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The NFL firings have begun, most of them richly deserved. Eric Mangini, Steve Marinelli and Romeo Crennel have been given their walking papers by the New York Jets, Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns, respectively, and we can expect a host of others to walk that ignoble plank. All eyes are on the Buffalo Bills and Dick Jauron. Could it be true that the Bills punched up Dick’s ticket while the team was streaking to a 5-1 start? If so, will the notoriously cheap Ralph Wilson be willing to do the right thing and take the financial hit caused by terminating the rancid coach?…there is something seriously off kilter with the Chicago Bears franchise. They’ve announced Kyle Orton will be their 2009 starter and they are not endeavouring to develop an alternative. While Orton certainly is an improvement on the infamous Rex Grossman, how can the franchise be satisfied with a pivot drenched in the stench of mediocrity?…love the Dallas Cowboys releasing the story that Tony Romo collapsed in the shower (men or women’s?) after the shameful 44-6 slaughter at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. The ‘Boys are determined to avoid facing the obvious; Romo is a bust in meaningful games. Since owner Jerry Jones is devoted to those big games, he has a problem…the Dallas Cowboys have not won a playoff game since 1997. As I wrote at the time, they will rue the day they gave up a first and third round pick for prima donna Roy Williams…the most surprising stat of the year? Steven Jackson, by virtue of a 161 yard performance yesterday against Atlanta, rushed for his fourth consecutive 1000 yard season. The St Louis running back played only twelve games and was given only the barest support from the thin backfield. It is a tremendous accomplishment and speaks to the ability of the most underrated back in football …Peter King of S I asks if there has ever been a wild card weekend where all four road teams are favoured? The King picks consist of each road team, Falcons over Cardinals, Colts over Chargers, Ravens over Dolphins and Eagles over Vikings, and, seriously, who can disagree?  It looks like a forgettable weekend of football to these jaded eyes but the following weekend, when the Steelers, Titans, Giants and Panthers join the party, promises to be supersonic in intensity and passion …the Indianapolis Colts are the hottest team in football right now, reeling off nine wins in a row…all the fight has gone out of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Once one of the most cantankerous team in football, a veritable manifestation of alley cat rage and tomcat swagger, they are now a collection of thumb sucking malcontents…Lane Kiffin is leaving the echo of his masterpiece, the 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneer defence, behind just as the edifice implodes…the most valuable player on the Toronto Maple Leaf roster is Tomas Kaberle. If, as rumoured, he is moved in the next month or so, a Leaf freefall will be triggered. The possibility of a position in the draft lottery, and a chance at John Tavares, means that Brian Burke will likely roll the dice and move the skilled puck handler for a package of drafts picks or prospects…the Leafs do not have a second or third round pick in 2009 or 2010… Sammy Sosa has announced he would like to return to baseball after taking 2008 off. In 2007 Sammy slammed 21 homers and had 92 RBI’s…will Annika Sorenstam ever go away? The latest has the Swedish golfer playing yet another tournament in February, months after her first tearful “retirement”…was able to watch a replay of the Aug 22^nd 1998 Harry Simon - Winky Wright fight from South Africa last night. Simon was a sensational, all action fighter who never lost a bout. His record stands at 27-0 but poor Harry had one terrible weakness. He loved to get his “freak” on and then get behind the wheel. Harry was responsible for the death of five people in two separate alcohol related accidents. He currently resides in a prison in his native Namibia. His beating of Wright is an eye opener as he bulls Wright around the ring and overwhelms the defensive master with a non stop barrage. His release date is in early 2009 and it will be very interesting to see if the slugger attempts to revive his career…check out the e-mail from Steve in yesterday’s comments section. I laughed out loud at the table of three nursing a pitcher and then leaving four bits! You can’t even get a coffee in the Big Smoke with that delicate tip (maybe they were fans of rapper Fifty Cent?). Look, the rise of MMA is a gross, depraved development indicative of an oafish, puerile strain in society. The mugs that watch its second rate “bullet heads” mount each other don’t understand the refinements inimical to social intercourse and are, thus, to be avoided at all costs…Or maybe not. Maybe I’m just getting old…