From his list of 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History, a few we'd like to highlight (starting with the highest):

No. 98: Randy Johnson Nicknamed the Big Unit. Tim Raines gave him the nickname when they were playing together in Montreal. Maybe he was thinking more metric than yardstick.

No. 97: The Tuck Rule. Tom Brady perfected it. The Oakland Raiders hate it. But it's there.

No. 74: Alternating Possession. You're telling the ref: We don't trust you to throw the ball up when there's a tie-up on the basketball floor. So let's take turns.

No. 69: Rafael Palmeiro for Viagra. Maybe it was OK for Bob Dole. But considering how Palmeiro's career ended up, taking Viagra was the least of his problems.

No. 46: Giving Steve Howe an Eighth Chance. The former Dodgers pitcher wrote his own chapter when it was discovered that his blood contained meth when he crashed and died in his pickup truck. It makes the cocaine abuse he struggled with as a player, and all the chances he got to come back, all that more painful to remember.

No. 43: Aluminum Bats. One word: KLLLLLLLINKKKKKK.

No. 35: TV Timeouts. Writes the author: "(They) are an affront to anyone who's ever paid to watch a live sporting event." We second that one.

No. 51: Subjective Lists about Sports. Hey isn't that what the book's all about? In this case, it's things like ESPN's list of the greatest athletes of North American in the 20th century, and including a horse (Secretariat) ahead of Mickey Mantle. That's just wrong.

No. 37: Pay per view boxing. If you've ever plunked down the $54.95 for a first-round KO, you're wife will never let you hear the end of it.

No. 42: Personal Seat Licenses. It's a license to steal.


No. 20: The Night the Lights Went on at Wrigley Field.

No. 17: Sideline Reporters. The example in the book is when Lisa Guerrero, in her first "Monday Night Football" appearance, asked Redskins quarterback Patrick Ramsey about his "ex-teammate" Laveraneus Coles. That was news to Ramsey, since they just played a game together.

No. 9: The Designated Hitter. Especially when it's in one league and not the other.

No. 7: Artificial Turf. As former star Richie Allen said about it: "If a horse won't eat it, I don't want to pay on it."

His No. 1 Worst Idea: The overtime shootout. Is it too much to ask that they just keep playing until a winner is decided?

AND NOW, THE FIVE THINGS WE'D ADD TO THIS 101 THAT WASN'T INCLUDED:

"Family Sections" at major-league ballparks: Installing video games, interactive distractions, giants slides in the shape of a Coca-Cola bottle ... all to divert the attention of what's going on at the game to the ADD kids who can't sit still long enough to see the Seventh-Inning Stretch. Stop giving into their "needs" and teach them how to act at a ballpark.

NFL pregame shows: We've created an entire genre of TV programming that has almost become bigger than the game, networks fighting with each other over "breaking news" that isn't really news or breaking. As a result, the Super Bowl preview shows have become an eight-hour ordeal.

Scoreboards that immediately show how fast a pitcher is throwing: Then the kids see it, go to the pitching booth out in right field (see item above) and throw their own arm out.

Adding tenths of a seconds to the scoreboard clock: Now we've sliced the element of time into a nano-blink of the eye, because there's still a chance someone can touch the ball and instantly shoot it before the final horn. Just ask Derek Fisher. Save it for a track meet when a guy who wins the 100 meters has something to pose in front of.

Cellphones allowed inside arenas and stadiums: You're the guy sitting behind the plate waiving to your pal who can see you on TV. We see you too. And you're a loser.

So what would you add, or subtract, from this list?