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Martin Brodeur will be missing from the New Jersey Devils line-up for at least three months as he recovers from elbow surgery…Leaf fans weighed in on the Toronto Star site concerning the Ilya Kovalchuk to the Buds rumours. It was a painful read. One fan opined the ante should be Ian White, Carla Colaiacovo and a second round pick. For Kovalchuk. And seriously, he was savaged by respondents for being overly generous…if the NFL playoffs started today, the Skins and the Bucs would be the NFC wildcards with the Eagles and the Cowboys on the outside. Missing in the AFC would be the Chargers and the Colts…Pittsburgh Steeler Byron Leftwich was highly regarded by the Jacksonville Jaguars until attitude problems sabotaged his good standing. He may have been humbled by the lack of interest when given his walking papers by the Jaggies. Last night he looked fantastic, 7 of 10 for 129 yards, and the Steelers may have the best back up in football while starter Ben Roethlisberger tends to a snowballing series of injuries…Ryan Miller has back to back shutouts for the Buffalo Sabres. The Michigan native and potential free agent was coveted by the Detroit Red Wings but he opted to sign a long term deal with his current squad…rumour has the Cleveland Cavaliers intent on signing Chris Bosh after the 2010 season. The Cavs want to use Bosh as an inducement to have fellow free agent LeBron James remain in town. And, yes, it is very early to start worrying about the 2010 free agent class…Sports Illustrated gives the Breeders Cup a mere half page of coverage in the current issue. S I has devolved to a toss away mag focused primarily on football, baseball and basketball. Killer website, though…Thomas Hauser has a great article on the recent Bernard Hopkins - Kelly Pavlik fight posted on the Seconds Out website. Inadvertently, I think, one is reminded why Hopkins is generally disliked in the boxing community…Roy Jones Jr was in attendance at a Knicks game over the weekend. This behaviour, breaking camp for an entertainment diversion, is the wrong move for a fighter. Jones has a proclivity for such actions when he knows he is in for a beating…two runners died (38,000 took part) after the New York marathon this past weekend…why you have to love NASCAR- a group of my friends were down in Charlotte a few weeks back. After much carousing and carrying on while enjoying the race, they realized one compatriot was missing. Back at their rented trailer for some more suds and their crew was still down one body. Their attention was diverted by race officials, in a golf car, slowly driving up and down the trailer park with a collection of passed out bodies laid out in the back. My pals retrieved their somnambulant bud and kept the party going. No fine, no drunk tank, no cessation in the good time…and the Windsor Star reported a drunk driving case the other day. The catch? The woman was driving a Zamboni in between periods of a hockey game. The wide swath of ice left untouched was a tip off that something was wrong, the fact the driver ended up slumped over the steering wheel before getting off the ice the confirmation…