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I’m just at a total loss to explain media response to the Indianapolis Colt’s 23-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers Saturday. Paragraphs have been squandered highlighting the inefficacy of the OT system which, in this instance, prevented Peyton Manning and the Colt offense from touching the ball in the extra period.  Not the real issue, friends. In the fourth quarter and OT, the referees made five consecutive calls against the Colts. In OT alone, three absolutely crucial calls were made against the Colts while none were registered against the Chargers. My question. How can you observe those calls, in this post Bernard Madoff, post Tim Donaghy, post Rick Tocchet era, and not be suspicious? How does no writer of repute speak to the issue of NFL refs overtly influencing games? Fixes in the NFL can’t happen? Is it possible for a thinking person to maintain that level of naivety? The Colts were ultimately savaged by a series of questionable calls which were indicative of a suspicious bias. That’s the bottom line…the New England Patriots, according to the Boston Globe, obtained 55% of their passing yardage after the pass, tops in the league. The obvious question is the effectiveness of QB Matt Cassells if he leaves the talents of Moss & Welker behind…the Cleveland Browns will make a fantastic move with the signing of Eric Mangini later this week. The upgrade at coaching can have an important impact on a team set for a 2009 turnaround…the Minnesota Vikings seem to think the writing is on the wall for Tarvaris Jackson. They are expending serious energy investigating the acquisition of Matt Hasselback from the Seattle Seahawks. The St Paul Pioneer Press reports the price is a very modest second rounder…the Mats Seldom era begins tonight in Vancouver. Seldom will be playing between Kyle Wellwood and Mason Raymond. Isn’t that going to be a challenge for Wellwood? Seldom will be trying to draw the former tubby back to the dark side, “Float with me , Kyle, float with me, we’ll go golfing tomorrow”…Roberto Luongo is still reportedly “not even close” to returning to the Canucks net…Brian Burkes first trade as the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the acquisition of Brad May from the Anaheim Ducks for a sixth round draft choice. The unfortunate aspect of the deal is that May will actually provide a boost to the sagging Buds…Hoopsworld reports the Toronto Raptors are close to acquiring Josh Howard from the Dallas Mavericks for Anthony Parker and Antonio Bargnani. Steal for the Raptors…David Beckham played for AC Milan on Tuesday. His start was uneventful but one can’t help but wonder if the midfielder will ever find his way back to the Los Angeles Galaxy…Equibase reports gambling on thoroughbred horse racing declined by 7.2% in 2008. The report highlighted a dramatic 20% decline during the month of December…some really great news for fight fans; David Hayes, the wild swinging, charismatic ex cruiserweight champ, is now being considered for a fight with Vladimir Klitschko, instead of older brother Vitali. Hayes had zero chances of success against the older Ukrainian, but is a live longshot against the glass jawed younger sibling…HBO, committed these days to showing us fights we don’t want to see, has scheduled Paul Williams against Winky Wright for April 11^th. Even immediate family members won’t attend that snore fest…