I know you won’t listen to me, but will you listen to nationally-known sportswriter John Feinstein and fix your damned game?

Lookit. The shot clock should be the same at all levels of the game above high school. That would make it simpler for the fans, the players, the coaches and the broadcasters. Right now it’s 24 seconds for both the NBA and the WNBA, 35 seconds for the NCAA men and 30 seconds for the NCAA women. Shorten it to 24. That would improve offense, which is down considerably from what it used to be.

There are too many timeouts. In addition to the four TV timeouts per half, each coach has five per game, one for a full minute and 4 for a half-minute apiece. That’s 18 per game! Cut down the number coaches get.

I don’t know how to solve the endless parade to the foul line at the end of games when the losing team has to foul to try to get the ball back, but better basketball minds than mine should try to find an answer to that, because what ought to be the most exciting part of the game is now the dullest.

Don’t sit back and count the dollars as they roll in and conclude your game is in great shape, because it’s not. TV ratings have dropped from 9.4 in 1993 to 6.7 two years ago. That’s not good.

The game is getting more and more dull. Listen to Mr. Feinstein. Fix it.