‘Pacman’ no fan of nickname

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones says quit calling me "Pacman," a nickname given to him as a child because of his appetite. We assume it was an appetite for food and not boarish behavior.

He wants to be called Adam Jones, sans Pacman.

Known as much -- or more -- for his misdeeds as for his on-field prowess, Jones contributed to the biggest blight on the 2007 NBA All-Star Game with his antics at a Las Vegas strip club that led to a shooting that left bouncer Tom Urbanski paralyzed.

He'll always be Pacman around here. Or better yet "Rainman," playing off the term used when paper money is tossed around at strip clubs.

• WOODS CALLED OUT -- "Tiger Woods is an idiot. A mesmerizing, peerless, incandescent idiot," wrote Gwen Knapp at SFgate.com, the Web site for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Knapp took umbrage with Woods' decision to play injured in the U.S. Open, which ended Monday with a 19-hole playoff that he won. Two days later, Woods said he played with double stress fractures and a torn ligament in his left knee. He needs season-ending surgery.

"But athletes, especially the incandescent-idiot variety, don't think about long-term consequences. They just feel a hunger," Knapp wrote.

• PARK IT! -- Half of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles will be pulled off the roads during the Summer Olympics to help clean the city's noxious air.

Officials have said that from July 20 through Sept. 20 most construction in the city will halt, heavy industries will close and even spray painting will stop to clean the air.

"Pea-soup air at the Opening Ceremony would be (China's) worst nightmare," Victor Cha, director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, told The Associated Press.

• STEWART'S APPETITE -- Ken Willis of the Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal studied reports at Forbes.com that noted what top NASCAR drivers make and the cost of sponsorship for Sprint Cup teams.

"The Subway sandwich folks gave Joe Gibbs Racing $4 million just to be the primary sponsor on Tony Stewart's car for three races (THREE!) this year," Willis wrote.

"Tony's cut was reportedly $700,000, much of which has apparently gone toward foot-long meatball combos."

Stewart, it seems, has gained some weight this year.

• LENDING A HAND -- The USA Rock Paper Scissors League is having its national tournament at Mandalay Bay today and Sunday, which means there will be a lot of guessing, out-guessing and, we suspect, second-guessing going on among the fast-handed competitors.

So how to gain a significant edge in such a simple event?

Master Roshambollah, the high priest of hand jive, provided tips in his online blog at usarps.com in November. Among them:

-- Analyze prior mistakes and hone more successful strategies.

-- Experiment with changes in one's approach to nutrition and exercise.

-- Adopt a hero (among those suggested are Antoine "Shears" Maanum and Aaron "Premonition" Rich).

-- Don't overtrain.

If overtraining is a problem, may we suggest this tip: "Get a life"?

COMPLIED BY JEFF WOLF REVIEW-JOURNAL