Around the horn

Said the late George Young: "We don't like to draft a guy who's too smart because he could do something else with his life besides play this silly game." That's what the former New York Giants executive told Jim Litke, The Associated Press sports columnist, on his drafting strategy. The 1980s model holds true today for the Giants, who employed a 380-question pre-draft test to separate the brainiacs from the football players.... What's the cost of silence? For Portland forward Rasheed Wallace it was $30,000. For violating the league's media-access guidelines, the NBA penalized the Trailblazers star after he refused to speak to the media twice during the team's first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks. Mr. Wallace's actions also led to $50,000 worth of fines imposed on the Trailblazers franchise for failing to enforce the media access rules.... Wimbledon is bowing out a time-honored tradition. Players will no longer be required to bow or curtsy to the royal family when entering or leaving Centre Court-but only if Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Charles is not in attendance. The two members of British royalty have been absent from the tournament since 1977.... The young Detroit Tigers outfielder Gene Kingsale missed a game in late April so he could fly home to Aruba to be knighted. The break came at a good time for the 26-year-old. Sir Kingsale had gone hitless in his last three games.... On the heels of a no-hitter from Philadelphia starter Kevin Millwood and a 20-inning game between St. Louis and Florida, Yahoo Sports, an online sports content provider, posed a poll question: Which would you rather see? Amazingly, 16 percent said they'd rather watch 20 innings of baseball than a no-hitter.