racingmeridian.com

Could it happen? Could brother battle brother with all recognized titles at stake? Never say never in boxing, and with Vitali and younger brother Vladimir possessing not only a smorgasbord of belts, but also all of the credibility in the sinking heavyweight division, it is more than probable that someone, somewhere, will propose that the two meet. Only Nikolai Valuev looks to be a marketable opponent for the two brothers. But that is largely with the overseas crowd. The giant, Valuev is over seven feet tall and weighs in excess of three hundred pounds, cannot fight, he is soft punching and crazy slow, and is simply not an intriguing prospect for anyone who has had the misfortune of actually watching him fight. But everyone has an opinion on which Klitschko is the better of the two. People are even passionate about their differences, a rarity on the heavies’ scene today. A battle for a combined pot of 70 or 80 million dollars will surely be discussed. And, by the way, the older Vitali would win by knockout …controversy brewing over the tragic death of New York Ranger prospect Alexei Cherepanov who collapsed while playing in the KHL for Avangard Omsk. According to Russian investigators Alexei had chronic ischemia and it is questionable whether he should have been playing hockey. On “The Fan” yesterday the young man’s agent, Jay Grossman, claimed he had no knowledge of any ongoing heart issue. The response time of medical practitioners is also a serious issue. It appears that Alexei was given no formal treatment for fifteen minutes after collapsing on the bench. Apparently no ambulance was on site, nor did the rink have a defibrillator…could someone please tell Sidney Crosby that the NHL season has begun? Wait a minute, I don’t have him in any pools so, on second thought, let sleeping beauty slumber…let me see, it was two of three weeks ago that fortune seemed to be shining on the Dallas Cowboys. Where have all the good times gone? Tony Romo is out for at least three weeks, Pacman Jones could be banished for good after his next incident of reckless, violent stupidity, Wade Phillips is losing control of his prima donnas and, yesterday, the shaking organization overpaid for Detroit Lion receiver Roy Williams…the Sporting News reports that in the past two games not a single opposition pass has been thrown in the area of all pro Denver Bronco cornerback Champ Bailey. Poor Bailey is watching his less illustrious team mates get absolutely torched, allowing a 72% completion rate in the past couple of games…Matt Ryan has lead the Atlanta Falcons to a most improbable 4-2 start. The rookie quarterback has no known association with Pit Bulls, Dobermans or Rottweillers…if, as looks increasingly likely, the World Series matches the Rays and the Phillies there is a silver lining to that opaque cloud. It’ll give me time to catch up on The Family Guy reruns…and Breeders Cup organizers can breathe a huge sigh of relief with the news that Curlin, fresh of a 59 and change chug over the Pro Ride surface, will indeed try for the repeat in the Classic on Oct 25^th. Japanese runner Casino Drive, winner of the Peter Pan Stakes At Belmont, is all the rage for punters after winning an allowance race at Santa Anita on Sunday. Careful, however, his Beyer came in at a very light 94…