PEOPLE
Frank Gifford, former Giant halfback, pitched his CBS soft-ball team to a 12-2 victory over the Associated Press in New York's Central Park recently. It was the opening game of the Broadway Show League season. Later Gifford signed autographs for child onlookers. It was not exactly like the old days because they kept asking him, "Who are you?" But a Gifford by any name was obviously sweet enough—one little girl simply came up to pat him and say, "Hey man, you beautiful."
" 'Captain 22' will participate in the most daring of adventures, against the most colorful of villains, but 'Captain 22' will be a real human being, in every sense, and he will be placing himself in jeopardy time after time for the welfare of his fellow man.... He's strong, resourceful, daring, intelligent, capable, gentle and loyal." So reads the prospectus for a new TV series to begin this fall. Captain 22 actually will not be a real human being in every sense, in view of the fact that he is to be an animated cartoon character, but he is based upon strong, resourceful, daring, intelligent, capable, gentle and loyal Elgin Baylor.
The royal yacht Britannia costs $21,600 a week to maintain, and not long ago Queen Elizabeth decided that the vessel should be made available for uses other than royal excursions. The British navy took her up on it. They used the Britannia as a target ship for submarines during a recent naval exercise.
Bill Muncey, the unlimited-hydroplane driver, was invited to a meeting of potential G.O.P. lieutenant-governor candidates for the State of Washington and Muncey proved himself one of those politicians who are running backward, if at all. "Maybe as a sports figure I could help call the attention of the public to issues," he said meekly, "but I don't understand how somebody could vote for a guy like me."
Buffalo Bills' Quarterback Jack Kemp has had to substitute before, but fancy sending him in for Joan Baez! The folk singer was scheduled to join a panel discussion in Washington at the convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, but she was unable to make it and Kemp was summoned from the sidelines. The subject the young panel discussed was, "What about the generation gap?" and it proved to be not so much a discussion as a put-down of the grown-ups until Kemp spoke. He declared himself grateful to the older generation for fighting three wars and a depression, developing atomic power, conquering tuberculosis and polio and taxing itself heavily to help people abroad and at home. The only real gap, he said, was a communications gap. The older generation hadn't told the younger generation that "freedom isn't free and self-government entails responsibility." The assembled editors applauded. "Thank you very much, Jack," said Moderator Creed Black of the Chicago Daily News. "That's more like it!"
It was also softball time down South for New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. Garrison sent his D.A. office softball club in against the Third District police and, with the game's score tied 4-4, a fight broke out when Assistant D.A. Mike Karmazin got into a dispute at first base. One of Garrison's assistants, Andrew Sciambra, a former LSU boxer, had to be restrained by another assistant, Charles Foto, and Garrison fired not Sciambra but Foto on the spot. Garrison, wearing a green cap with D.A. in white letters, was described as acting as a sort of cheerleader. Cheerleading is not peacemaking, and the game went into the books as a 4-4 tie, with both sides still claiming victory. Garrison rehired Charles Foto the following day.
A couple of chips off the young block, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Ryun are jogging around Wichita, Kans. They estimate that they are beginning about 12,416 miles behind son Jim, but they have been getting up before dawn to jog a bit and meet jogging friends for coffee. Not long ago Mrs. Ryun was out by herself and was pursued by "the biggest Chow I've ever seen," she says. "I remembered that you aren't supposed to act frightened and began walking as deliberately as I could. That is when he bit me." A policeman called upon the Ryuns for a report and noting the early hour of the incident he commented, "You sure get out early in the morning, ma'am." "At least," said Gerald Ryun, "he didn't say, 'Ma'am, you sure get in late.' "
European men seem to have the same delusions about soccer that American men have about table tennis: whatever their real line of work, they are genuinely convinced that they are also terrific soccer players. Nino Benvenuti is no exception, and he recently captained a team of boxers and ex-boxers in a benefit game played in Trieste against a team of journalists. Nino and the journalists' captain, Dante di Ragogna, shook hands and exchanged pink and white carnations, after which the journalists did in the athletes 2-0. An Italian paper the next day said gently of Nino's performance as center forward, "The world champion gave shape to the match by keeping to his area...." All in all, it seems clear that he and his fellow boxers are somewhat better with their fists than with their feet.
TWO PHOTOS
