Scorecard

Maybe so, but opinion is no substitute for performance. Miss Kusner is to be applauded for her perseverance.

K. C. INCENTIVE

When Charles O. Finley's Athletics inhabited Kansas City, one of his complaints was that he could not sell enough season tickets. So he moved to Oakland, where he is not selling enough season tickets.

Ewing Kauffman, whose Kansas City Royals are replacing Finley's failure, has already sold 6,334 season tickets for 1969 in less than three weeks of effort. In 1967, Finley's last year, only 3,411 season tickets were sold, and the most he ever sold was 5,700 in 1966.

For Kauffman, who has become a multimillionaire as president of the Marion Laboratories, the key to success in baseball as well as in pharmaceuticals is "incentive." He has set up a point system, with one point for each season ticket renewed and additional points for new ticket purchases. Everyone who scores 100 points—36 Kansas City businessmen so far—is made a member of the Royal Lancers Club. A Royal Lancer and his guests are entitled to exclusive restaurant and lounge privileges at the park, a pass to all American League games and a jet flight at Kauffman's expense to Fort Meyers, Fla. next winter for a look at the Royals in spring training. The Royals will also recognize BankAmericards for ticket purchases. People in outlying towns can charge tickets at their banks and pick them up at the ball park before the game.

Kauffman predicts a sale of 10,000 season tickets during his drive, and he probably won't even have to bring in a mule.

CHAINING THE CLOCK

Last year two and a half hours was a pretty long college football game. In the first week of this season several games stretched out beyond three hours, and coaches in most parts of the country reported that their teams spent 10 to 15 more minutes on the field and got in about that many more plays.

One of the reasons for the general prolongation was obvious: more passing and more scoring, which meant the clock was stopped more often. A less obvious but perhaps more significant factor was a new rule, which kills the clock after every first down. Time is out while the chains are moved—which can take as long as 15 seconds on a long first-down play.

In some conferences there was concern that longer games would tire fans out. The Pacific Eight sent a bulletin to officials after the first weekend "encouraging" them to speed things up by blowing the whistle as soon as the scrimmage-line marker is set, rather than waiting for both chain men to get situated. Elsewhere, however, there were no complaints. "I don't know yet whether I like the rule," said Ohio State's Woody Hayes, "but the fans sure should. They get to see that much more football."