Don’t Rule Out Any of These Proposals

Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News, suggesting some things we could live without in sports:

Football: “All those kneel-downs in the last minute of a half or game. From now on, if a play doesn’t gain at least a yard in the final two minutes, the clock stops.”

Baseball: “Batters stepping out of the box with both feet between pitches. Make that an automatic strike.”

Basketball: “All timeouts in the final minute of a quarter. Let it be a mad scramble. Let the players, not the coaches, be the stars.”

Golf: “All skins games unless players compete with their own money.”

Hockey: “Allowing goalies to freeze the puck. Make them throw it behind the net, clear it into the corner, something. Keep the game flowing.”

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Trivia time: What is Rick Fox’s full name?

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Think about it: Art Thiel of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has this spin on the Casey Martin controversy: “Walking is no more integral to golf than it is to diving. The latter is scored on how the required dive is executed, not how the athlete reached the board or platform.

“If a one-legged diver can hop up the ladder and do a 2 1/2 gainer in a pike position, good for him or her. But no credit is given for the ladder work.”

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More Martin: Reader Mike Gaynes to the San Francisco Chronicle: “The tradition-bound directors of the Masters say that if [he] ever qualifies for Augusta, they’ll respect the Supreme Court ruling and let him use a cart.

“But they can’t be happy about it. I’m picturing two Georgia state [troopers] setting up a speed trap at Amen Corner.”

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Free at last: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle, commenting on the zone defense coming to the NBA next season: “The bad news is that we might see a nullification of the glam slashers like Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter.

“The good news is that with a premium on zone-buster outside shooting, I’m looking for a big comeback by World B. Free. The old king of fling will turn 49 next season, but he’s been resting for 13 years and should be fresh.”

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Stats betray him: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “Here’s one reason the market for David Wells doesn’t seem as hot as the Sox had hoped. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com says Wells hasn’t won two games in a row since last year’s All-Star game.

“In his 26 starts since then, Wells has given up five or more runs in almost half of them.”

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His alter ego: When the Milwaukee-Philadelphia NBA playoff series opened, TNT analyst Charles Barkley was registered at his Philadelphia hotel under the name of Homer Simpson, says Richard Sandomir of the New York Times.

Sandomir: “A fitting pseudonym, since both are bald, overweight, love beer and enjoy sitting on sofas watching TV.”

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FYI: Jay Leno, who two years ago drove the pace car at the Indianapolis 500, will be behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Monte Carlo to lead the starting field of the NASCAR Brickyard 400 on Aug. 5.

Leno collects antique and classic cars and motorcycles and has driven in some celebrity races.

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Looking back: On this day in 1935, Boston Brave slugger Babe Ruth retired, eight days after a three-home run game in Pittsburgh had raised his total to 714.

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Trivia answer: Ulrich Alexander Fox.

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And finally: The committee responsible for naming fish in the Americas has changed the common name of Florida’s largest grouper species from jewfish, which some found offensive, to goliath grouper.

Said Rabbi Bruce Diamond of Temple Beth-El in Fort Myers, Fla.: “I tell you: In the universe of things that need to change, the name of the big grouper is low on the list.”