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Woke up this morning to discover my “under 39.5″ bet on the Philadelphia Eagles-Cleveland Browns (Eagles 30-10) game got slapped down by, darn, a half point. No worries, my sleepy head reasoned, we had a nice score on the Detroit Red Wings blow-out over the Colorado Avalanche and Andrew Raycroft, right? Well, some days you just don’t want to get out of bed. Congratulations to the Avalanche and Andrew on the improbable 3-2 upset of the Detroit Hockey Gods, in Motown, no less….Bob McCowan reported on The Fan yesterday that Mats Sundin has elected to sign with the New York Rangers. Sundin’s agent politely demurred. Meanwhile, in other scintillating ice related developments, Peter Forsberg has announced that he, too, wants to return to hockey. Forsberg is the property of the Colorado Avalanche while Mats Seldom is an unrestricted free agent…the Los Angeles Kings roared out to a 2-0 first period lead before succumbing to the San Jose Sharks 3-2 last night. The Kings have excellent young talent and a solid leader in Anze Kopitar. They, finally, are a team on the move…here is the Sporting News recap of the Sean Avery era in Dallas; three goals, seven assists, 77 penalty minutes, a two month public relations nightmare and a financial hit of 11.5 million dollars…juicy rumour has the Buffalo Bills signing coach Dick Jauron to a three year big bucks extension while the team was a rip roaring 5-1. The team has since lost seven of eight, with play calling incompetence an important factor in their disintegration. While everyone is focusing on the loss to the New York Jets last Sunday, when instead of running out the clock Jauron had Losman attempt a pass (leading to a fumble and a loss), it is critical to understand such play calling stupidity is a career long calling card of Jauron. Last year the Bills blew games against the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys that were eminently winnable with even reasonable clock management…Trent Edwards has been plagued by injuries but, like last year’s starter J P Losman, he did show significant signs of regression as the season went on. I find this worrisome. Losman was no way, no how, as incompetent last season as he has been in his sputtering performances this year. Coaches and management that cannot nurture a QB are anathema to the development of a solid, productive franchise…the Detroit Lions went 4-0 in preseason this year. Use that little nugget the next time someone tries to tell you that preseason is important or, worse, tries to actually get you to buy tickets to one of the exhibition games…the Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers, early season darlings, are still alive in the playoff race. Both need to win their remaining games and then have some misfortune strike competitors. The Chargers need the Broncos to lose twice, and they meet their division foes in the last game of the season, while the Eagles need either the Falcons or Bucs to lose a game. The Falcons are underdogs this week heading into Minny…word on the street regarding a couple of high profile prospects; the New Orleans Saints have quietly given up on Reggie Bush ever being an every down back, while the Toronto Maple Leafs see the Marlies as the future for goaltending bust Justin Pogge… every sport franchise in Toronto (Blue Jays, Leafs, Argos, Raptors and FC) changed their coach within the last year…the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls won a record 72 games after opening the season 23-2. The Boston Celtics have matched that early season pace with their 100-91 defeat of Utah last night. While lacking a superstar with Michael Jordan’s heft, the Celtics have balance and something the Bulls did not have, a No. 1 ranked defence…Tiger Woods caddie Steve Williams was reported in the Taranki Daily News as referring to Phil Mickelson as a “prick”. This should add a little spice to the rivalry when Tiger resumes his career in 2009…Nordic Gaming appears to be winding down existence at Fort Erie racetrack. The gambling group claims to have lost millions over the past few years and had brandished a 300 million dollar development scheme as the salvation for the track. The project required provincial government assistance and, as of yet, the province has played coy. The Fort is a “B” track but integral to racing in Ontario. It’s demise, which really does seem inevitable now, could simply be a precursor to challenging times for the thoroughbred industry continent wide. The high takeout rate has allowed online poker games to pillage racing bucks and the refusal of track management to give horseplayers a fairer share at the window virtually ensures a slow downward spiral…Riddick Bowe fought Saturday on the undercard of the Vladimir Klitschko fight. The 40 year old, weighing a rotund 271 lbs, won a dull eight round decision over some punching bag. It was his first fight in three years. Bowe had evidence of his brain damage entered into the record when he fought kidnapping charges a few years back. Reports on the SecondsOut website claim even the briefest conversation with “Big Daddy” is difficult due to his slurred speech and incoherent approach…