H&S scene;

              Secret mission
Coded tabulations... national secrets
in sealed envelopes... hidden
microphones and electronic snafus...
Could it be that Francis X. Fields,
New York H&S partner, had become
involved in a super spy thriller?
"No such luck," says smiling
Frank Fields. "Just another of the
unusual and interesting situations
H&S people get involved in
from time to time."
The mission, at the request of our
long-time client, the Downtown
Athletic Club in New York City,
was to tabulate the results of the
voting that would determine the
winner of the 37th annual Heisman
Memorial Trophy Award. The award
is presented each year to the
outstanding college football
player in the United States, as
determined by the votes of
sportswriters and sportscasters
from all parts of the country.
For the past thirty-six years, the
tabulation had been made by
members of the club's staff.
But in order to insure complete
secrecy, Haskins & Sells was engaged
to tabulate the 1971 balloting.
Ballots were sent to about 1,200
registered electors, who were asked
to vote for a first, second and third
choice. The football player with the
greatest total number of points
would be the winner of the award.
The electors returned their ballots
to five regional H&S offices.
Ballots from the East were sent to
principal John Tighe in New York;
from the South to Atlanta, where
partner Wayne Williamson and
principal 0. Robert Gay supervised
the collection; from the Southwest
to principal Kenneth Nicholas in the
Dallas office. The Chicago office
handled the ballots from the Midwest,
with Maurice Bax, assistant
supervisor, report department,
handling the collection; and principal
Robin Gillies of the San Francisco
office collected Far West ballots.
The deadline was November 24, the
day before Thanksgiving. On that day
the results were sent, in code, to
Frank Fields in New York, where he
would make the final tabulation.
Nearly a thousand ballots had been
returned and Frank worked throughout
the day compiling.the results. It wasn't
until 11 p.m. that he finished, typing the
results himself. It would appear that his
mission was over, but Frank was to find
that phase two of the assignment would
be far more dramatic.
For the first time, it was planned
that the announcement of the Heisman
winner would be made on live
television. A number of changes in
program scheduling made a shambles
of the Fields' plans to dine out
with friends on Thanksgiving Day.
Reservations were changed three times
before TV plans were formalized.
The setting; ABC's studio in New
York City. The time: halftime
intermission of the Georgia/Georgia
Tech football game on Thanksgiving
evening.The participants:
John Ott, president of the Downtown
Athletic Club; Bud Palmer and Merle
Harmon, ABC sportscasters; Heisman
Committeeman Tom Scott; and
Frank Fields, keeper of the secret.
As a precaution in the unlikely
event that he would not be able to
get to the ABC studio, Frank gave
John Tighe two envelopes (sealed
with wax and still sealed at this
time) containing the results of the
balloting, with instructions that he
would deliver them to the studio if
summoned by the Heisman
Committee. One envelope contained
the name of the winner-the other
the results of the balloting by
region. Fortunately, this backup
measure was not needed and Frank
arrived at the studio two hours
before show time, with his notes
carefully prepared.
He was immediately relieved by the
studio's announcement that the
program would be taped, allowing
easy correction of mistakes or rough
spots. This relief was short-lived,
however, when it was announced that
his part had to be live, and thus
the secret would remain with him
alone until the very instant the
envelope would be opened in front
of the television audience.
S€EME
Only a few minutes before the taped
part of the program went on the air,
technicians discovered that Frank's
portable microphone wasn't working
properly. Ironically, in an age of
electronic miracles, the corrective
action consisted of switching the
battery on and off and
jiggling the wires.
Frank walked on stage to be greeted
by sportscasters Bud Palmer and
Merle Harmon, Downtown Athletic Club
president John Ott, Tom Scott,
about fifteen million television viewers
and another surprise. Bud Palmer
opened the live part of the show
with a question that had not been
asked in either of the rehearsals:
"How does Haskins & Sells get
involved in this?" Before that
question could be answered, John Ott
asked, "How do you do this?" Frank
says that while he was searching for
an answer the show appeared on the
verge of an embarrassing lapse.
Fortunately, everything turned out
all right. The envelope was
delivered, opened, and the secret
was out: Auburn quarterback Pat
Sullivan had been voted the winner
of the 37th annual Heisman Memorial
Trophy Award.
From the very beginning of the 1971
football season, it was obvious to
sports fans that the two outstanding
candidates for the award were Pat
Sullivan and running back Ed
Marinaro of Cornell. The final tally
showed 1,597 points for Sullivan and
1,445 for Marinaro. The closeness of
the race and the broadcasting of the
results on television for the first
time created much discussion and
controversy. "In view of this," said
Frank Fields, "it appears that the
decision of the Heisman Committee
to retain independent public
accountants to tabulate the
ballots was a good one."
And so ended "The Heisman Affair" -
another first for Haskins & Sells. •