GLAMOR OF SMALL TOWN TEAM DRAWS PACKER FANS TO DALLAS

AUG 18 (Dallas-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay Packers, the little town team that has flamed the imagination of the sports world for years, haven't lost any of their appeal. Being world champions has magnified the magic of this pro football rarity, but folks still ask the old question: "How can that little town do it?" Appeal? What is it that prompts an eight-year-old boy to get his dad to drive all the way down from Tulsa to see his favorite team play? When the Packers gathered at the main entrance of the plush 310-room Holiday Inn Central Friday morning, this boy - one Jon Jordan - introduced himself and gave each player and coach a "business" card. It read: "Jon Jordan, president, Green Bay Packer Fan Club, 4011 S. New Haven, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Phone RI 3-2788." This kid was floating six feet off the ground, meeting Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor - the whole crew. Jon's father, Al, stood in the background and beamed. What gives? "I've always been a Packer fan and I really got interested when they just couldn't win and still came back for more. Our little Jon followed suit but he's a pretty good organizer for his age, so he got the kids in the neighborhood to form a Packer fan club. It has been a lot of fun and this trip is the big climax. Hope someday we can come up to Green Bay." Young Jon and his dad followed the Packer buses out to the Cotton Bowl and watched practice. Before the Packers left, a car drove up and the Packer veterans crowded around. Cramped in the front seat was Stretch Elliott, the former Packer end, who had just pulled in from El Paso, and El Paso is a far piece away from Dallas - about the width of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Packers have been a tremendous draw at practice all week, crowds ranging up to 1,000 lining the sidelines. The two local papers, the Morning News and the afternoon Times Herald, have each assigned two writers and a columnist to the team. This in addition to the radio and TV boys - plus newspapermen from nearby Fort Worth. Here's a sampling of the headlines in the papers here, with a few comments: Ringo Center of Attention, Packer Recalls Unhappy Start - "Ringo started his first pro game against the Giants in '53. 'I was a 20-year-old kid then. That was a long time ago, but I guess time passes quickly when you enjoy something so much.'" Taylor Eager to Test Knee - "The worst news anybody could think up to meet the Dallas Cowboys with today as they fly in from California is that Jim Taylor is in reasonably good health and is getting better in throwing the option pass." Please Move, Here's Henry - "It's not that Henry Jordan, at 250 pounds, can't protect himself against a running play. It's just that spinning through and giving the enemy quarterback a manly hug is his fiercest delight." A Starr is Born - "When Coach Lombardi came to Green Bay in 1959, I felt like a rookie." Not Hornung, But...- "What few people realize is that Tom Moore replaced Paul Hornung nearly a year ago, months before his suspension." Lombardi Says Age No Worry - "This is not an old team at all. In fact, if we pick up five or six rookies, we'll be a young team. It's just like Bill Forester. You think of him as being old, because he's been in the league 11 years. But he's only 31." And so it goes...This has been an interesting week for the Pack. And like Larry Karl, the Cowboy publicist, was saying: "You people did us a big favor by staying here all week."

VINCE'S CALCULATIONS WORK

AUG 19 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Vince Lombardi's "calculated thing" is working. The Packers are off to a slower start this year, but that's the plan. The purpose is to be well sharpened for the extra-heavy bombing the Packers will get from the enemies this year and, of course, to prevent any late-season fag. In addition, the tailored preseason program makes available more playing time for the first-year men. "We had all of our people in there tonight," Lombardi said after the Packers walloped the Cowboys 31 to 10 in the Cotton Bowl Saturday night, adding with a smile: "Some of them were playing in the first quarter already." The rookies also saw considerable action in the 27 to 7 victory over the Steelers in Miami the previous Saturday night. "It remains to be seen whether we're doing right," Vince said, "and we only had 10 days of practice before the All Star game and 14 days before the All Star game last year." The loss to the All Stars wasn't in the plan, of course, and as Vince remarked, "I'll always remember that game and I suppose everybody else will remember it, too." As to the Cowboy game, Lombardi said "we were improved over Miami and we hope to keep it going. The backs hit the holes better and they were all running hard." The Packers finished with 259 yards rushing, another rose for the offensive line's blocking, too. This was sort of a debut for Jim Taylor, who was hobbled in the last two games by injury. "I felt pretty good out there," he grinned later, attesting to his 86 yards in 12 carries. Taylor was a bit miffed with the officiating. Once he fumbled after taking a pass from Bart Starr and the Cowboys recovered. Taylor argued with the official. "I tried to tell him my left was out of bounds when I lost the ball," Jim said. Jim also was unhappy with the intentional grounding penalty called on Starr. "I was 10 or 15 yards away from Bart. The official said there was no receiver but I told him I was the receiver and I was in the flat for a pass." The paid audience of 53,121 was treated to some great plays - Max McGee's run off punt formation, the 85-yard Don Meredith-Pettis Norman TD explosion to mention a few, but the maneuver that thrilled some of us chickens was Starr's first down pass from his own one-yard line in the third quarter. Starr had ordered a run into the scrimmage and called a pass to Boyd Dowler - good for 39 yards. "I felt that they were going to blitz and that made the pass the play to call," Starr explained. They blitzed all right and the line was up to the task of protecting Starr who drifted back deep into the end zone. Dowler easily beat the dumbfounded defensive back. If the Cowboys were surprised by this call, imagine their surprise when McGee ran on the punt - four plays after Starr's one-yard liner. Maxie really had his work cut out since the Bays needed 18 yards for a first down. He wound up with 23. McGee said, "It was just impulse. I looked up and it looked like I could make 20 yards or so, so off I went. I was a little disappointed I didn't go all the way." The Taxi got to thinking some more about it after the game and allowed: "I didn't get the ball on passes all night so I just had to run when I finally felt of the ball." The Packers came out with one casualty. That would be Elijah Pitts, who suffered a sprained shoulder on a right end sweep three plays before he scored the Packers' second touchdown in the second quarter. Pitts will be out about two weeks or less but, as he said, "I gotta get going right away." The Cowboys displayed some sort of an "I" formation, with the halfback setting right behind the fullback. In fact, they're almost as close as the center and the quarterback. The HB or the FB goes in motion at times - a new wrinkle that caused the Pack some thought waving. "We adjusted to it real well in the second half," Lombardi said. The Packers returned home via United Airlines charter Sunday afternoon and went directly to their headquarters at St. Norbert College. They returned to work this morning, launching preparations for the next assignment - Chicago in the Shrine game in Milwaukee Saturday night. Doug Hart, a defensive halfback from Arlington State in Texas, has been added to the squad. Hart had been with the St. Louis Cardinals earlier in the training season. His addition increases the Packer roster to 46.

