As you may have read, Anaheim Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger is serving an eight-game NHL suspension.

No, the former Blue didn’t drop his gloves and get into a fight. Nor did he throw a big body check. (Heaven forbid!)

Pronger’s crime was stomping on the leg of Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler with his skate blade. He got off easy; a similar foul by Chris Simon earned a 30-game ban from the NHL.

(Initially Pronger got no suspension, but then an incriminating video surfaced to prove this stomp was deliberate and malicious. So the league had to act.)

“The only difference is he’s a star player and I’m not,” Simon, an enforcer for the Minnesota Wild, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “That’s the only difference between the two comparables of the two players. Look at the amount of games compared to mine, and I don’t think that it’s fair.”

While with the New York Islanders earlier this year, Simon got caught stomping on the leg of Pittsburgh Penguins agitator Jarkko Ruutu. NHL executive Colin Campbell termed Simon’s act “repugnant and totally unacceptable.”

Simon has filled the cementhead role during his career, so his reputation hurt him. Pronger has never been a pillar of sportsmanship, but he IS one of the game’s stars.

“I just think that all players should be treated fairly and equally, and in this case, it’s not fair and it’s not equal,” Simon told the Star Tribune. “You look at the video and compare the amount of suspensions that [Pronger's] had and I’ve had, and the injuries that he caused and that I haven’t — you have to look at all that — and I don’t know see how mine can be ‘no place in hockey for it’ and his can be an eight-game suspension.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering how long it will take Colby Rasmus to get back to the Cardinals:

• Did Anthony Reyes lock up a rotation slot (for now) by throwing four shutout innings Monday?
• At what point does Cards management start worrying about Cesar Izturis’ poor spring?
• Will Juan Gonzalez, the king of all muscle strains, ever play another game for the Redbirds? And should Brian Barton thank him profusely for staying hurt?

THE FIRST AMENDMENT BLUES

In an interview the Miami Herald – later excepted with great fanfare on Deadspin and The Big Lead – Our Town’s Bob Costas took a run at the blogosphere. Here is a highlight:

“It’s one thing if somebody just sets up a blog from their mother’s basement in Albuquerque and they are who they are, and they’re a pathetic get-a-life loser, but now that pathetic get-a-life loser can piggyback onto someone who actually has some level of professional accountability and they can be comment No. 17 on Dan Le Batard’s column or Bernie Miklasz’ column in St. Louis. That, in most cases, grants a forum to somebody who has no particular insight or responsibility. Most of it is a combination of ignorance or invective.”

And . . .

“It’s just a high-tech place for idiots to do what they used to do on bar stools or in school yards, if they were school yard bullies, or on men’s room walls in gas stations. That doesn’t mean that anyone with half a brain should respect it.”

Ouch! Costas later contacted Deadspin to clarify his comments. Here is the gist of that:

“I don’t have any problem at all with the mainstream media being challenged or supplemented by new media. No entity has a monopoly over good writing from a valid point of view. In that sense, the more the merrier. In fact, many bloggers, on numerous subjects, sports included, are talented, humorous and bring fresh perspectives.

“My commentary was aimed solely at a portion of Internet sports discourse, an unfortunately large portion, that consists of nothing more than potshots, ad hominem arguments, ignorance and invective. No one who is familiar with the general tone of public discourse, whether it be sports, politics, whatever, can honestly deny that much. It comes from that direction.”

Yeah, well, there’s no arguing that. In this new media explosion, you take the bad with the good.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Memo to John Daly: There’s a reason all the other tour players don’t spend rain delays pounding beers in the Hooters tent and then ditching their caddies for the afternoon to let an NFL coach carry their bag. That really doesn’t work in any sport . . . Looks like we’ll have a brief rain delay, folks, so the Padres will head back to their clubhouse to knock back a few cases of Budweiser.”

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “I believe a case could be made that Daly has become the No. 1 train wreck in all of sports, edging out Pacman Jones, Mike Tyson and the New York Knicks. In fact, it seems the only difference at this point between Daly and Tyson is that Daly hasn’t gotten his face tattooed — at least not yet.”

Norman Chad, syndicated columnist: “Daly carries a litany of burdens around with him: He travels around aimlessly in his RV. He hits multiple balls into water hazards purposely. He has a gambling problem and a weight problem, and he smokes. He was charged with third-degree assault in an incident with his second wife, and his fourth wife — who he once said attacked him with a steak knife — pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. He’s been divorced three times. Why wouldn’t he drink?”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Billy Crystal, the most famous Yankees fan this side of Rudy Giuliani, got to bat for his favorite team the other day in an exhibition game against the Pirates. Unfortunately, he was robbed of a hit on an incredible diving catch by Jack Palance.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Comedian Billy Crystal, 60, struck out in his only at-bat with the Yankees, after referring to himself as ‘the DH — Designated Hebrew,’ and saying he feared he might ‘test positive for Maalox.’ I wish he had gotten a long-term contract for the quotes alone.”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com: “The USC-Kansas State matchup is really an O.J. Mayo-Michael Beasley matchup, which is really more X-box than NCAA, but either way, this is the NBA’s waiting room.”

Elliott Harris, Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Something says ‘Eliot Spitzer Night’ might draw a crowd — though probably not the recently resigned New York governor. The South Coast League’s Macon (Ga.) Music has a promotion set for June 13 featuring $1 ticket discounts for persons named Eliot, Spitzer or Kristen (the name used by the prostitute in question) or from New York. The team has invited Spitzer to throw out the first pitch for the game. There also will be a prize for fan No. 9 (a tribute to Spitzer’s status as ‘Client No. 9’) and to fan No. 871 (a tribute to the room number at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington that Spitzer reportedly used with the woman).”

Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “A woman in Ness City, Kan., sits glued to her toilet seat for two years, and we’re supposed to be impressed when flu-stricken golfer Vijay Singh claims he ‘never left the bathroom for four days’?”

MEGAPHONE

“It’s ludicrous that Dick Vitale isn’t in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor, to be followed immediately by Billy Packer.”

Bob Knight, talking up his broadcasting brethren to USA Today.