Garrison Hearst. . . .

All that said, look for Miami quarterback Gino Torretta to win the award Saturday. . . .

This was Chuck Knox’s brief message to the Rams in the locker room at halftime when they trailed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-3, before winning, 31-27: “Our character is on the line. Let’s go get ‘em.” . . .

So you want to be a quarterback? Injuries are the prime reason that 60 players have started at that position for the 28 NFL teams this season. . . .

Says Buffalo center Kent Hull, “The Bills are the most hated team in the AFC.” If so, that’s another title the Raiders have lost. . . .

Leading candidates for coach of the year in the AFC and NFC are rookies--Bill Cowher of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dennis Green of the Minnesota Vikings. . . .

ESPN commentator Joe Theismann on Deion Sanders: “He’s absolutely great.” . . .

Who ever thought there would be a Sunday afternoon when 14,143 ticket holders wouldn’t show up for a game between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins at Giants Stadium? . . .

Among active NFL players, wide receiver Jerry Rice is undoubtedly the greatest ever to play his position. . . .

Alex Garcia of San Fernando and Michael Dokes, featured in separate bouts tonight on the USA network card that begins at 9 p.m. from Tampa, have been mentioned as opponents for Riddick Bowe for a proposed Super Bowl halftime fight. . . .

It is time for middleweight Roy Jones Jr. to test his wicked knockout punch on sturdier chins. . . .

Starting pitching used to be the Angels’ strength. Now, I don’t know what their strength is. . . .

Some scouts believe Yankee farmhand Mark Hutton, a 6-foot-6 Australian, is a better prospect than either young pitcher the Angels got for Jim Abbott. . . .

Abbott might have been the most popular Angel, but it would be a mistake to say he was a gate attraction at Anaheim Stadium. . . .

Pitchers who have made a real difference at the box office: Sandy Koufax and Fernando Valenzuela, with the Dodgers, Mark (the Bird) Fidrych, with the Detroit Tigers, and Nolan Ryan, with the Texas Rangers. . . .

The Boston Red Sox, who are suffering from a power shortage, would be wise to sign free-agent first baseman Mark McGwire. . . .

Tradition has not been forgotten in Detroit where Ernie Harwell, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell have been re-signed. . . .

Bob Keino, 16, a junior from Ridgefield, N.J., and the youngest son of Kip Keino, will be among the contenders in the Kinney national high school cross-country championships Saturday in San Diego. . . .

Brett Hull misses center Adam Oates. . . .

Former wrestler Verne Gagne will unveil plans today at the Sports Arena for an American sumo wrestling tour, which will feature 32 NFL players. With all those 300-pounders in the league, there should be no shortage of candidates. . . .

USC tennis Coach Dick Leach and his son Jon, a junior who plays for the Trojans, won the national fathers-sons doubles championship Sunday at La Jolla. . . .

The subject of Channel 2 sportscaster Rory Markas’ first radio interview in Clarksville, Ark., in 1976 was the young Arkansas attorney general named Bill Clinton. . . .

The cliche fits the UCLA basketball team, which is playing to the level of its opposition. . . .

North Carolina has four 7-footers on its roster. . . .

It is hard to get excited about the college basketball polls when the national championship is determined by a tournament. . . .

Guard Bob Feerick of the Red Auerbach-coached Washington Capitols (the Bullets were then from Baltimore) led the NBA in field-goal shooting with 34% during the 1947-48 season. . . .

It didn’t surprise anyone familiar with his work ethic that A.C. Green played his 500th consecutive game on a night when the Laker forward was suffering from a hyper-extended elbow. . . .

Capsule impressions of the three top NBA draft choices who appeared in Los Angeles last week--Shaquille O’Neal: awesome. Alonzo Mourning: powerful. Christian Laettner: solid.