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I’m puzzled by the early spread on the Superbowl. I tabbed the Steelers at about minus eleven with an over/under of about forty two. The current spread is Steelers -7, o/u 47. I’ll gladly offer the easiest seven since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snuck under everybody’s radar in the 2003 Superbowl, but find the 47 problematic. I expect the Cardinals to be shut down and can easily envision a 35-10 type score for Pittsburgh. Under the current Vegas strictures, that score is an under, not at all what I had anticipated…Ben Roethlisberger’s performance in his last Superbowl appearance; 9 of 21 for a paltry 123 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns. That was, of course, the infamous win over the Seattle Seahawks where punters shook their head in dismay over the apparent “impartiality” of the NFL refs…Mike Smith, ex GM of the New York Rangers, was brilliant with the Bobcat, Bob McCowan, yesterday on The Fan. Smith savaged the Tampa Bay Lightning for signing Vincent Lecavalier to that notorious 11 year, 85 million dollar contract. Smith noted the deal was signed after Vinnie had won a Cup in Tampa and had let his play decline. Smith noted a big signing should be consummated when a player is hungry and motivated by meaningful long term ambitions. In essence, the Lightning could not have picked a worse time to offer a player a satiating payoff. With retrenchment a real possibility in the NHL, the upshot is the generous terms make Lecavalier contractural poison. If the cap drops to below 48 million, it would be untenable to have so much money tied up in one player. And what if the player is injured? Smith held no punches in denigrating the Islanders for signing Rick DiPietro to a fifteen year deal but concluded that, on balance, the Lightning deal was far worse…within a couple of weeks the John Tavares race could be down to the sordid New York Islanders and the wretched Toronto Maple Leafs. The smoke is clearing around the outhouse…Columbus Blue Jacket goalie Pascal Leclaire, fresh off signing a three year 11 million dollar contract extension, is out for the year with a bum ankle…with the game last night between the San Jose Sharks and the Vancouver Canucks tied 1-1 in the third, Mats Seldom suddenly burst free on a breakaway. Here was the moment Canucks management had been dreaming about! Seldom scores the game winner over the Leagues top rated team, all scream with joy and await the inevitable march to the Stanley Cup! Sorry, Seldom looked gassed by the time he reached the net and barely managed a feeble shot. The Sharks won 2-1…yes, Canucks fan, that is the Mats Seldom who crippled the Leaf franchise for over a decade. Maybe your papers should hire a couple of members of the local Toronto media; they were adept at explaining the genius of the floater while deriding those who begged for his removal from the team. And, oh yes, good luck!…Ray Lewis, the best linebacker of the past decade is eligible to become a free agent in March. Already the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets have expressed interest in his services. I expect the Ravens to sign Lewis to a long term contract. With the arrival of the very good Joe Flacco, the Ravens franchise can offer Lewis a legitimate shot at the Superbowl as early as 2010…Dwayne DeRosario will be introduced as the newest Toronto FC player at a press conference tomorrow. DeRosario will earn about 400k a year but does not carry the Designated Player tag, meaning the team could still make another high profile acquisition…also on the Fan yesterday, Bert Sugar and Bob McCowan had a passionate discussion concerning MMA. Both intensely dislike the upstart sport but are massive fans of boxing. Sugar relayed the interesting stat that only 4% of boxing fans will watch the mixed martial arts. Sugar commented, perhaps unfairly, on the perceived homosexual undercurrents of MMA, saying it was like watching “two men attempt to mount each other”. He also claimed the sport was like a bar fight without the broken bottles. I’m not sure if the pair are simply on the wrong side of history but I do know mixed martial arts are a dud at generating the ancillary revenues which make a big fight such a compelling financial bonanza…