Duel

It was the race to watch all spring, the down-to-the-wire duel between Assemblyman Richard Robinson and Superior Court Judge David O. Carter in the 38th Congressional District for the Democratic nomination. When it was all over, Robert K. Dornan, the flamboyant, red-haired Republican who captured the seat two years ago, grinned mightily and looked skyward: "I got Dickie Robinson . . . Thank you, God!"

Two horror movies weren't too much to handle this weekend as "The Final Destination" proved a winner at the box office and "Halloween II" came in just a bit below expectations. The only bust was "Taking Woodstock," from Universal Pictures' specialty films unit Focus Features. The Ang Lee-directed look-back at the 1969 music festival cost nearly $30 million to produce but opened at ninth place with a weak $3.7 million in receipts. "The Final Destination," from Warner Bros.' New Line label, was No. 1 with an estimated $28.3 million worth of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada, boosted by sales at pricier 3-D screens.

Kerry West won a duel with The Master's guards, hitting six three-point baskets to lead No. 1 Belmont into the semifinals of the NAIA tournament Friday night with a 91-72 victory. West scored 27 points and converted a four-point play during a 12-2 run that put the Rebels (37-1) in command of the Mustangs (31-5) midway through the second half.

Chess champion Gary Kasparov resigned the adjourned 16th game of the World Chess Championship today without resuming play, losing his lead over challenger Anatoly Karpov and bringing the score even at 8 to 8. The two Soviet grandmasters now have three victories each in the 24-game duel, with five points apiece from their 10 drawn games.

Having loved Jim Murray's work since my dad introduced me to it more than 30 years ago, I am temporarily saddened by his suggestion that New York Supreme Court Justice Carmen Ciparick's decision on the America's Cup was anything but brilliant and daring. One need only read the chronology of events to understand the unsportsmanlike conduct of the defenders. When gentlemen accept the terms of a duel, it is not general practice to have one armed with a derringer and the other with a submachine gun. But who said we were talking about gentlemen?

The final Times story of the Kings' '85 season was certainly one to cherish. In a season which finds the organization in the running for most improved team, coach of the year and rookie of the year, isn't it sad that Chris Baker's cute little lead--the only copy on the front page--has to deal with embarrassing Jay Wells for overconfident remarks? The Edmonton playoff game, upon which this story was based, involved a truly spectacular goaltending duel between Grant Fuhr and Bob Janecyk.

The network that brought us the 11:30 p.m. delayed basketball playoff telecasts is at it again. After hyping the Laker-76ers game as an Abdul-Jabbar vs. Dr. J showdown, no mention of Dr. J's earlier injury, which would prevent him from playing, was relayed until the beginning of the game's second quarter. Having been appraised of his injury a week earlier on ESPN, we were not suckered by this blatant attempt to hold unaware viewers captive. This behavior is comparable to advertising a Valenzuela-Gooden duel and waiting until the third inning to advise the fans that Gooden had been injured and would not be pitching.

Re "It's an All-California Series, but Fans Are Worlds Apart," Oct. 15: Isn't this a great way to finally, once and for all, settle the Northern Californian-Southern Californian water dispute? When my sons traveled north to college (Chico State), they were surprised at all the animosity that exists "up north" toward us Southern Californians. They found out that this hostility comes from the Northern Californians' anger that we "steal" their water from them. In honor of the athletic prowess found in the sport of baseball, in my opinion this is a very appropriate and testosterone-laced way to settle an ages-long dispute over water: Do it via a gentlemen's duel.