PACKER CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

AUG 20 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Charity, 'tis said, begins at home. So the Packers can wear a double halo - at least for the next two weeks. The Packers now perform in two colossal benefit games in Milwaukee and Green Bay - the 14th annual Shrine Classic in County Stadium Saturday night and the third annual Bishop's Charities game in City Stadium Labor Day night. More than 86,912 fans will witness the two charity events. The Bears will be guests in Milwaukee and our old friends, the Giants, will be visitors in Green Bay. The Shrine game has been sold out for quite a spell now, and O.C. Krueger, the Pack's man in Milwaukee, says the attendance will be 44,612. Gene Sladky, ticket chairman for the Bishop's go, said today less than 750 tickets remain for his game. When the final 750 ducats are snapped up (and they're going), a new record will be set for City Stadium, approximately 42,300, which snaps the old mark of 39,029 for the championship game here in '62. The crowd at the 1962 Bishop's game was 38,669. The difference in City Stadium capacity results from the addition of four new stands, creating some 4,000 additional seats. The stands are now being constructed, along with a scoreboard, on the south end. The Packers' four home games have been sold out - for months, and one of the league tests in Milwaukee (Detroit) is also sold out, Krueger said. "We have a few tickets left for the other two games (Pittsburgh and San Francisco), and they may be gone by tonight." Tickets for the individual games in Milwaukee were placed on sale at 9 a.m. Monday and Krueger estimated the crowd at more than 1,000. "We did a lot of business and the Detroit game went all the way," Krueger said, who reminded Green Bay that "we are taking no mail or phone orders." While all is rosy on the ticket front, things never really get that way on the field of battle - at least until the last foe is stomped out. The Packers have something like 17 battles to win in order to get into the Big One at the end of December. Coach Vince Lombardi sent his charges out to practice here Monday for the first time since before the conquests in Miami and Dallas and all hands were moving well except Elijah Pitts, who has a shoulder injury. Elijah still has his swift legs, enabling him to take part in the sprints after practice. There was a newcomer in practice Monday - defensive back Doug Hart of Arlington State College in Texas. He started the season with the Cardinals. The Packers also heard that five Bears will sit out Saturday's game due to injuries or illness. Coach George Halas reports from the Bear camp at St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., that the list includes offensive ends Ed O'Bradovich and Maury Youmans, defensive back Tommy Neck, tackle John Johnson and offensive back Willie Galimore. O'Bradovich has a strep throat; Neck and Johnson have leg injuries; and Galimore has not yet rounded into game form after a knee operation.

HORNUNG EYES RETURN TO PACK IN YEAR

AUG 20 (Madison) - Paul Hornung, Green Bay Packer halfback suspended indefinitely by the NFL for betting on games, said Monday he's looking forward to the lifting of the suspension next year. Hornung said, "I'm just waiting for the year to be up so that I can rejoin the Packers, if that is possible." The 28-year-old running, passing and kicking star addressed an overflow crowd at the annual kickoff banquet at Edgewood High School. He said that in making the bets he has forgotten the philosophy behind football and the responsibility players have to the sport. Prior to the dinner, Hornung told newsmen that his suspension "hurts, but if I am reinstated, I hope and pray for one good year to restore public confidence in me. If I am given that chance, I will be very grateful." Hornung said that while he waits out his suspension he is working out twice weekly and will step up the pace when practice is started by a high school in his hometown of Louisville, Ky. He said he also is keeping busy working for a Louisville insurance agency and with daily television sports assignments.