Scorecard

The YWCA's executive director, Edith Lerrigo, complained that the tactic of threatening withdrawal of contributions to community funds was "coercive and smacks of intimidation." And she's right. Shame on you, gentlemen.

BEST AND WORST OF ARNIE

Arnold Palmer grew up about a shanked wedge from his father Deacon's golf shop at the Latrobe (Pa.) Country Club, and now the former caddie with the bullish swing owns the place. Perhaps to give his members something to shoot for, Club President Palmer has figured out his best and worst "ringer" scores for the hundreds of rounds he has played over the 6,374-yard par-72 course during the last 30 years. A ringer score is the best or the worst a player has ever had on a given hole.

Palmer's collective best at Latrobe is a neat little 27-under-par 45 with nine birdies and nine eagles (one a hole in one). The eagles include 2s on par-4 holes of 335, 330 and 341 yards. His worst scores he took from only the past 20 years—since he was National Amateur Champion. They add up to a rather humbling 103, with seven bogeys, nine double bogeys and two triple bogeys.

Somewhere in between, Palmer also set the course record, 30-30-60.

BLUNT AND TO THE POINT

Dull spikes on track shoes are better than sharp spikes, according to Bill Thomson, an assistant coach of a U.S. team that toured Europe this summer. That is, dull spikes are better on the all-weather surfaces that most tracks are made of nowadays. Sharp spikes penetrate more easily and give superb traction, but because they penetrate they must be extracted, which requires a certain amount of extra effort. Blunt spikes do not penetrate the surface but compress it. They sink in far enough to give traction, but as the runner's weight moves forward the compressed surface is pushing the spikes up and away. The resulting rebound helps to quicken and lengthen a runner's stride.

Thomson says that the stride of Steve Williams, currently the best sprinter in the world, increased by five inches when he wore blunt spikes. But they are not an advantage in all events. When Rod Milburn, world-record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, used them in the AAU championships his stride lengthened so dramatically that he lost his finely tuned rhythm between hurdles, hit several of them and finished a blunted fifth.

A STEP CLOSER

Although merger of the ABA and NBA is still at least a season away, ABA Commissioner Robert Carlson's revelation that a federal court has given the two leagues authorization to come together without congressional approval is a signal step forward. Still blocking the way is acceptance by the players, who stopped the original merger plan by obtaining an injunction against it. The leagues' effort to negate the injunction by obtaining congressional sanction for unification foundered in hearings before a Senate subcommittee run by Senator Sam Ervin (before he became busy with another committee). The court order neatly gets the two leagues around both the injunction and congressional delay.