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It’s fantastic to read S I’s Michael Farber’s conclusion that the big winner of the recent free agent signing period appears to be the Toronto Maple Leafs. For well over a decade the Leafs had disappeared from any list which recorded quality or intelligence. Farber curtails his praise, however, with the admonition that the team is likely still a year away from a playoff spot. The problem rests with the lack of scoring punch, a quandary that, to a degree, will likely be addressed in the next month with a trade of Tomas Kaberle…never thought I’d be standing up for this player, but I do feel the effective play of winger Jason Blake during the second half of last season is being forgotten. Blake played with a grit previously lacking and could well be a legitimate first line scorer…as a bonus, Leaf fans will rejoice in Farber’s scathing analysis of the Montreal Canadiens. Habs GM Bob Gainey made some of the most outlandish moves this side of John Ferguson, adding what Farber calls a “legitimate 16 goal scorer” in Scott Gomez (his identical total the past two seasons). With Gomez centring the diminutive pair of Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri, the scribe suggests the Canadiens can be dubbed “Team Lilliput”. I think, among the smouldering ruins of the red and blue, the biggest regret may turn out to be the jettisoning of winger Chris Higgins. The tenacious winger has an enormous upside and should not have been included in Montreal’s questionable acquisition of Gomez…did you know that the NFL’s leading all time scorer was born in Copenhagen, Denmark? Kicker Morten Anderson was born in Europe, where he grew up as a devoted fan of Chelsea and Liverpool…under the radar shocker; Baltimore Ravens wideout Derrick Mason has advised the team he is retiring. The Ravens have a fine young quarterback but nary a first class wide receiver in site…wide receiver Andre “Bad Moon” Rison is back in the news with his pronouncement that he was “the best to ever play the game”. Maybe in the CFL, where the malcontent ended up after being drummed out of the NFL, but most observers stateside still have him pegged a few hundred rungs south of Jerry Rice. Rison will, of course, always be remembered best for the incident when singer Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes burned down his house…if you want to know what’s gone wrong in America you needn’t have looked further than the gaggle of kids trying to catch balls in the outfield during last nights home run derby. What a pitiful performance. Hey, kids, make a play!…when did the business of sports become more interesting than the games themselves?…Padraig Harrington will attempt to win his third British Open in a row this weekend at Turnberry…don’t know about you, but for the first time in my life I’m looking askance at women’s purses. Who would have figured a strap would be the weapon of choice in the death of beloved fighter Arturo Gatti? “Thunder”, the embodiment of macho and courage, taken out by a ladies accessory?…Gatti’s wife Amanda Rodrigues is maintaining her innocence. She asserts that she slept upstairs in their two floor vacation flat while Gatti slept downstairs. When she awoke at about 6am, she said she discovered Gatti’s body. He had likely been dead for four hours at that point. Rodrigues speculated that her husband had committed suicide…UFC President Dana White has enormous control over his UFC fighters. He dictates matches and signs off on their surprisingly meagre wages. It’s run like a closed shop and White’s level of control is a significant factor in the sport’s growth. Boxing would also thrive if one individual could mastermind the matchups and dictate that the most marketable and popular fighters engaged in a continuous series of matches against each other. Imagine being able to hand Floyd Mayweather Jr a contract dictating that he fight Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Manny Pacquiao and Paul Williams in the next year, or else? The Sweet Science would thrive in that environment. Unfortunately, or fortunately, boxing has evolved to a bold free market state where each fighter controls his destiny and chooses, based on numerous factors, the circumstance of his next engagement. The increasing amount of money generated by the UFC will ultimately corrode the competitors inclination to play “nice” with White. Inevitably fighters will agitate for a higher percentage of the pot, the organization will splinter, and other sanctioning bodies will develop and step into the breach. Just like what happened in boxing. The current arrangement constitutes a golden age for the UFC. The real challenges form when greed saturates the business model. Agents, managers, hangers-on, all will want a taste of the burgeoning riches. The toughest days for UFC and Dana Whiteare just around the corner…