PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — By the look on Joe Maddon's face, you'd swear Tampa Bay Rays GM Andrew Friedman just told him the team had re-signed Manny Ramirez. But this is not 2011, when the Rays brought in ManRam with hugely disappointing — and disorienting — results. This time around, the Rays aren't vulnerable to Manny being Manny. They're not vulnerable many places on the roster as they try to make the playoffs (and do better once they get there) for the fourth time in five seasons.

The best part of the club is the defense. The pitching staff — including James Shields, David Price, Jeremy Hellickson and rookie Matt Moore — is one of the deeper and more talented units in the league. Should the Rays score enough runs to support them, they could top 100 wins.

People expect a lot from the Rays. And Maddon welcomes it.

"We've never walked in the door with these kind of expectations, I don't think," Maddon said Tuesday. "And the thing I want to talk to [the players] about and for them to understand is, expectations should be the fuel that we need to get this done. They should serve as fuel and not a deterrent. I'm really excited that people expect a lot from us because we expect a lot from ourselves."

Expectations = Fuel. Another Joe Maddon T-shirt slogan is born.

When slugger Evan Longoria arrived Tuesday afternoon, it meant the Rays had 52 of a possible 59 players in camp. Pretty good attendance, considering it isn't mandatory for position players to arrive until Sunday. Longoria has been working out for weeks at Tropicana Field, so he's noticed the team's gusto for a while.

"We're excited, we're hungry," Longoria said. "I kind of got the same feeling two weeks ago when we were working out at the Trop and there were 12-15 guys there on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday basis. That's not even a suggested mandatory, that's just showing up if you want to."

Of course, winning is more than wanting to.

"It's not just 'being there.' It's the work and the attitude," Maddon said. "Everybody gets it, everybody understands what we're after. As first days go, it's nice to know that everybody came to do their jobs. I'd really like to see us go through a high-energy spring training. We've created a lot of great offseason momentum. Last year at this time, we were looking. We were searching. And now we have an overabundance."

* * *

Even the garbage cans at Rays camp are the pride of the major leagues. Helmets with ear flaps for lids. Nothing about this team stinks.

More from Rays camp is coming! A look at Matt Moore (who's still a rookie), new catcher Jose Molina of the Catching Molina Brothers and more with Joe Maddon.

Spring Training has arrived! Follow Dave on Twitter — @AnswerDave — and engage The Stew on Facebook for your fill of Grapefruit and Cactus!

Duel 1: Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. make up the front row. Big names in this field also include Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin. (Full list here.)

Duel 2: Greg Biffle and, yes, Casey Mears are on the front row, with major names including Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch in the mix here. Clint Bowyer starts in the back of this Duel because of violations. (Full list here.)

But for 10 drivers, including some major names of the not-too-distant past, the Duels represent their last chance to get into the field of the 2012 Daytona 500. With 39 spots already taken, only three spaces remain ... and there will be some well-known drivers heading home a lot earlier than they wanted to come Thursday afternoon.

In the first Duel, you've got Michael Waltrip, Michael McDowell, Mike Wallace and Robby Gordon. In the second, Kenny Wallace, Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Bill Elliott, Robert Richardson and JJ Yeley.

Here's how it will work: the top two non-guaranteed drivers will get in. The next three spots go to the drivers with the highest qualifying speeds (in this case, Trevor Bayne, Tony Raines and David Stremme). If any of those drivers manages to race his way in by finishing in the top two in his duel, Kenny Wallace, Blaney and Waltrip would be in line to take their spot. The final spot will go to a past champion (either Elliott or, if necessary, Terry Labonte.)

Robby Gordon, McDowell, Nemecheck, Richardson, Wallace and Yeley have no choice but to race their way into the Daytona 500. No pressure there, right?

In other words, pay very close attention on Thursday afternoon. It's going to change minute by minute and lap by lap.

Please join us beginning at NOON ET/9 a.m. PT today for our weekly chat that includes a revolving door of panelists like Lyle (Spector) Richardson of Spector's Hockey; David "Dave" Pagnotta of The Fourth Period Magazine; as well as your friendly neighborhood knuckleheads from Yahoo! Sports, Puck Daddy and Buzzing The Net.

You bring the funny; we bring the abrupt changes in tone and Hamburger Women. That's how it works:

On the 12th day of the 12th month in the 12th year of this century, the state of Wisconsin is set to celebrate its favorite No. 12-wearing hero.

The state assembly unanimously passed a resolution this week designating Dec. 12, 2012 (12/12/12) as Aaron Rodgers Day. The state senate will vote to approve the measure later this month.

The idea to honor Rodgers on that date was started by Stevens Points resident Jennifer Brilowski. Inspired by calls to commemorate Spinal Tap's Nigel "These Go To 11" Tuffnal on 11/11/11, Brilowski started a Facebook page to get support for Rodgers' 12/12/12 day. The mission ended successfully, even though Brilowski she said she never contacted any Wisconsin officials and was unsure of how her idea made it to the halls of government. No matter. Whatever works.

