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Alex Ovechkin has been stellar since returning from a brief visit to Russia. He had a goal and three assists last night as his Washington Capitals beat the Ducks of Anaheim 6-4. Ovechkin has now scored in five consecutive games and the Caps are a stunning 15-0-1 in the last sixteen games where Alex the Great has scored a goal…Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan are all the rage in NFL circles these days. Rookie quarterbacks are not supposed to play this well. The young players have solid fundamentals and good leadership qualities, meaning they should be around for a while…David Carr and Joey Harrington are example of rookies who lost all their confidence when started straight out of college. They currently reside in the “where are they now” files…the Pittsburgh Steelers are favoured by ten and a half tonight against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals played five quarters on Sunday but Pittsburgh also had a punishing game against the Chargers. I’ll pass…George Kimball has a great follow up piece on the Steelers-Chargers fiasco. Unequivocally, the refs blew the call and the last second touchdown should have counted. With the playoff races so tight, Kimball points out the lost score could ultimately impact the Steelers playoff seeding. Five of the eleven tie breaking criteria incorporate points scored into their formulas. A worst case scenario would see the Steelers denied a spot in the post season festivities because of the error…thought the Raptors looked like a very good team last night. What a difference when Bargnani pops 25 and O’Neal turns back the clock with seventeen rebounds. As always with the Dinos, the issue is lack of depth…Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers was pulled in the second period last night. The star goalie allowed five goals on seventeen shots, a most uncharacteristic night, as the Rangers lost 6-3 to Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks… the New Jersey Devils are 2-5 since the injury to Martin Brodeur. Back up net minders Kevin Weekes and Scott Clemmensen are two of the nicest guys in hockey but, well, you know what they say about nice guys…Barry Melrose, ex coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, gave a very revealing interview to the St Petersburg Times. He states ownership was constantly meddling and demanding certain players, notably high profile rookie Steven Stamkos, receive more ice time. He also believes he was dispensable due to a “player revolt”… Bill Simmons, ESPN’s “The Sports Guy”, has put a hilarious video from the seventies on his page. The “Battle of the Network Stars” became heated with a memorable confrontation between Bob Conrad and Gabe Kaplan. The piece is a must see if only for Howard Cossell and the exposed egos of the stars of the day. At one point Conrad makes a reference to being German and wanting to kill Jews! I loved watching Farrah Fawcett flouncing around in the background…Earnie Shavers take on Mike Tyson: had the tools and punch to fight in any era, but not the heart. The Acorn said if Tyson fought in the seventies he would simply have been one of the many contenders…the Steve Molitor - Celestino Caballero fight on Friday is a wonderful match between two of the top junior featherweights in the world. The pair would rank behind Israel Vasquez and Rafael Marquez in a fair appraisal of the division, and possibly new KO sensation Juan Manuel Lopez, but that’s it. Molitor turned pro in 2000 and this is by far his toughest test. Caballero last lost in 2004 and is on an eleven fight win streak with big wins over Daniel Ponce De Leon and Somsak Sithchatchawal. TSN is showing the fight live at 11pm and I simply can’t wait. Molitor will have to be better than ever to overcome the tall lanky Panamanian in what should be close to a pick ‘em fight…