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Columnist Scott Fowler’s 10-point plan for how Charlotte’s NBA franchise should handle the name change

Many people only knew racecar driver Dick Trickle because he had one of the most unusual names in NASCAR history.

Our 30-minute phone conversation this week with Bruton Smith veered from Danica Patrick to Kyle Busch, from ticket-sale issues to Elizabeth Taylor issues and from what car he drives to work every day to the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s induction process. Some highlights:

There are screams and then there are screams, and it is the second kind that Ryan Lochte inspires whenever he shows up at a swim meet like he did Friday at the UltraSwim in Charlotte.

After a brief retirement that lasted about as long as a bad celebrity marriage, Charlotte’s Ricky Berens is back in the pool and will compete Friday through Sunday at the UltraSwim meet at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.

Signing a one-day contract so he could retire a Panther, Kasay leaves the NFL with a special thank you to the Carolina fans.

On a day that looked like it would belong to Phil Mickelson, a PGA Tour rookie named Derek Ernst walked away with the Wells Fargo Championship trophy Sunday. Ernst, who only made the field as an alternate, beat journeyman David Lynn on the first playoff hole to cap a rainy, chilly day at Quail Hollow Club.

If you want someone obscure to root for this weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship, I’ve got the guy for you. Australian Scott Gardiner, 37, the oldest rookie on the Tour, is as stunned as anyone he is tied for second place, only two strokes behind leader Phil Mickelson.

Erik Compton’s first heart transplant came in 1992, when he was only 12. That heart lasted 16 years. Then Compton nearly died in 2008 and ended up getting a second heart transplant.

Jason Collins has never been a tremendous NBA player. But he has provided us with a tremendous opportunity by becoming the first active male athlete in a major U.S. team sport to announce he is homosexual.

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Scott Fowler is a national award-winning sports columnist for The Charlotte Observer.