Scorecard

TALISMAN

Coaching basketball is an emotional business and some coaches prepare for sessions of high drama and deep trauma by bringing along tension-relievers. Bob King, University of New Mexico coach, favors a small towel, which he finds excellent for wrenching, clenching, brow-mopping, signaling and general all-round agonized floor-slapping. It is red, in honor of the school's cherry-and-silver colors.

New Mexico had a feeble basketball history before King took over, but he took his towel to his first game at the university and the team won. He brought it to every subsequent game that season and, to everyone's delight and surprise, the Lobos had a fine 16-9 record.

King clung to the towel again last year, which, at 23-6, was even better. The team was co-champion of the Western Athletic Conference and won its way into the finals of the National Invitational Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

King wrung the little red towel in this season's opener and the Lobos won again. Then a terrible thing happened. On a trip to play Kansas he left the towel in his luggage. New Mexico lost. After that Mrs. King made sure he carried the towel to all games, and New Mexico won 11 straight.

The towel is not washed after victories. After all those wins, its power seems stronger than ever.

REVERSION TO TYPE

During his days in the International Hockey League, Willie Papp was a pretty fair player. Then, six seasons ago, he traded his stick for a whistle and developed into a top referee in the Western Hockey League. The old longing to play remained, though, and this year, on his days off from officiating, Papp skated back into action in an amateur circuit in Vancouver, B.C., where he lives.

He still had the scoring touch, too—eight goals in his first three games. But the rest of his behavior on the ice was eyebrow-raising in another way—for a referee, that is. In his third game he was penalized first for boarding and then for charging. Finally, he drew a match penalty and was thrown out of the game for fighting.

ISOS OUT AT ARKANSAS