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Paul Maurice’s biggest challenge in Carolina is going to be resurrecting the moribund career of Eric Staal. The purported team leader and star has been dismal this season…free agent pitcher CC Sabathia is listed at 6 foot 7 and 270 lbs. Most observers feel that weight number is on the low side…wow does it ever sting when you have money riding on a terrible team like the Oakland Raiders. Wanted to have that call back just a few minutes into the game when JaMarcus Russell looked ill prepared and drunk…ok, maybe not drunk, but come on, three plays in and he’s fumbling?…the somewhat talented Houston Texans were on such a high after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars Monday that I think they can parlay that confidence into another big effort Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. I’ll take what seems like a generous six points…Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings can lay claim to being the pre-eminent running back in football today. A crucial element to appreciating his brilliance is outlined in the current Sports Illustrated using a comparison with a runner from a few years back. Year after year Barry Sanders lead the league in most rushes for negative yards. The highlight reel headliner actually did damage to his team by continuously placing it in “second and long” and “third and long”. By contrast, Peterson is accomplished at getting even two or three yards on a play that has been disrupted or covered. The Vikings are a quarterback away from becoming a serious championship contender… fighters have always been able to move up in weight. Roberto Duran began his career as a lightweight, winning the 135 lb title from Kenny Buchanan at Madison Square Gardens in 1971. He later added the welterweight title in 1980, battering Sugar Ray Leonard, and then the middleweight title in 1988 from Iran “The Blade” Barkley. History is chock full of fighters who moved up in weight and enjoyed success. Recently we’ve observed Roy Jones dusting John Ruiz and Bernard Hopkins moving up to decisively topple Antonio Tarver. So why the disbelief concerning Manny Pacquiao’s chances on Saturday night against Oscar De La Hoya? Well, there are some legitimate resons. Firstly, the sheer steepness of this climb, from 106 lbs at the start of his career to a whopping 147 tomorrow. Secondly, his frame and body type look topped out at about 135. Finally, he is fighting a man who is both capable and, occasionally, ferocious in defending his pugilistic pretensions. Every fight, and fighter, is different. People feel comfortable with silly adages, such as “a good big man always beats a good little man”, because it allows them to move comfortably with the flock (and this from a generation that watched Tommy Hearns move from welterweight up to cruiserweight!) Whatever your choice concerning this scrap, back it up with fresh and meaningful analysis, not tripe. I’ve made significant money betting the little fighter, loving Hopkins against Tarver, and money when I felt the fighters build would not benefit from the rise, like Donald Curry unsuccesfully challenging Mike McCallum…Manny Pacquiao is rated as the top pound for pound fighter in the world today by just about every credible authority. His last fight, against David Diaz, was a simply gorgeous display of power and alacrity. Oscar looked sluggish and old in his latest, but it was a big comedown fight with little that would motivate the “Golden Boy”. I would throw it out and, instead, ponder his efforts against fighters with styles similar to Manny…Woodbine’s season ends on Sunday. What a foul taste authorities have left with the manner in which they have handled Simon Husband’s scandalous non effort on Bug’s Boy. It was a smack in the face for handicappers. I’ve been working hard on understanding the nuances of betting the New York circuit and am very close to beginning to post selections on the Aqueduct winter meet. No, I do not believe a race could be thrown with such audacity in New York. In the Big Apple there would be repercussions…