Scorecard

TROUBLE CITY

The San Diego Chargers have had more trouble in the last couple of years than most countries. First, a disabled ex-Charger, Houston Ridge, sued his former coach, a former trainer, the team physician and the NFL, charging that drugs administered to him by the team made him vulnerable to the injury that ended his career. The Chargers and the league settled for $295,000, but not before a sordid story of drug abuse centering on amphetamines and anabolic steroids dispensed by the club between the years 1966 and 1969 had come out in depositions from several former players.

That was last year. In April of this year Commissioner Pete Rozelle imposed fines totaling $40,000 on Owner Eugene Klein, General Manager Harland Svare and eight San Diego players—the players for alleged infractions of the NFL's drug code, Klein and Svare for "supervisory omissions."

In the meantime, grasping at straws, the team had tried out a psychiatrist, Dr. Arnold Mandell (SCORECARD, April 1), who left after two seasons saying, "Pro football is not the place for a psychiatrist." The Chargers' record during the tenure of Dr. Mandell was 6-20-2.

Having broken new ground with a team shrink, the Chargers now have their very own narc, a guaranteed morale booster. His name is Jack Norris and for 22 years he was an FBI agent specializing in kidnap cases. He whimsically refers to himself as the team's "health coach." Says Norris, "I try to improve the players' health by keeping them away from drugs."

Gallows humor is apparently all the Chargers have left. Tommy Prothro, who took over as head coach at the end of the miserable 1973 season (2-11-1), admits that many of his team's top veterans ("most of the good ones") have asked to be traded, among them Dave Costa, Cid Edwards, Joe Beauchamp, Terry Owens, Doug Wilkerson, Chris Fletcher, Deacon Jones, Bob Howard, Tim Rossovich and Ron Smith. Without even a reference to the Players' Association strike, Prothro called the situation "discouraging."

We'd call it hopeless.

SOUNDS GOOD

Mike Storen has quit his job as ABA commissioner to go into business for himself. Within 24 hours of his announcement that he would take over the Memphis franchise as its managing general partner, Storen was on his way to Tennessee to hire Bob Bass as general manager and to change the team's name from the Tams to the Sounds.

"I prefer to work by saying, "The answer is no and I don't have the time or inclination to explain why,' " says Storen. "When I was commissioner I always had to explain everything. The phone was always ringing. One Sunday Bill Daniels [owner of the Utah Stars] called to say he had a potential buyer and to come to Salt Lake. It was the most important thing in the world to him and he had every right to expect me to come. But multiply that by 10 owners and it becomes oppressive."