Notes on a Scorecard - Nov. 21, 1989

Do you suppose Jerry Buss is happy that he listened to Jerry West and didn’t make the trade that would have sent James Worthy to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre and the right to draft Roy Tarpley in 1986? West threatened to quit as Laker general manager if the deal were completed. . . .

Dexter Manley’s lifetime suspension most likely will last a year or two. . . .

It’s no coincidence that the Rams have allowed only 24 points in the two games since inside linebackers Fred Strickland and Larry Kelm were reunited in the lineup. . . .

Bo Jackson may be fragile, but so are most thoroughbreds. . . .

Don Shula is back. His Miami Dolphins are tied for first with Buffalo in the AFC East and don’t have to play a team that has a winning record the rest of the regular season. . . .

For coaching this Phoenix Cardinal team to a 5-6 record, the fired Gene Stallings deserved at least a thank-you note. . . .

Junior Seau isn’t the only underclassman thinking about applying for the NFL draft early. Others include USC teammate Mark Carrier, Major Harris of West Virginia and Emmitt Smith of Florida. . . .

If you’re a UCLA fan, you must wish college football used instant replay. Gary Wellman’s touchdown catch in the first quarter Saturday probably would have been overruled. . . .

Only in the Senior Professional Baseball Assn. could Ken Landreaux be traded for four players. It happened last week when the Orlando Juice dealt the former Dodger outfielder to the St. Petersburg Pelicans for Jerry Martin, Bake McBride, Mark Corey and Gerry Pirtle. . . .

Boris Becker, long a household name, will blow out only 22 candles tomorrow. . . . The PGA Tour needs Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Nick Faldo a lot more than it needs Deane Beman. . . .

North Carolina is enjoying the best college basketball recruiting year of any school in the nation. It will be interesting to see what Dean Smith can do when he finally has some talent. . . .

The preseason NIT puts the postseason NIT to shame. . . .

Most basketball announcers give you everything but the score. . . .

Prized, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, will take aim at the Strub Series and the Santa Anita Handicap now that Sunday Silence has been sidelined. . . .

Six jockeys--Pat Day, Jose Santos, Angel Cordero, Eddie Delahoussaye, Laffit Pincay and Chris McCarron--already have won more than $1 million apiece in purse money this year. . . .

Every time he works, unbeaten World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez conducts a clinic in the fine art of delivering a punch. . . .

It’s all relative: Actress Kirstie Alley and golfer Bruce Lietzke are first cousins. Unbeaten heavyweight Tommy Morrison is the grandnephew of the late John Wayne. Martin Keino, a student at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia who will run the prep mile at the Sunkist meet Jan. 19 at the Sports Arena, is the son of the legendary Kip. Members of the Atlantic Coast Conference co-champion Virginia football team include the sons of Jesse Jackson, Bob Griese, Vince Dooley and Calvin Peete. . . .

Nobody in college football has done a better coaching job this season than the oft-maligned Bill Curry of Alabama. . . .

Give me one good reason why Maury Wills shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. . . .

Hockey interest in Edmonton has dwindled so badly that the Oilers couldn’t even sell out the Northlands Coliseum for the last visit of Wayne Gretzky and the Kings. . . . Pat Riley has been named one of the 10 best-dressed men in the nation by the Tailors Council of America. Among those not receiving votes was Doug Moe. . . .

Houston Coach Don Chaney, who hasn’t had much nice to say about the Clippers since being fired by them, called their trade with Cleveland “almost a genius move.” . . .

Team handball, a truly exciting sport, needs a name change. . . .

Among the most interesting postseason balloting will be that for All-Western Athletic Conference quarterback. Is it BYU’s Ty Detmer or Air Force’s Dee Dowis? . . .

Let’s hope success doesn’t spoil Don Majkowski, the young Green Bay quarterback who handles himself so well on and off the field. . . .

I have no beef with the choice of Robin Yount as American League MVP. Nor would I if Ruben Sierra, Cal Ripken Jr., or George Bell had been chosen. . . .

Former Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek on doing volunteer work at the child-care center run by his oldest son and daughter-in-law: “I have no training, but I might hold a baby or something. They don’t know about my fielding average.”