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GRIDIRON..Clifton Brown of the Sporting News has identified five players on the brink of stardom; QB Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, running back Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, wide receiver Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals, running back Rashard Mendenhall of the Pittsburgh Steelers and wide receiver Troy Williamson of the  Jackson Jaguars. Rice, who excels catching the ball out of the backfield, will add a new dimension to the Ravens offense, possibly providing the spark that allows them to overtake the champion Steelers. The Rodgers hype is spinning out of control. If Rodgers and the Pack get thumped in Week 1, against the rejuvenated Chicago Bears, I’ll be intrigued to see how he handles the adversity and ramped up pressure. I’ll find a positive response to a setback more meaningful than ripping it up during the preseason…took a couple of things away from last night’s preseason game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Houston Texans. Firstly, the ego of Brett Favre is enormous. Why would he tell the media he had a cracked rib before the game, and then later back off his self diagnosis? To Brett, it really is all about Brett. The QB had his own locker-room while playing for the Jets. Viking coach Brad Childress is going to have to demand an elevated sense of team play from the gunslinger if the Vikings are going to capitalize on their enormous talent. Secondly, oh boy, what were the Texans thinking trading away Sage Rosenfels? Watching starter Matt Schaub hobble around, again, seemed to underline the young QB’s inability to remain healthy for extended periods. The Texans are close to busting out but they have placed all their eggs in the basket of the fragile starting pivot…all the analysis of the “strength of schedule” reports better make sure to incorporate this fact; the NFC North is going to feature three dramatically tougher teams this year in Chicago, Green Bay and Minnesota…the Denver Broncos are now down another receiver with the injury to Jabar Gaffney (Brandan Marshall is suspended). Is it not hard to see the San Diego Chargers going anything but 6-0 against their AFC West opposition?…according to CNBC, here is a current list of the NFL players with the top selling jerseys; Brett Favre, Jay Cutler, Troy Polamalu, Michael Vick and Ben Roethlisberger. Interestingly, only Troy Polamalu has not been enveloped in recent controversy…head coach Pete Carroll, of USC, makes 4.4 million a year, a tad more than the 4.2 million allotted to Notre Dame’s Charlie Weiss…ICE..Andrew Raycroft, ex goalie for the Bruins, Leafs and Avalanche, has signed with the Vancouver Canucks. Guess the west coasters needed an A-lister to keep Roberto Luongo on his toes (LOL)…thirty days until the beginning of the NHL season. Yes, I am bloody well counting…re the firing of the NHLPA head, Paul Kelly; are we caring about that now? Seriously, who gives a rat’s ass what the pampered morons do to sabotage their association…PONIES..the million dollar Woodbine Mile is slated for Sunday Sept 20^th at Woodbine. The race appears to be setting up very nicely for Rahy’s Attorney, a dazzling miler who has been running at less than optimum distances recently. Rumours abound that top American Gio Ponti remains a possibility for the Rexdale party. I like Rahy’s chances against that one at the intermediate distance at the local track…look, after winning the Belmont and Travers, Summer Bird is first in line for consideration for the three year old colt and gelding championship. I’m sick of the media peddling the Kentucky Derby winning “horse that will not be named” as the frontrunner. He hasn’t won since he rode a golden rail at Churchill - deal with it…MOVIES..I’m blessed with a very divergent collection of friends and I revel in the arguments that develop when any configuration of associates get together. I have finally found something which engenders unanimous praise and glowing smiles; the summer hit movie The Hangover. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has told me this is the movie of the summer, a hilarious and gut busting laugh marathon…