NFL Games May Be Shorter, but Trip Home Can Be Long

A big issue in the NFL this year is the time it takes to play a game.

Last Sunday, Charles Laramore of Ft. Wayne, Ind., went to one that must have seemed to go on for days.

Laramore, 87, attended the Cincinnati Bengals-New York Jets game at Riverfront Stadium with 63 members of a retired men’s club in Ft. Wayne. When they took a head count for the bus ride home, he was missing.

Thursday, Laramore turned up at his brother’s home in Jacksonville, Fla.

Add lost fan: Said club President Pinky Irby: “The last anyone saw of him was when he got up to use the restroom during the game. When he didn’t show up for the bus, we looked for him for about an hour. Then we called the police.”

Laramore’s daughter, Dorothy Winston, said she spoke with her father by telephone Thursday, but he couldn’t tell her how he arrived in Florida from Ohio.

Said Winston: “It’s a mystery to all of us . . . I’m upset. When you take 64 retired senior citizens, you are supposed to definitely watch them. He’s not taking another trip without supervision from the family.”

Trivia time: Which player holds the NFL record for most games with at least 200 yards rushing?

Last seen in Boston: Steve Scott is the leading American contender in the men’s division of today’s Mercedes Mile on Fifth Avenue in New York.

The British entrants are Peter Elliott, the defending champion and a two-time winner of the event, and world mile record-holder Steve Cram.

Asked Scott: “Where’s Paul Revere?”

With a bang: Carl Whimper is sports information director at University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. Somehow, his name doesn’t seem to fit.

In a news release at the end of the 1989 football season, Whimper credited defensive back Stanley James with 76 tackles and 29 pass deflections.

A week ago Friday, Whimper retracted his boast, saying that James injured his knee in the 1989 opener against Henderson State and missed the rest of the season. He said he came up with the figures by combining James’ statistics from the 1988 and ’89 seasons.

Based on the numbers in the release, James was named to the 1989 NAIA All-American team.

Add Whimper: Hold everything. The sports staff of the Pine Bluff (Ark.) Commercial reported Tuesday that photos and statistics from three games besides the opener showed James playing--and making a significant contribution.

For example, on Oct. 14 against Missouri Western, James was credited with three tackles, three assists and an interception with a five-yard return.

Trivia answer: O.J. Simpson, with six.

Quotebook: Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder Andy Van Slyke, commenting on his one hit in 38 at-bats against Houston Astro pitcher Mike Scott: “My worst nightmare is that I’ll end up playing in a senior league and facing Mike Scott.”