Scorecard

THE MAN WITH NO LUCK

Buddy Werner was the best skier America has known, but he had no luck. His racing career encompassed three Winter Olympic Games. At Cortina in 1956 he was green. At Innsbruck this winter he was, as skiers go, an ancient. During one precious week at Squaw Valley in 1960 he should have been at his best—well-blooded in international competition and at the perfect age. Everyone expected him to capture the first men's Alpine Olympic medal in U.S. history. But eight weeks before the Squaw Games he broke a leg, and that precious chance was gone.

There were consolations. Recovered, he increased his collection of major European prizes to more than a dozen. For years he was America's lonely male Alpine challenger amid waves of Austrians, French, Germans and Swiss. It was Werner who broke the difficult trail along which the young Americans, Billy Kidd and Jim Heuga, came to win their historic slalom medals at the Innsbruck Games. Though there were no medals for Werner, skiers felt profound affection for him. On skis he was brave and skilled. As a human being he was modest and generous. When he retired from racing last month Olympic Ski Coach Bob Beattie wept.

The rigors of competition behind him, Werner at 28 looked forward to good years in the high places he loved with his pretty, auburn-haired wife, Vanda. There were many job offers. Last Sunday, after accepting one of them, he was taking part in the filming of a fashion movie for Willy Bogner, German stretch-pants manufacturer. On a Swiss slope an avalanche hit the filming party. It took four hours to find Werner. He had suffocated, as had the champion German women's racer, Barbi Henneberger.

GO SOUTH, YOUNG BALLPLAYER

The last frontier for major league baseball and pro football is the Deep South. As ground was broken for Atlanta's new $18 million, 53,000-seat stadium, Arthur Montgomery, chairman of the stadium authority, announced that the city had been assured of a major league baseball occupant for 1965 season, when, the contractor says, the stadium will be ready.

Stadium authority representatives say further that a professional football team is expressing interest in a move to Atlanta and the rumor around the National Football League has been that the team is none other than the St. Louis Cardinals. Actually, the Cardinals seem to have little reason to move. They definitely made money last year, according to Charles Bidwill Jr., St. Louis president, who attributes the rumors to the fact that Cardinal representatives visited Atlanta to discuss putting on an exhibition game there this fall.

BAD BRAKES AT DAYTONA

After testing 19 leading brands of brake linings at the Daytona International Speedway, the National Association for Stock Car Advancement and Research ( NASCAR) found that 14 of them did not meet minimum safety standards. Only five brands passed the test, and some of these were not so good either.

Legislation, as recommended last year by the American Automobile Association, is clearly needed in these days of the 70 mph turnpike, but in the meantime what is the motorist to do? NASCAR suggests seeking out "only the most reputable brand names" and reliance on a good mechanic. "A mechanic who installs inferior brake-lining material not only risks serious and costly accidents," NASCAR points out, "but also risks losing his customers—permanently."