Test Is Real Thing but He Can’t Find That Old Zing

--Gay Mullins of Seattle is the kind of guy who puts his money where his mouth is. Mullins, 57, insisted that the new Coca-Cola formula introduced April 23 was sweeter, flatter and lacking in “that old zing,” and he says that he put $45,000 into a campaign to bring back the “real thing.” But Mullins’ campaign apparently has gone flat because he couldn’t pick out his favorite in a taste test. Mullins was given six, then three, then two colas in a test conducted by the Seattle Times. Each time, the newspaper reported, he failed to distinguish the old Coke from the new and colas by Pepsi, Royal Crown, Cragmont and Shasta. And, as a coup de grace, in a two-cola showdown between the old and new Coke, Mullins still got it wrong. Mullins’ reaction? “I’ve taken taste tests all over the country and passed them 90% of the time. I’ll take one again, any time, any place.”

--The Los Angeles Lakers may be the premier team in the NBA, but take a look at this pint-sized team from Barbourville, Ky., with a 130-0 record. The All American PeeWees is a squad of dwarfs, although its unblemished record was fashioned against normal-sized foes. “People look at little people and say, ‘Oh, that’s too bad.’ It’s not true,” says Phil Watson, a former wrestling promoter who founded and manages the team. “Little people are real people. They can do anything taller people can do. That’s why we play basketball.” While height is surely a plus for basketball players, the PeeWees, who play teams from churches, fire and police departments, high schools and civic clubs, also have a decided advantage. Take the time when John Hayward, 3 feet, 7 inches, found himself guarded by a player 6 feet, 3 inches. He simply dribbled the ball through his opponent’s legs.

--When Arthur C. Clarke talks, people listen--very carefully. Clarke, author of “2001,” “2010” and a host of science fiction novels, is a visionary of prodigious proportions. He was, for example, the first to see the advent of communications satellites long before the U.S. space program was born. So when Omni magazine wanted to know what to expect in the 21st Century, it asked Clarke. Marriage in space, he says, is the next step around the futuristic corner. He also says that there will be no World War III, Tokyo will be the city with the largest population in the world and Cairo will be the most polluted city. Clarke says that up to 13 nations will have nuclear arsenals.