The New York Yankees-Tampa Bay Rays season series ought to entertain us for a change.

The Rays finally have a competitive team. And they are a little feisty this spring, which led to dangerous high jinks with the Yankees during otherwise meaningless exhibition play.

You may recall that fringe Rays infielder Elliot Johnson bowled over Yankees catching propect Francisco Cervilli during an earlier game, leaving the youngster with a broken wrist. That aggressive base-running drew a strong rebuke from Yankees manager Joe Girardi and a thinly veiled threat from Shelley Duncan.

“What it does is it opens another chapter of intensity in the spring training ballgames,” Duncan told reporters. “They showed what is acceptable to them and how they’re going to play the game, so we’re going to go out there to match their intensity — or even exceed it.”

Consider that intensity exceeded. The Associated Press tells us Duncan slid into Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura with his spikes up Wednesday.

That hardcore play prompted Rays right fielder Jonny Gomes to run in and tackle Duncan. That retribution triggered a bench-clearing melee, something you rarely see during spring training.

“I just think [Duncan] tried to inflict pain on Aki,” Gomes told MLB.com. “That just comes second nature. I was taught all the way from T-ball to have a teammate’s back. It’s a baseball field. There’s fans and kids watching. I had to let him know that’s not going to fly.”

Duncan insisted he meant no harm. “I made a hard slide into his glove,” Duncan told MLB.com. “When I’m out there playing, I like to play hard. In my head, I wasn’t thinking about a message. They see me playing hard every day.

“To me, there’s no malicious intent at all. I just felt I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. I play the game one way. I’ll never stop playing the game that way.”

Yeah, well, the coincidence WAS kind of jarring.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering how many of these Billikens will be back for Rick Majerus next season:

• How did SLU get 24 points from Danny Brown – while holding Brian Roberts to five points —and still lose to Dayton?
• Does anybody really care that Andy Roddick is skipping the Olympics?
• Seriously, now, will the Blues ever win another game?
• Isn’t it odd that Winthrop makes the NCAA Tournament every year and Syracuse doesn’t?

QUIPS ‘R US

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

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “Been reading up on Brett Favre’s life and times. Seems he once needed 13 Vicodins to get through the Espy’s. Big deal. I need that much just to watch it on TV.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “The Devil Rays are now simply the Rays, because as owner Stuart Sternberg explains, they are ‘a beacon that radiates.’ So you fans coming out to the old ballyard, be sure to wear your haz-mat suits.”

Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times: “The problem with DePaul basketball isn’t that the team went 11-19, failed to make the Big East tournament and hasn’t reached the NCAA tournament since Jerry Wainwright became coach. The problem with DePaul basketball is that no one cares enough about DePaul basketball to be mad. DePaul has DeParted from the Chicago sports scene.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The Heat has been invited to play exhibition games in London and Paris next fall, an indication that, in Great Britain and France, they don’t run NBA standings.”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com: “Cubs manager Lou Piniella already was cranky that his team wasn’t winning enough meaningless games this spring, and now he’s cranky that his lineup isn’t hitting enough. Piniella’s lucky he’s not still managing Seattle, where Ichiro is 0-21. Jeez, we might be on suicide watch.”

MEGAPHONE

“I’m supposed to bring blood and urine to the umpire tomorrow. I might test positive for Maalox.”

Yankee-for-a-day Billy Crystal.