Nemesis

1. Dag Hammarskjöld, the great Swedish diplomat, once said, "We carry our nemesis within us. Yesterday's self-admiration is the legitimate father of today's feeling of guilt."

2. Tom Harmon scored 33 touchdowns in three seasons for Michigan, but none was against Minnesota. In addition, in the 1940 showdown game with the Gophers, he missed a PAT that allowed Minnesota to win the game 7-6 and, in turn, the national championship.

3. Sam Snead still hasn't won the U.S. Open.

4. In 1905 Long Tom Hughes of the Senators shut out Cleveland five times yet had an 11-20 record in all his other games.

It's too late to ask Long Tom the secret of his success against the Indians. At the other end of the time frame, some nemesistic relationships are too current to ask the victorious parties to reveal the essence of their mastery. Allow for the proper amount of time to elapse, however, and certain secrets will no doubt be revealed.

THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES

Tennis fans have often wondered how Jack Kramer, who was past his prime at the time, could so thoroughly dominate Pancho Gonzales, who was at the start of his. On their 1949-50 pro tour, Kramer won 97 of the 123 matches he played with Gonzales. "You have to remember," says Kramer, "that Pancho was still very young. He had a helluva serve, and he was very quick, but he didn't have much of a defensive game. He also hadn't learned to pace himself. And there was the Coca-Cola."

The Coca-Cola?

"At the breaks, Pancho liked to drink an ice-cold Coke. I noticed that he got a little sluggish after the break. Myself, I drank warm tea. So I always made sure there was a nice, cold Coke there for Pancho. He didn't discover the truth until we were playing a tournament in Aruba one time, and the ball boy came up to me with a cold soft drink. 'You have to be stupid to drink that stuff,' I told the kid. Pancho overheard me and looked at me like he wanted to kill me."

Kramer still feels a little bad about beating the young Gonzales so thoroughly. "I nearly broke his spirit," he says. "But he learned a lot from the experience. He came off the floor and became a truly great player. I was his nemesis, but in a way, I was also his guardian angel. If I hadn't taught him those lessons when he was young, he would not have played the great tennis he did into his 40's."