Cunningham to visit Rams this Friday

SPORTS NOTES from here and there:

Friday is a big day for Randall Cunningham, the 32-year-old NFL quarterback who lives in Las Vegas. That's the day he'll travel to St. Louis to meet with the Rams, who are looking to add a quarterback to replace the recently released Chris Miller. Cunningham is a free agent with limited options. In fact, his trip to St. Louis is contingent on the Rams not landing another quarterback first, like Washington's Gus Ferotte. ... A year ago, boxing promoter Bob Arum of Las Vegas was certain he was going to buy into an NBA team, although he has since had a change of heart. "No, that's gone by," he said of his interest in becoming an NBA owner. "It just didn't work out." Initially, Arum was part of a group that wanted to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves and move them to New Orleans.

Tyler Houston may make the Atlanta Braves this spring and give Las Vegas two players on the defending world champions. Houston is a left-handed hitting catcher who can also play third base and left field. He got off to a hot start in exhibition games and his chances are enhanced by the fact he's out of options. Houston, who attended Valley High, was the second player taken in the 1989 amateur draft. If he makes the Braves, he'll join Greg Maddux as a local representative with the champs. ... The Kansas City Royals woke up Nate Cromwell at 6 a.m. Tuesday to tell him he had been released. Cromwell, a left-handed pitcher out of Chaparral High who has played in the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros and San Diego Padres organizations, worked four scoreless innings in three games this spring with the Royals. But with 30-plus pitchers in camp, there just wasn't room for him. Agent Bruce Trampler was hopeful he could get Cromwell on with another team. ... Another local baseball player, Anthony Lewis, has signed with the Minnesota Twins and expects to play for their Salt Lake City (AAA) farm club this season. If that happens, Lewis would be an outfield mate of still another local player, Chris Lathom, ex of Basic High.

For those keeping track, UNLV pays Rollie Massimino $1,180 per day not to coach its men's basketball team. It's almost money well spent. ... The UNLV softball team is ranked No. 7 in the nation heading into a significant tournament later this week hosted by Cal State Fullerton. "It's a real checkpoint," coach Shan McDonald said of the four-day tourney that features 24 teams. "It's one of the biggest tournaments of the year and it's a chance to play some teams from out of our region." The Rebels are 19-6 and McDonald said she's "real pleased. We've made some mistakes along the way but we've had four freshmen step in and prove they could compete." UNLV is home next Wednesday for a game with UC Santa Barbara. ... The bronze medalist at last year's world figure skating championships, Nicole Bobek of the United States, isn't in Edmonton this week for the 1996 competition. Instead, she's working out in Las Vegas. "I'll have other chances," the 18-year-old told USA Today.

An elbow injury has knocked Scott Baker from prospect to suspect with the Oakland A's. Baker, of Henderson, was close to making the Athletics last season but now he's trying to rehabilitate an injury to his left (pitching) arm. ... It's peculiar and it's limited to the National Hockey League, but it has been going on for at least 30 years: Players who join a new team almost always score or play a prominent role in their first game with their new team. Watch. It happens all the time. ... Basketball player Dennis Jordan's grades weren't good enough to get him into UNLV, but the University of Texas accepted him and Jordan looked strong with the Longhorns in NCAA Tournament play. ... UMass coach John Calipari is among the leading names mentioned to take over the New York Knicks next season, which begs this question: If Calipari takes the job, would UNLV coach Bill Bayno -- Calipari's right-hand man at UMass for seven seasons -- be interested in either accompanying Calipari to New York or taking over the Minutemen? "No," Bayno said. ... Indiana coach Bobby Knight has become insufferable to watch even on TV. He treats his players terribly.

TV star Jay Leno will work the corner of shameless heavyweight Butterbean Esch when Esch fights at Caesars Palace June 7 on the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Julio Cesar Chavez undercard. The untalented Esch had Leno in his corner for a fight last week. ... European pro rugby teams now have a salary cap. ... John Jay Moores, who owns the San Diego Padres, is talking about buying an existing NFL team and moving it to Houston to replace the Oilers should they actually go through with their plans to leave for Nashville by 1998. ... More extraordinary than Muffin Spencer-Devlin admitting in last week's Sports Illustrated that she is a lesbian was her nonchalance toward taking 70 pills a day to control her mood swings. With that much medication, it's a wonder she can play on the LPGA tour. ... With the Olympics only four months away, the biggest concern in Atlanta is one that's almost incomprehensible and one that's certainly impossible to completely defend: terrorism. The FBI has an extensive task force whose sole purpose is to try and outthink terrorists who may be planning an attack or assault of some kind during the Summer Games.

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