racingmeridian.com

Chris Neil, Ottawa Senator forward, sounded a bit ominous in discussing the possibility of Dany Heatley remaining with the squad. The bruiser explained that Heatley would be expected to explain to his teammates why he asked to be traded. There is serious subtext here, with Neil and others simply not buying the excuse that the sniper could not deal with the new coach. Heatley has cast aspersions on his co-workers through dark rumours of sordid off ice activities…Carolina Hurricane goalie Cam Ward put, “playing in the Olympics” as his number one item on his personal bucket list. While Ward will be in camp for Team Canada I’m not sure how much playing time he’ll receive. Roberto Luongo will certainly be favoured by most to start while Martin Brodeur will also have his advocates. On the basis of personal accomplishment and current form, Ward is the pick. He should be Canada’s starting goaltender at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics…concerning Ward, how can you not love someone whose personal motto is, “The more fun you have the better you do”…the Sporting News is reporting new St Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnualo is running a vicious camp. Unless you actually watched the Rams last year, it is hard to fathom just how putrid they were. Often they were blown out in the first half and faced geared down opponents as they stumbled through the second. They were a travesty, a team unable and unwilling to compete. Minus Terry Holt and Orlando Pace, the Rams are still looking to the remnants of Marc Bulger to generate a meaningful attack. This team will wrestle the title of worst team in football away from the Detroit Lions in 2009…the Denver Broncos held an open practice for fans last night and a whopping 13,000 people showed up. The kicker? By the end of the night the throng was booing new QB Kyle Orton. The Broncos will rue the day they opted to take the easy way out and move Jay Cutler. Orton was just his usual irredeemable self, floating balls into defenders hands all night long…we tend to love people who, y’know, see things the way we see things; so big up to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for allowing that Byron Leftwich has been the best QB in camp. In their dismal division the Bucs, amazingly, could make allot of noise if they start Leftwich. The humbled QB is motivated and determined to make up for what has amounted to a wasted career. Unfortunately, the Bucs have also laid out a ton of cash to wastrel Luke McCown, a “never was never will” type, and will want to see some return. If Leftwich starts the Bucs will surprise many this year…one third of the Houston Rockets payroll this year, 23 million, will go to Tracy McGrady, expected back, possibly, at the halfway point of the season…Jermaine O’Neill’s 23 million dollar stipend is being cited as the reason the Miami Heat were unable to address shortcomings this offseason. Dumping O’Neil (for Shawn Marion) was a brilliant, but seemingly forgotten, move by Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo…west coast thoroughbred machine Zenyatta faces a most unappetizing prospect; the mare may well finish 2009 undefeated, but no way no how does she get Horse of the Year unless she battles Rachel Alexandra. Zenyatta’s connections are among the most conservative, unimaginative dullards in existence. Their decision to race the wunderkind exclusively on the left coast must exact a cost when HOTY votes are cast…Manchester United goes after their first piece of hardware this Sunday facing Chelsea in the Charity Shield. The match gathers the FA Cup winner and the EPL champ for a rousing kickoff to the English football season. Kind of like the Hall of Fame game from Canton, but with a little more passion. Revenues generated are distributed to various charities throughout England…I suspect, like the Meridian, many other Man U supporters are not finding it difficult to cast Cristiano Ronaldo in the villain’s role. It is a relief to look forward to a season where the tempo of the Red Devils will be set by the tenacity of Wayne Rooney and not the swan dives of Portugal’s finest son…