Untuck Those Shirts, Let Those Socks Droop at Your Ankles

Howie Long, who retired from the then-Los Angeles Raiders after the 1993 season, still sees plenty of the NFL as a Fox network broadcaster, and he doesn’t like what he sees.

“Today, everything is so policed and regulated,” he said in an interview in the Men’s Journal. “The players all talk alike. They all look alike. They all dress alike.

“What they’re constantly trying to do is civilize an uncivilized sport. It’s like tying a red ribbon on a pig.”

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Trivia time: What is the record for points scored by an NBA team in the fourth quarter of a game?

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Bugs rebellion: Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch wrote that given Albert Belle’s treatment of reporters, it wasn’t surprising that Belle was not voted the American League’s most valuable player:

“Twenty-eight baseball beat writers vote for MVP, 28 full-time baseball writers from every American League city, and chances are that at one time or another, Belle has treated every one of them like a cockroach he found on his kitchen counter.”

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Brat act? Todd Phipers in the Denver Post: “Haven’t seen much of new Nugget forward Don McLean since his college [UCLA] days, but if his act hasn’t changed, he and Dikembe Motumbo will give the Nuggets the best whine-too punch in the NBA.”

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Back to the future: Mitch Albom in the Detroit Free Press: “The year 2025--The IBM Browns made headlines this week when they announced they were moving from Mexico City to Cleveland.

“Once upon a time, longer than most football fans can remember, the Browns played in Cleveland under the odd name ‘Cleveland Browns.’ ”

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Bed check: Mark Woods in Florida Today: “It’s 11 o’clock. Do you know where your NFL team is?”

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The big boom: Still intent on building a $250-million football stadium, Hollywood Park officials have come up with, well, an explosive plan to get the NFL’s attention. On Dec. 10, they will blow up a 10-story hotel on race track property to make way for the proposed stadium.

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Ouch! Buck Showalter got a seven-year contract to manage the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks, prompting comedy writer Jerry Perisho to say:

“The owners figured that after managing the Yankees for George Steinbrenner, Buck had plenty of experience around snakes.”

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FYI: John Robinson’s record against Notre Dame and UCLA in his first tenure as USC’s football coach from 1976 to 1982 was 11-3.

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Looking back: On this day in 1953, Notre Dame tied Iowa, 14-14, by faking injuries to stop the clock with seconds left in each half, and then scoring in each instance.

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Trivia answer: The Buffalo Braves scored 58 points against the Boston Celtics on Oct. 20, 1972.

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Quotebook: Jay Leno, host of “The Tonight Show,” on the Washington Bullets’ plans to change their name because of its connotation to crime: “So from now on, they’re just going to be known as the Bullets.”