Details were vague on how the state would celebrate Rodgers. Championship belts for all? Everyone dresses in long white t-shirts, dickies and doesn't shave for four days? Celebrating for 22 hours and then changing it to "Matt Flynn Day" at 10 p.m.?

"We'd better have a big party," Rodgers said when asked about 12/12/12 by TMJ4.

A quick check of the archives reveals no similar festivities were planned for Brett Favre on 4/4/04.

More from Yahoo! Sports: Ray Rice gets pranked

TNT's new iteration of "Inside the NBA" is still a work in progress, with Shaquille O'Neal proving to be an uneasy fit with the lived-in chemistry of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith (plus Chris Webber when he drops by). That said, the show's at its best these days, or at least most fascinating, when Shaq and Barkley subtly undermine each other and act as antagonists. It adds drama that was previously just a place for people who like basketball to hang out. "Inside the NBA" is different, but it can still be valuable.

The show's producers seem to have realized they have something when these two bicker, and they've increasingly set them against each other in planned segments. But there are limits to the amount of antagonism an audience can handle.

Put simply, no one wants to see something gross. And so, it is my solemn duty to chastise TNT for the video available for your viewing "pleasure" above. On Monday night, the TNT crew honored Mr. Barkley's 49th birthday by pampering him in the studio. For some reason, that involved Shaq helping to give Barkley a pedicure. At one point, he smelled his feet up close on purpose.

At BDL, we believe that men should be able to do whatever they want with each other, even if that includes things that many people would look at as effeminate. But there is no reason for Shaquille O'Neal to smell Charles Barkley's foot. Unless he's a masochist, in which case we'll all have to look at his entire career differently.

Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle was given a roughing minor, setting up 2 minutes of 4-on-4 (where the Coyotes have been better than the Kings this season) followed by 3 minutes of power-play time that resulted in Radim Vrbata's 30th goal of the season to tie the game. Phoenix scored twice in the shootout to win.

(An aside: Vrbata now has 12 more goals and 16 more points than anyone else on the Coyotes other than Ray Whitney. He'll never get Hart Trophy consideration because of his location and renown; but there's absolutely no logical argument why he shouldn't if the Coyotes make the dance.)

Helene Elliott of the LA Times reports that Clifford's been suspended pending a hearing with Shanahan.

Watching the replay, did Clifford get the head or was it a hard hit to the shoulder that jostled the head of Brule? Here's how the admittedly partisan Dustin Brown saw it, via LA Kings Insider:

"It was originally a two-minute penalty. I guess the linesman came over and said it was a five. It is what it is. The only issue — I haven't seen it, maybe it was a five, maybe it wasn't — but they had the two on the board for a minute, and then they come over and tell him? I think that stuff should happen immediately. I know there was a big pile-up, but they put the two-minute penalty up and put him in the box. Then the linesman came over after the fact. If he thought it was a five-minute major right away, he should have been over there right away.''

So it was a two that became a five and a gamer. It's a fair gripe from the Kings; it may not matter if the NHL and Brendan Shanahan deem this as a hit in which the head was the principal point of contact. If they do … it may take another camera angle, because I find this one a little inconclusive. Also, Clifford's not exactly known for this kind of stuff.

• The tallest tale of the offseason involved Roy Halladay, a trip to the Amazon and rescuing a native from the clear and present danger of a giant anaconda. It was an entertaining story to pass along even if details weren't exactly abundant. But that's how you want to first hear these stories, right? The fewer facts, the better as it allows our imaginations to run wild while building the character of a Hall of Fame, yet very vanilla, pitcher.

Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Phillies pitcher finally put an end to all our fun on Tuesday when he talked publicly about the incident for the first time. Bottom line: There was no snake-wrasslin', but it did involve a naked man under the influence of hallucinogenic bark.

• Bobby Abreu wants a trade if the Angels don't have an everyday spot for him.

• Congratulations to Evan Longoria.

• Death, taxes and Eric Chavez trying to make one last go of it. He just signed a one-year deal with worth about $900,000 with the New York Yankees on Tuesday.

• Jeff Sullivan takes an excellent look at Ichiro's move to the No. 3 lineup spot.

It felt weird to refer to this stuff as "big Mariners news" since we and you have come to understand that lineup construction doesn't make that much of a difference, but there's no denying that the Mariners moving Ichiro down to #3 feels big. It at least feels not small.

• Sons of Steve Garvey notes that it was always a longshot, but the next owner of the Dodgers will not be named "O'Malley."

• Dirk Hayhurst says he's tempted to name a few more names in his third book, which will focus on his time with the Toronto Blue Jays.

• Another spring training car update: Edwin Jackson took delivery of a Aston Martin Rapide at Washington Nationals camp, while Bryce Harper's tongue hit the ground nearby.

• The Mets will be heavily represented at Gary Carter's memorial service on Friday.

Spring training has started, so don't miss a beat ...
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