If only he played for the Clippers

Faced with sagging circulation of print editions, newspapers are boosting their Internet presences and trying to make their sites more interactive.

The Arizona Republic earns an “A” for effort with its latest sports section feature: “Nash’s Barbershop.”

With a cartoon caricature of the Phoenix Suns’ bad-hair-day-every-day point guard in the chair, readers have the styling tools and seven options: Today (as is), Classic (last season), Afro, Punk, Dorothy, Mr. Clean and Moe.

Missing from the list: Jarhead, Ivy League, Mohawk and, of course, Larry and Curly.

Desperate times, measures

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday posted a sexy photo of Britney Spears on its website, hoping to lure readers to Jeff Schultz’s “Countdown” column on the BCS controversy.

No. 6 in the countdown was this: “Photographs clearly indicated the other night that Britney Spears was not wearing underwear. This has nothing to do with the BCS. I just felt it was time to change topics.”

No telling what the brass’ reaction was, but the photo was removed by early afternoon.

Trivia time

Who was the youngest player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

A real keeper

Asked to name the strangest catch he ever made, bass-fishing pro Jim Murray recalled a nighttime excursion a few years ago on Georgia’s Lake Blackshear:

“I was cranking the boat docks and I guess there was a party the night before because I reeled in a bra.”

Elway? No way

After a disappointing debut performance by Broncos rookie quarterback Jay Cutler in last Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Post columnist Woody Paige observed:

“He remains 148 victories and 47 comebacks short of John Elway.”

A blip once more?

In the wake of UCLA’s 13-9 upset of USC last Saturday, Don Banks of SI.com implied that the Bruins’ coach might want to stay close to the phone:

“UCLA’s win puts Bruins Coach Karl Dorrell back on the NFL’s radar screen as a head coaching candidate. Dorrell, a former Broncos assistant, will interview for and be offered a top job in the NFL before long.”

Thinking ahead

It isn’t easy being coach at a prestigious institution such as Stanford, as Walt Harris learned during a woeful 1-11 season.

Even before Harris was fired, Mike Goldberg of Fox Sports Network explained, “You don’t want to yell at the players because you never know which one of them someday could be doing surgery on you.”

Trivia answer

Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers was 34 when he was inducted in 1977.

And finally

Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson, to the Houston Chronicle, on the reception the team got from Raiders fans last Sunday in Oakland:

“They greeted us with eggs, oranges, Coke cans, and they greeted us with the middle finger. It was a sight to see.”

pete.thomas@latimes.com