Double Trouble

The name of Saturday's fifth-set, last-second doubles hero will give you a broad hint, an indicator of just how U.S. captain John McEnroe and his players are doing in the Davis Cup. Kevin Ullyett. Indeed, the United States is in a fair bit of trouble. Two service returns down the line in the 12th game of the fifth set from Ullyett and a Rick Leach double-fault on match point have the Americans teetering on the brink of first-round elimination.

The means might change, but the Calabasas High girls' tennis team hopes the end will be the same. "I would be disappointed if we don't make the finals again," Coach Bill Bellatty said. The Coyotes were the region's only team to reach a Southern Section championship match last season, losing to San Marino, 12-6, in the Division IV final. Calabasas finished 21-1-1 on the strength of its singles play, relying heavily on No. 1 player Shervin Saedinia, who has moved on to Syracuse.

The source of all these worries is the long-standing computer use of two digits to represent years. The system worked fine as long as all the dates were in the same century, but in 2000 the dates will become ambiguous to some computers. For example, the digits "00" could stand for either "1900" or "2000," resulting in a host of possible malfunctions and miscalculations.

If there is a new strike zone this season, Angel left-hander Chuck Finley and catcher Charlie O'Brien are still waiting to see it. A borderline call that didn't go Finley's way may have been the difference in the Angels' 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before 23,775 in SkyDome Tuesday night.

If Tom Gullikson, captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team, were to pinch a line from the Casey Stengel book of quotations, it would probably be: "Can't anybody around here play this game?" Gullikson could apply Stengel's lament from the early days of the New York Mets to the game of doubles in tennis, the continuing debacle department for American teams, where the usual took place once more Saturday in the first round against Britain.

A second day of stormy weather brought more rain and snow to the Southland on Tuesday, triggering another rash of traffic-tangling fender-benders and slowing mountain travel to a crawl. Officials said rain-slicked streets led to more than twice the normal number of accidents during the morning commute. In one crash on the Golden State Freeway near Elysian Park, a car was crushed beneath an overturned big rig, but the car's driver escaped serious injury.

The best quarterback situation in the NFL suddenly has become one of the most muddled, and Jay Fiedler might be the only answer for the Minnesota Vikings. Randall Cunningham and Brad Johnson were injured in the Vikings' 31-24 victory Sunday over the New Orleans Saints, possibly jeopardizing Minnesota's status as the NFC front-runner. Cunningham left in the first quarter when his right knee was injured while being sacked.

Kevin Mack and Jerome Stevens drive to school each day in a gray Volvo sedan, a battered hand-me-down from Mack's mother. A stylish ride the car is not, but it allows the inseparable friends and Rio Mesa High football teammates some freedom and mobility. Those who know them can only hope the seniors have finally chosen to head in the right direction. Rio Mesa (2-5, 1-1 in Pacific League play) hosts neighboring Camarillo (5-2, 1-0) in a league game tonight.