racingmeridian.com

GRID IRON..whispers have Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu out for another five weeks. The Steelers travel to Cincinnati to face a healthy and bullish Carson Palmer this Sunday, an opportunity for punters to observe just how important the injured safety is to the squad. The Bengals will be  up for their traditional rival and it will be intriguing to see just what damage Palmer can do against a diminished defence…after a hellacious early schedule, the New England Patriots should be closing like a freight train, ending their season against Miami, Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Houston. Begs the question, could this year be a repeat of last (déjà vu all over again), when early difficulties left the Pats, a terror at seasons end, out of the playoffs?…Meridian Law of the Gridiron; Michael Vick is going to let you down…last years winners of the AFC East, South and NFC South, the Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers, respectively, are all 0-2. The NFL wastes no time in ramping the drama sky high. According to the Sporting News, not since San Diego in 1992 has a team limped to a 0-3 start and then rebounded to win their division. Further, only an additional two teams have even qualified for the playoffs after the dreaded 0-3 staggers. So, there is no tomorrow for the Dolphins (at San Diego), the Panthers (at Dallas) and the Titans (at New York Jets), as they struggle to find their legs early in the 2009 season. Are you ready to throw these teams under the bus? I say yes to the Dolphins and Panthers, but a big time no to Tennessee…Panther end Julius Peppers is currently making over one million bucks a game. He has one sack this year and was criticized for poor play against Atlanta last week…PUG LIFE..to promote Saturday’s heavyweight fight both Vitali Klitschko and Chris Arreola appeared at Muscle Beach in Venice, California yesterday. While Klitschko worked the mitts, jumped rope and talked to spectators, Arreola was apparently warned to keep his shirt on and subsequently asked to leave the area if he continued to gobble fast food. Yeah, I’m pretty cynical about the fight Saturday. I understand Vitali’s need to fight a high profile American. It’s just glaringly obvious that the American heavyweight scene is wretched at the moment, with a dearth of prospects compounding the current depression. The best big men no longer consider toiling in the squared circle an honourable trade, and with the propensity for the hard knock life to leave you broke and cerebrally scrambled, perhaps they’re right to opt for football, basketball or golf…PONIES..delighted to hear a horse I watched win at the Curragh in May, Casual Conquest, is booked for the Canadian International Oct 17^th.  The Dermot Weld runner is a Grade 1 winner and only a touch below the top class. He would seem to fit the Toronto marathon perfectly…Bill Finlay, on ESPN, has a piece which states a dramatic paradigm shift has occurred in the horse racing industry with the meltdown in the prices paid at yearling sales. The September 2009 Keenland Sales were a bloodbath, with prices descending to rock bottom. Here is the good news, nay, soldier, the GREAT news; Finlay asserts the day has arrived when, “…more money can be made racing a good horse than breeding a good horse”. If the prediction pans out, it is a most fortuitous day for punters. The stars of the game will be committed to staying on the track, providing entertainment, rather than being absconded to the breeding stalls…listen, I am not a fan of harness racing. But my old man and I would always make an exception on the third Thursday after Labour Day to watch the Little Brown Jug. The American Classic, a real classic, is a series of heats which awards the Jug to the first animal to win two heats. It’s wicked! It is also from a different era. It is held on a Thursday afternoon with a style of repeated racing that owners want no part of today with their expensive stock. A throwback, reminiscent of the time when the World Series was played on a weekday afternoon and a heavyweight title fight brought the nation to a standstill. My father always loved the winner’s circle, where the prestigious trophy was invariably handed to a dude in plaid shirt and blue jeans. I hope you all enjoy the Jug today…