Scorecard

A RUNNING CONTROVERSY

Zola Budd was seen warming up last June before a cross-country race in Brakpan, South Africa. The South African-born runner, who is now a British subject, apparently did not participate in the race. "The idea that I would jeopardize my career by racing in South Africa is ridiculous," Budd, 21, told The Sunday Times of London. But because a South African newspaper caption writer erroneously identified a similar-looking runner in the Brakpan cross-country race, Agnes Berger, as Budd, Budd has been grounded.

Citing that June race, the International Amateur Athletic Federation ( IAAF) has barred Budd from any further races until April 15, when it holds a hearing on charges that she competed in South Africa, a nation off-limits to international athletes because of its apartheid policies. She had to bow out of the World Cross Country Championships last week in Auckland, New Zealand. In addition, an invitation to run in the Ha worth 10K last Sunday in New York's Central Park was withdrawn. In other words, Budd is presumed guilty until proved innocent.

There's some feeling among British track and field insiders that the IAAF has mounted its investigation only to avoid controversy; eight of the first nine finishers in the men's division at the World Cross Country Championships were from Kenya, a nation that had threatened to boycott the meet if Budd had been permitted to run. Perhaps the whole matter will be cleared up on April 15, but there are fears that the former world-record holder in the 5,000 meters will remain a constant source of controversy through the 1988 Olympics.

Budd does bring some of the trouble down on herself by continuing to appear in South Africa. While she is perfectly within her rights to return to her native land, she would help her cause by not making any more public appearances in that country.

JOCK IN THE BOX

By day Sandy Hawley rides horses at Santa Anita. By night he tends the visitors' penalty box at NHL games in the Forum. "I like being where the action is," Hawley told Scott Ostler of the Los Angeles Times. "I get to meet a lot of the players, and that's exciting. It's an honor meeting some of these guys."

It should be an honor for them, as well. In 1986 Hawley, 38, became only the seventh jockey to win 5,000 races, and in 1973, he became the first to win 500 races in a year. He has made comebacks from several operations and is currently undergoing treatment for melanoma, a form of skin cancer. He has always enjoyed the reputation of being a true gentleman.

It was quite natural for Hawley to go from the Sport of Kings to the sport of the L. A. Kings, because he grew up in Oshawa, Ont., near Toronto. Hawley was just a fan at Kings games until a few years ago, when he was asked to fill in for the regular keeper of the visitors' box. Hawley has been there for almost every home game since. For $300 a season, plus two tickets a game, he keeps track of the transgressors' penalty time, keeps them company and puts fresh pucks into play.

Hawley does his night job with skill and without much fanfare. As Ostler wrote, "Many of the players seem unaware that the fellow tending their penalty box so efficiently is a major celebrity, a superstar in a sport that is faster, more violent and infinitely more dangerous than their own."