People

Former Olympic champion Jesse Owens allowed himself to be beaten in a race with a 1971 Mercury Comet for an advertisement that will prove, presumably, that a car is faster than a man.

And down in Orlando, Fla., along came placekicker Steve Palinkas to try out for the Atlantic Coast Football League's Panthers. He brought his wife, Pat, to hold the ball because, well, "she has an uncanny ability to hold it straight." So Steve kicked a few, and Pat held a few and, naturally, the Panthers signed them both.

They all laughed when Vice-President Spiro Agnew belted Doug Sanders with that golf ball, right? Well, now we have Singer John Raitt, currently appearing in the musical Zorba in San Francisco. Baritone Raitt winds up at Peacock Gap Golf Course in San Rafael and bounces a wild drive off a stranger in the foursome ahead. He runs up to apologize. "Unacceptable," says the man frostily. "Well, then," says Raitt, "may I sing for you?" "No," growls the man, and stalks away. Ahh, those effete Westerners.

Rip Van Winkle Award of the Week goes to Lee Trevino—for sleeping through his 8:12 a.m. tee-off time at the Westchester Classic. Other scheduled early risers, Ben Hogan 7:24, Frank Beard and Gary Player 7:32, Sam Snead 7:40, Gene Littler 7:48, Jack Nicklaus at 7:56 and Billy Casper at 8:04, all got up on time. Good night, Chet. Good morning, Lee.

Using his own special version of Sonny Liston's baleful stare, Defensive Back Fred Williamson used to scare a lot of people. Beware of the old "hammer" (meaning his iron forearm), he warned opponents while playing for teams at Pittsburgh, Oakland and Kansas City. But it didn't work any better for Fred than it did for Sonny. And what does a man do in that situation? He turns to acting. The 32-year-old Williamson has signed to be a male lead in Julia, bringing romance to Diahann Carroll. After all, he is tall, dark and handsome, Fred admits, and "I am a better actor than a football player."