Suspensions

It's too early to write off the Clippers' season. Lamar Odom doesn't get that same benefit. He has failed. He let down his team, his fans, himself. When the Clippers need someone to take their hand and guide them in the right direction, their best player will wander off into a minimum five-game suspension for violating the league's anti-drug program, the NBA announced Monday. That's twice now.

The fate of trainer Doug O'Neill, charged by California Horse Racing Board enforcement officials with a substance abuse violation involving one of his horses, will be addressed Thursday morning at a board meeting at Hollywood Park. These are usually low-profile procedural meetings, but the item on the agenda involving O'Neill, whose I'll Have Another will take a run at racing's coveted Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes June 9, has triggered much interest and speculation. Racing's enforcement officials ruled that an O'Neill-trained horse, Argenta, tested positive for high levels of carbon dioxide after a race Aug. 25, 2010, at Del Mar. High levels of carbon dioxide are considered evidence of the use of a "milkshake" to illegally boost a horse's stamina.

John Daly smashed one tee shot off the top of a beer can during a pro-am. At another tournament, he returned from a rain delay with Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Jon Gruden as his caddie. And his most memorable photo this year came in an orange jail suit, eyes half-closed. Daly said Wednesday that such unwelcome publicity is why the PGA Tour suspended him for six months.

It's all a guessing game this time during the playoffs -- at least when it comes to supplementary discipline, and in particular, the case of the Coyotes' Martin Hanzal, who received a one-game suspension for his hit on the Kings' Dustin Brown in Game 2. Game 3 is tonight in Los Angeles. "I know these [playoff] games are probably worth more," Brown said after Thursday's morning skate at Staples Center. "I thought he was going to get two. But it's not an easy decision to make.

The head of the NFL players' union said Wednesday that the NFLPA still has not received any details or specific evidence about the New Orleans Saints' "alleged pay-to-injure program" and that it will fight the suspensions of four sanctioned players. “We have made it clear that punishment without evidence is not fair,” said DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFLPA. “We have spoken with our players and their representatives and we will vigorously protect and pursue all options on their behalf.” The NFLPA is in a difficult position, because it represents all NFL players, among them those who were allegedly targeted by the Saints.

Upon further review… the New Orleans Saints ruling stands. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday upheld the discipline imposed on Saints Coach Sean Payton, General Manager Mickey Loomis and linebackers coach Joe Vitt for their role in the team's pay-for-performance bounty scandal. Payton has been suspended for a year, beginning April 16; Loomis will miss half the season; and Vitt will be out the first six games. All suspensions are without pay. Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, has been suspended indefinitely.

Another shoe drop, another shock wave. The NFL dropped the hammer on the New Orleans Saints again Wednesday, punishing four players for their role in the bounty scandal, including a full-season suspension of linebacker and defensive captain Jonathan Vilma. Defensive linemen Anthony Hargrove and Will Smith got eight- and four-game suspensions, respectively, and linebacker Scott Fujita was suspended for three games. Hargrove now plays for Green Bay and Fujita for Cleveland.

Clayton Kershaw , Manager Joe Torre and bench coach Bob Schaefer drew suspensions for the parts they played in the brushback war between the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. Kershaw was suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount, as the officiating crew and commissioner's office believed he deliberately threw at Aaron Rowand in the seventh inning. Kershaw is appealing the punishment and his suspension will be put on hold until the appeals process is complete.

Fined by Major League Baseball on Thursday for throwing at Milwaukee's Prince Fielder two days earlier, Guillermo Mota said he considered the matter to be settled. Mota, who avoided a suspension, said he wouldn't file an appeal. "We're going to pay it and forget about it," he said, although he said he hadn't been told the amount of his fine. Fielder was fined $2,500, but also not suspended, for attempting to enter the Dodgers' clubhouse on Tuesday night to look for Mota.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) pulled back Thursday from her efforts to force an investigation of the suspensions of two House Ethics Committee lawyers who worked on a pending case against her. Waters took to the House floor and instead called on the Ethics Committee to publicly disclose the circumstances surrounding the suspensions of Morgan Kim, the panel's deputy chief counsel, and Stacey Sovereign, another committee lawyer. "Upon the advice of my colleagues whom I trust and admire, I am not pushing for a vote on this resolution today," Waters said.

