  Motivated by results from an earlier Brownian Dynamics (BD) simulation for
the collapse of a single, stiff polymer in a poor solvent [B. Schnurr, F. C.
MacKintosh, and D. R. M. Williams, Europhys. Lett. 51 (3), 279 (2000)] we
calculate the conformational energies of the intermediate (racquet) states
suggested by the simulations. In the absence of thermal fluctuations (at zero
temperature) the annealed shapes of these intermediates are well-defined in
certain limits, with their major structural elements given by a particular case
of Euler's elastica. In appropriate units, a diagram emerges which displays the
relative stability of all states, tori and racquets. We conclude that, in
marked contrast to the collapse of flexible polymers, the condensation of
semiflexible or stiff polymers generically proceeds via a cascade through
metastable intermediates, the racquets, towards a ground state, the torus or
ring, as seen in the dynamical simulations.
