Giant does what few athletes do: He owns up to mistake

Either David Diehl didn’t get the memo, or he just doesn’t get it.

What the Giants’s offensive lineman did last week following his DWI arrest was, by modern assorted celebrities’ standards, totally inappropriate.

Diehl stood in public and spoke a full, apparently unscripted and — who knows? — perhaps a totally sincere apology.

He made no excuses for himself, nor did he provide any “contingency” apologies, the kind that contain “ifs” — “If I offended anyone,” “If I endangered anyone.” None of that.

Diehl didn’t lean on a public relations firm, his agent, the NFLPA or the Giants to “issue a statement” expressing his remorse or regrets. He didn’t lean on anyone to cite this as a “private matter” or hammer us with reminders of his previous good, charitable deeds as a means of mitigating his crime.

And he didn’t have “an accident.” He was drunk and driving when he hit those parked cars.

Instead, he said he had committed a wrong, an inexcusable and indefensible wrong, and for that he’s terribly sorry — no strings attached.

“I’m accountable. I take full responsibility,” Diehl said.

And that’s just not the way it’s done, these days, dude, not even close. What’s up with that? Ya wanna ruin it for the rest?

Stern response shows commish’s quick temper

If This were 1994 and Jim Rome, then with ESPN, were involved in an ugly on-air verbal hassle with David Stern, there’s little question Rome’s obnoxious, shock-jock style would have provoked it. 1994 is when Rome goaded NFL QB Jim Everett into shoving him over, after Rome called him “Chris Evert.”

But that’s no longer Rome’s style, thus an examination of Rome’s ugly on-air encounter with Stern last week, after Rome, now with CBS Sports Net, asked the often-theorized question: Is the NBA draft lottery fixed?

Stern returned that with the old, can’t-win: “Have you stopped beating your wife?”

But it seemed that Stern, who has his own impetuously intemperate side, was prepped to deal with ancient Rome.

For what it’s worth, we can’t forget, years ago, when Stern, being interviewed on NBC, arrogantly scoffed at Bob Costas’ suggestion that on-court taunting leads to in-game brawls. A year later the NBA instituted anti-taunting rules to try to cut down on brawls.

* The John Sterling-Suzyn Waldman team (aka Null & Void) remains a cruel and unusual punishment.

Monday, Yankees at Braves, top of the second, Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova had a rare at-bat. They went into a spiel about how, “Nothing good can happen if Nova swings the bat.” He should just stand there, take three strikes and be done with it.

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