Thursday, March 13, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Just how precious is a timeout?
Well, instant replay ultimately failed to get enough support for a return to the NFL because too many coaches didn't want to take a timeout to use it.
When the league's competition committee came up with this year's proposal, it tied coaches' challenges of officiating calls to use of a timeout. If the call was upheld, the timeout was gone. If the call was reversed, the timeout still was gone.
Too much of a price to pay, 10 teams said, voting against the proposal Wednesday in Palm Desert, Calif. That was enough to kill it for this year.
Joining Oakland in voting against the measure were both New York teams, Arizona, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Kansas City and Tampa Bay. The proposal needed 23 votes to pass.
In another decision, players no longer will be allowed to take off their helmets while still on the playing field during games.
In an effort to reduce taunting and overexuberant celebrations and in the name of safety, the league made a rules change Wednesday. Removal by a player of his helmet after a play while he is on the field -- except during timeouts or between periods -- will result in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of 15 yards.
The other rules change applies to punts. When a team fakes a punt and throws the ball downfield, pass interference calls on the two outside defenders who are actually trying to block a coverage man from getting downfield -- and might not even know the ball has been thrown -- have been eliminated.
UNLV drops third straight
The UNLV baseball team lost its third straight, dropping a 7-2 nonconference decision to Arizona State at Tempe, Ariz. Jason Warren (1-2) took the loss for the Rebels, who are now 13-10. Designated hitter Andy McCulloch went 3-for-4 for the Rebels. The Sun Devils upped their mark to 17-10. The Rebels will resume Western Athletic Conference play with a three-game series against South Division rival and fourth-ranked Rice (17-4, 6-0) beginning Friday at Wilson Stadium. The Rebels and Owls will play Friday at 3:05 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1:05 p.m. UNLV is 1-2 in conference play after dropping two of three to Brigham Young University last weekend. The Owls are coming off a three-game sweep of Air Force. All tickets for Saturday's contest are being sold for $1 as part of a stadium sellout program.
In other UNLV sports news:
* The golf team dropped from the top spot in the Rolex Collegiate Rankings for the first time since October. Following a seventh-place finish at last week's Aldila Golf Classic in San Diego, the Rebels dropped to No. 2, 10 points behind Oklahoma State. The Rebels play Friday through Sunday in the Golf Digest Invitational in Houston.
* The No. 28-ranked men's tennis team swept singles play to defeat Murray State 7-0 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. The Rebels are now 10-3 for the year, including 7-0 at home. Luke Smith won the top singles spot for UNLV.
* The women's tennis team, fresh off its highest ranking in program history at No. 23, returns to action against unranked North Carolina State at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. The Lady Rebels are 8-1 overall.
ABL considers Las Vegas
Now that the American Basketball League has ended its inaugural season with an exciting championship series, what will it do for an encore? "I think people are most impressed with how hard the women play," ABL chief executive Gary Cavalli said. Cavalli, who also was a co-founder of the ABL, said the league's average attendance of about 3,500 fans this season was about 500 more than he anticipated. Cavalli said there was a 70 percent chance the league would be expanded for the 1997-98 season. He said a decision would be made by end of March. "We're in the final stages of putting together deals in Long Island, N.Y., and Anaheim, Calif.," he said. "We're also considering Las Vegas."
U.S. soccer team not ready
U.S. coach Steve Sampson, angry that he hasn't had enough time with his players since last spring, is peeved at Major League Soccer and the U.S. Soccer Federation. "You can't have the expectation of this team playing on all cylinders when they haven't played together in five, six months," Sampson said Wednesday during conference call as the United States prepared for Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Canada at Stanford, Calif. "Anyone who thinks you can pull a rabbit out of a hat and pull off miracles without training is, I think, naive to the international game," Sampson said. The United States is 0-4-2 this year and played a scoreless tie at Jamaica on March 2 in the opening game of the final round of qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region. Three of the six teams will qualify for the 32-team field in the 1998 World Cup in France.
Sampras' streak broken
It wasn't losing for the first time this year that bothered Pete Sampras. It was the way he lost. Sampras, looking tentative and not at all like the world's top-ranked player, fell to unseeded Bohdan Ulihrach 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 Wednesday at Indian Wells, Calif. It was Sampras' opening match of the Newsweek Champions Cup and his first defeat in 20 matches. In the State Farm Evert Cup, fourth-seeded Lindsay Davenport came back from a 4-1 deficit in the third set to beat 16-year-old Venus Williams in a tiebreaker, winning 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-1).
In another tennis tournament:
* Fifth-seeded Thomas Johansson of Sweden beat Alexander Volkov of Russia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the Copenhagen Open. No. 1 Arnaud Boetsch of France withdrew because of the flu.
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