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GRID IRON..NFL trade deadline day passed without the rumoured moves of high profile players like Terrell Owens, Brady Quinn and Shane Merriman. The latter two players have very dicey futures and simply couldn’t muster any interest on the part of GM’s. As for Terrell, well, he is behaving and I couldn’t help but wonder if the massive advertising campaign in Toronto, touting his presence as a Bill, played a factor in the retention of his services. Terrell can divorce the Bills at the end of the season…Joey Galloway, an electrifying wideout back in the day, has been released by the New England Patriots. Galloway had seemed to offer the Pats a deadly partner for the audacious Randy Moss. From the first game on, however, Galloway could not get on the same page as Tom Brady. The fleet receiver is a figure of much fascination and speculation. He can barely walk due to the pounding he has taken on the field. The fragile receiver required an unparalleled regimen of icing and stretching just to get to the point where he could run his patterns on a Sunday. His latter years in Tampa were marked by a tottering shuffle on the sidelines but the grace of a dancer when he rocketed downfield…the Washington Redskins signed free agent Levi Jones in attempt to plug a whole on their offensive line. Without a credible left tackle (Chris Samuels could be done for the season) the Skins are in appalling shape on offence…the cursed Cincinnati Bengals suffered a debilitating blow with the serious injury to pass rushing terror Antwan Odom. The Bengals were moved to sign Orien Harris to fill the spot. Harris, you may recall, was moved out by the, ahem, St Louis Rams and, sigh, the Detroit Lions. Good luck, Cinci…the most overlooked aspect of the Denver Bronco’s rise to contender status? The all-pro play of left tackle Ryan Clady…the Green Bay Packers defeated the Detroit Lions 26-0 at Lambeau on Sunday but also gave up a whopping five sacks to the relatively meek cellar dwellers. The Pack are undermining any chance to have an impact on the post season with their continued inability to adequately protect Aaron Rodgers…top five offenses at this point; New Orleans, Dallas, Indy, New England and Pittsburgh. Top defences; NY Giants, Denver, Pittsburgh, Philly and Washington…for a snapshot of how a team is performing I like to quickly subtract the yards they’ve given up on defence (per game average) from the yards they have gained on offense (per game average). Following that formula, the best five are; NY Giants +145 (so, on a game by game basis, the Giants have been gaining 145 yards more than they have been giving up), New Orleans +129, Pittsburgh +128, New England +110 and Indianapolis +108. The five worst teams are Cleveland -167, Oakland -151, K C -120, St Louis -107 and Tennessee -95…no, none of that will elucidate how the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. The explanation must reside in the psychological weight of the NFC East teams for each other. The Giants, Redskins and Eagles all lost on Sunday (Cowboys on the bye), possibly an indication they save their best efforts for the games they play against each other. They have been hyped to death as the best division in football and an offshoot appears to be a tendency to focus on games against their division rivals and a “letdown” when playing outside those boundaries…ICE..can’t figure this one out; Los Angeles King Alexander Frolov has been benched for an attitude that, according to head coach Terry Murray, “borders on not caring”. The reason for my mystification? Frolov is in the final year of his contract…Steve Mason, ostensibly in the running for goaltending duties on the Canadian Olympic Team, stopped only 16 of 22 shots as his Columbus Blue Jackets lost last night 6-3 to the Calgary Flames. Mason’s performance thus far has been inconsistent. Who will Team Canuck turn to when the Olympics get underway? Caught Roberto Luongo the other night and couldn’t believe how jittery he looks between the pipes. Marty Brodeur creaks when he moves. Could Cam Ward and, surprisingly, Marc Andre Fleury (a brilliant 8-0 this season) be gaining steam as logical choices? The only consideration should be a player’s current form. The hockey tournament will be so hotly contested that GM Steve Yzerman can’t be caught attempting to revive the embers of the past…Alex Tanguay has been dropped to the Tampa Bay Lightning third line. The moribund Vincent Lecavalier has been reunited with Martin St Louis on the top line…PUG LIFE..30-1 (12 KO’s) Steve Molitor will fight 11-8 (2 KO’s) Sergio Escobar at Casino Rama on November 21^st. The selection of opponent is a tip-off in regards to the amount of confidence Team Molitor currently has in their fighter…