Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 27, 1992

First, someone spreads a rumor about how Magic Johnson contracted HIV. Then, someone spreads a rumor that Isiah Thomas spread the rumor. Please, after a 20-second timeout, can we switch the focus to Magic’s on-court exploits? . . .

Kiki Vandeweghe--34, but in great shape and still a marksman--may be the surprise of the Clipper season. . . .

What took Bill Laimbeer so long to get fined? . . .

Lloyd Daniels--the 6-foot-8 guard now playing in San Antonio for Jerry Tarkanian, the coach who once recruited him at Nevada Las Vegas--opened some eyes by scoring 30 points during the Spurs’ victory over the New York Knicks in an exhibition game Saturday. . . .

Five members of George Raveling’s 1990-91 USC team are on NBA rosters. Harold Miner is with Miami, Duane Cooper with the Lakers, Robert Pack with Denver, Ronnie Coleman with Atlanta and Yamen Sanders with Detroit. . . .

Miner, who had donated $60,000 for a scholarship, has given USC $7,000 to improve its basketball locker room. . . .

ESPN commentator Ray Knight said he would be surprised if Toronto and Atlanta didn’t play in the World Series again next year. If so, it would be the first World Series rematch since the New York Yankees defeated the Dodgers for the second consecutive time in 1978. . . .

How do you say three-peat in Japanese? The Pacific League champion Seibu Lions won their third consecutive Japan Series by beating the Yakult Swallows of the Central League. . . .

One of the all-sports radio stations should try to get a Red Barber baseball broadcast and play it in its entirety. . . .

Common sense prevailed when Arazi was entered in the Breeders’ Cup Mile instead of the Classic. . . .

Trainer Warren Stute will either look like a genius or something considerably less for running Magical Maiden in the Distaff on Saturday at Gulfstream, only seven days after she won a race at Santa Anita. . . .

Bob Hess, Roger Stein and Bill Spawr are best known as claiming specialists, but all three trainers have horses in the Breeders’ Cup. . . .

Don’t be surprised to see a 56-year-old jockey in the winners’ circle at Gulfstream. Lester Piggott, the legendary English rider, has mounts on Rodrigo de Triano in the Classic and Mr Brooks in the Sprint. . . .

Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers is getting most of the attention among NHL rookies, but Winnipeg Jet right winger Temmu Selanne, from Finland, is getting more goals. . . .

Tony (the Tiger) Lopez of Sacramento proved he could win on the road when he knocked out previously unbeaten Joey Gamache in the 11th round Saturday in Gamache’s hometown of Portland, Me., for the World Boxing Assn. lightweight championship. . . .

“The fans cheered for Gamache, of course, but they fell in love with Tony,” said Lopez’s promoter, Don Chargin. “Gamache would start running, and Tony would signal for him to come in and fight. The crowd ate it up. When Tony got to the airport the next morning for a 7 o’clock flight, about 50 people were there to see him off.” . . .

Lopez will make a mandatory defense of the 135-pound title against top-ranked Dingaan Thobela of South Africa in February in Sacramento. . . .

Track and field athletes are asking $10 million in prize money for the World Championships next summer in Stuttgart, Germany. . . .

At their current pace, the Seattle Seahawks will set a record for fewest points scored by an NFL team during a 16-game schedule. . . .

The capacity crowd of 91,505 for the Dallas Cowboy game Sunday at the Coliseum raised the Raiders’ home attendance average from 47,830 to 58,749. . . .

No, it isn’t true that the Raiders usually lose in front of big crowds at the Coliseum. Since the 1982 season, they are 5-5 in games played before at least 90,000 people. . . .

Superior physical conditioning has something to do with USC’s outscoring the opposition, 50-7, in the fourth quarter this season. . . .

Trojan opponents rarely get good field position after a kickoff because 19 of Cole Ford’s 31 kicks have landed in or beyond the end zone and have not been returned. . . .

Every time I see a retread getting a major league managerial job, I am reminded that Chris Chambliss is getting the shaft.