Pro athletes have a reading problem. Perversely, they'll talk at length publicly about a published article without having read it. Or worse, they're claiming not to have read it, only they really have, but failed to understand. Exhibit A: Sports Illustrated's cover story this week about Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

In the story, Jason Giambi tells writer Tom Verducci that he scolded A-Rod about his disappointing offensive performance this season, then went to manager Joe Torre and asked him to have a sit down with his teammate. Giambi has (sort of) admitted to steroid use and is no hero, but Verducci paints him in a very positive light:

For all the scorn heaped upon Giambi for his ties to the BALCO steroid scandal, he is a strong clubhouse voice because he plays with a passion that stirs teammates and even opponents.

Too bad Giambi didn't spend a few minutes reading the article before mouthing off about it to the press. Newsday's Ken Davidoff has this droll take on Giambi's battle with a straw man: "Giambi, who said he hadn't read the SI story, didn't like the notion he'd been unsupportive of Rodriguez, although the report doesn't really suggest that."

If Giambi doesn't want to read the article before expressing his opinion about it, that's his right. (And it's Gotham columnists' delight, because it allows them to pretend there's some sort of clubhouse controversy.) But John Kruk, unlike Giambi, isn't being paid by a baseball team these days to play; the former Phillie is being paid by ESPN to offer analysis, presumably of the informed variety. You might not have known it from his chat yesterday with Brian Kenny, one of the dwindling breed of actual journalist on the network. In an embarrassing performance, Kruk echoed conventional, and dumb, jock wisdom while ripping into A-Rod. Here's an edited excerpt:

Kruk: [to A-Rod] Just shut up. Just play the game of baseball. Don't drag your teammates into it. Keep your mouth shut and go out and play and help this team win a world championship.
Kenny: Well, he was being interviewed, John, but on the other side you have Jason Giambi and other unidentified yankees saying things …

Kruk: [interrupting] You don't throw your teammates under the bus. [parroting A-Rod] "Because i'm good looking and biracial, that's why people don't like me." You know what? Derek Jeter is in the same situation Alex Rodriguez is. They leave Derek Jeter alone because, you know why? He goes out and plays and doesn't say stupid stuff. Keep your mouth shut and play the game.
Kenny: Wow. you're driving the bus at the moment.

Apparently, Rodriguez was throwing his teammates under the bus when he made this accurate comment about some of his highly paid teammates:

"Mussina doesn't get hammered at all," he said. "He's making a boatload of money. Giambi's making [$20.4 million], which is fine and dandy, but it seems those guys get a pass. When people write [bad things] about me, I don't know if it's [because] I'm good-looking, I'm biracial, I make the most money, I play on the most popular team…
"

Rookie running back Reggie Bush appears to be about as bad a reader as the baseball bunch. Last week, Yahoo Sports reported on the results of its investigation into improper gifts accepted by Bush and his family when he was a star at USC. Today, Bush responded, sort of, in his SportsLine journal. Like a politician, Bush vaguely criticized the report without actively denying it, nor indicating that he was aware it originated on the internet. You know, where his own journal runs:

These are crazy allegations and people don't use their head when they speak about stuff. I'm not worried about the media; they do what they do best -- write stories and give opinions. I don't even read the newspaper or listen to what they say on TV.