A middle school student is faced with an in-school suspension for having an image of San Antonio Spurs  forward Matt Bonner shaved into the back of his head. Patrick Gonzalez of Woodlake Hills Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, said he's always been a huge fan of Bonner. "Ever since I can remember," he told FOX station KABB. With the Spurs playing against the Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals, he decided to display his admiration for his favorite player on his head.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — As the sun and the Phoenix Coyotes sank slowly in the West, the key question after the Kings' 4-0 conference finals victory Tuesday was whether the NHL, which has operated the Coyotes franchise for three years, will suspend one or more of its players for the frustration-driven fouls they committed. The lesser of the evils was Shane Doan's hit on Kings forward Trevor Lewis at 16 minutes 29 seconds of the second period at Jobing.com Arena. Doan, the Coyotes' captain, drove Lewis into the boards after Lewis had turned his back, and got a major boarding penalty and a game misconduct while Lewis was treated for a cut and bloodied nose.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The boos cascaded upon him when he walked onto the court for warmups. They intensified when he was introduced before the game. And they continued even when he stepped to the free-throw line with the outcome long decided. "World Peace, we hate you!" a woman sitting courtside bellowed midway through the third quarter. Oklahoma City Thunder fans reserved a special welcome for Metta World Peace on Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena in the opener of the team's Western Conference semifinal series against the Lakers.

The Lakers small forward who lingered the longest to work on his shooting Monday was the only one who can't help his team in the next two games. The suspended Metta World Peace slowly moved around the perimeter at the Lakers' practice facility, making shot after shot. Putting the ball into the basket hasn't been as routine for Matt Barnes and Devin Ebanks. Barnes has made six of 26 (23.1%) shots in the Lakers' first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, including only one of 14 (7.1%)

DENVER - The Lakers lost Game 3 but weren't total losers. JaVale McGee was the best big man on the court and Kobe Bryant couldn't hit a shot, but the Lakers moved closer to getting back Metta World Peace from his seven-game suspension. If the first round ended in five games, World Peace would miss one more game. If it goes six, he's back for the Western Conference semifinals. If it goes seven…the Lakers would rather not think about that. They wanted the chance at a sweep against the Denver Nuggets, which became impossible thanks to their surprisingly languid 99-84 loss Friday.

Another shoe drop, another shock wave. The NFL dropped the hammer on the New Orleans Saints again Wednesday, punishing four players for their role in the bounty scandal, including a full-season suspension of linebacker and defensive captain Jonathan Vilma. Defensive linemen Anthony Hargrove and Will Smith got eight- and four-game suspensions, respectively, and linebacker Scott Fujita was suspended for three games. Hargrove now plays for Green Bay and Fujita for Cleveland.

The National Football League's 30-day suspensions of six players who tested positive for drugs are meaningless and ineffective because they pose no threat to the players' careers. Those suspensions will end, coincidentally or not so coincidentally, just when the regular season begins. Therefore, the NFL's actions can be seen only as a slap on the wrist, not only by the fans and management, but, more important, by the players. JIM CHOI Los Angeles

* Sept. 9, 1980--Texas Ranger pitcher Ferguson Jenkins suspended indefinitely after his Aug. 25 arrest in Canada on charges of cocaine possession. After a grievance hearing, arbitrator Raymond Goetz lifted suspension of Jenkins on Sept. 22. * Aug. 27, 1982--San Diego Padre outfielder Alan Wiggins suspended 30 days after his July 21 arrest on California charges of suspicion of attempting to possess cocaine. * Dec.

The head of the NFL players' union said Wednesday that the NFLPA still has not received any details or specific evidence about the New Orleans Saints' "alleged pay-to-injure program" and that it will fight the suspensions of four sanctioned players. “We have made it clear that punishment without evidence is not fair,” said DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFLPA. “We have spoken with our players and their representatives and we will vigorously protect and pursue all options on their behalf.” The NFLPA is in a difficult position, because it represents all NFL players, among them those who were allegedly targeted by the Saints.

Lakers forward Metta World Peace hasn't exactly sat around and stewed while serving a seven-game suspension for elbowing Oklahoma City guard James Harden . He hosted what he called a "pre-playoff party" late Saturday, offering 100 free movie tickets to fans who contacted him via his Twitter account. It was a midnight showing of "Think Like a Man" at an undisclosed location, though World Peace made sure to set ground rules. "I'm not signing autographs tonight," he wrote on Twitter.