Clarifications

• The 1-game suspensions of Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw did not cost the Suns their playoff series with the Spurs. The non-suspension of Bruce Bowen did.
• I have no patience for sportswriters who praise Jason Giambi for his "honesty" when he, on the advice of counsel, he hasn't actually admitted anything. Until he A)uses nouns and B)gives back some of the money that PEDs won him, the heck with him.
• The Devil Rays' stance that the most important thing is to make sure both Elijah Dukes' family and the man himself receive the help they need is admirable and appropriate, and of course not getting much play. If it is in fact the Players' Association that is preventing the Rays from taking disciplinary action against Dukes, then they should perhaps re-examine their priorities for the benefit of all - including one of their members - concerned.
  
• If Derek Jeter had pulled the "mine!" stunt that A-Rod did the other day, it would be held up as an example of gamesmanship. The big difference, of course, is that Jeter would have put his head down and talked about how he was just doing anything to help the team win, while Rodriguez' smirking body language made it easy to villify him. And for all the furor over this, can we please get some Bonehead Merkle-like disparagement pointed at Howie Clark for actually falling for that old trick?
  
• Barrett beats Pierzynski. Zambrano beats Barrett. Anyone else sensing an AJ vs Carlos smackdown in the squared circle anytime soon?
• Speaking of which, it doesn't look like that extension for Carlos is going to happen after all, does it? Someone at TribCo gets a raise for delaying that signing...