Scorecard

900 TO 30 TO 1

Wayne Duke, commissioner of the Big Eight conference, says in a recent issue of NCAA News that an interscholastic survey reported 902,430 boys playing high school football last fall. A similar survey by the NCAA found that there were about 30,000 college football players in 1968. The 26 teams in the AFL and NFL carry 40 men each, or a total of 1,040. An interesting ratio: 900,000 to 30,000 to 1,000. In other words, 29 out of 30 high school players do not go on to play college ball, and 29 out of 30 collegians do not make it with the professionals.

Duke, citing such figures, says, "Those of us in interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics better have other purposes and objectives for our programs than merely producing players for the colleges and the pros."

Amen.

PESO RAPIDO

Everybody knows all about the super-shrewd American businessman, the one with the eye out for the quick buck. But a Mexican named Juan Peimbert makes the classic American sharp operator look like a country bumpkin—or, in Mexico, a charro. Has any yanqui ever thought of taking out a copyright on, say, the World Series or the Super Bowl? Never. But old Juan, almost as soon as he learned a few years ago that soccer's quadrennial World Cup competition was coming to Mexico City in 1970, officially registered for his own use the treasured phrase "World Cup."

What this meant was that Mexico's organizing committee for the World Cup could no longer apply that name to the competition. It could not be used on stationery or in publicity or even on tickets. Naturally, the committee screamed and went to court, but Peimbert retained the rights to "World Cup." He intends to use it on a variety of souvenirs that he'll put up for sale during the competition. The committee had to settle for "The IX Football World Championship," though most of its advertisements say simply " Mexico 70."

Can you imagine Pete Rozelle suddenly having to refer to that showdown in January as the Very Big Bowl Game?

POOR PACKAGE DEAL
During World War II one often had to buy an unwanted bottle of cheap liquor in order to get a scarce bottle of Scotch. Carroll Rosenbloom, owner of the Baltimore Colts, tried the trick a few weeks ago when he issued a ukase that next year purchasers of season tickets would have to buy tickets to two preseason games as well. An angry hurricane raged in Baltimore, and Rosenbloom quickly retreated: fans, he announced, would have the right to reject the exhibition games if they desired and still retain their season tickets. He added that he intended to hold a poll of ticket purchasers next year to decide future policy. Vote No along the Colts line.

THERE'S NO BUSINESS