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GRID IRON..the exceptional Pro Football Focus site ranks Cleveland’s Joe Thomas as the best left tackle in the game. Along with the Rams Steven Jackson, Thomas should go to the Pro Bowl despite playing on an abysmal squad…Atlanta Falcon QB Matt Ryan has ten interceptions in his past five games. Sophmore, meet your slump…it was always going to be messy for the old Cleveland Browns, the current Baltimore Ravens, to go into Cleveland to face the current Browns (that did make sense, right?). Whatever. They won and now need to focus on a hellacious three week stretch which sees them squaring off against Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Green Bay. The 5-4 Ravens need at least two wins in that stretch if they are going to remain serious contenders for an AFC playoff spot…the Seattle Seahawks took a 14-0 lead over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Well done. The Seahawks then started to rush only three players against Kurt Warner. The rest, well, you know how it turned out…the groupthink found in the NFL can be as oppressive as that established in a gulag. It’s why teams playing fantastic defence suddenly start rushing three players, with eight others twenty yards downfield, when attempting to hold a lead late in a game. The Prevent defence, despite its continued inefficiency against a capable quarterback, is part of the orthodoxy, not to be questioned. Poor Bill Belichick has run head first into football’s rampant idiocy. His detractors are unable to comprehend Belichick’ decision to go for the win while employing his strongest hand, the efficacy of Tom Brady in a short yardage situation. Fully two out of three times Brady makes that play. Indeed, judging by replays, it appears the Pats did, in fact, gain enough for the first down. But the play should be relished as a brilliant, contrarian stab at closing out the game (time on the clock was the critical component - this is not a play Belichick would have made in any situation other than one which would allow him to seize control of the contest). The way Manning played I have no doubt he would have roared down the field whether from his thirty or the Patriot twenty nine. Belichick’s decision to employ the abundant skills of his own quarterback in an effort to win the game demonstrated the type of mental agility expected of a man who has won three Superbowls…

ICE..Alex Ovechkin returns to the Washington Capital line-up tonight. The Caps have won four of their last five, absent their leader, an indication this is a team with depth and quality. The Caps are in New York to tackle the Rangers…the Sporting News has a new team atop their Power Poll; the New Jersey Devils. And, um, all my chatter about Canada starting anyone other than Martin Brodeur in net during the 2010 Olympics? Never mind…

PUG LIFE..I watched the Pacquiao - Cotto fight again last night (thanks Justin TV) and thoroughly enjoyed a fight of inordinate significance. It is the rarest of battles, one where both contestants bring their very best performance, and yet the result reveals not even a smidgen of equality between their respective abilities. Pacquiao dusted an excellent welterweight champion, one who is a lock to continue to dominate the division if he elects to extend his career. This is not the domination of a washed up or flawed foe, this is an all time great slamming an elite opponent. Emanuel Steward, post fight, remarked Pacquiao must now be compared to the Sugar Ray Robinson’s and the Muhammad Ali’s. I had followed the careers of Pacquiao and Cotto closely and do feel a measure of reward for my investment. It allowed an understanding of just how valiant Cotto was in defeat and, further, an appreciation of just how brilliant Pacquiao was in victory. Yes, in a more civilized time, the fight could have been stopped much sooner. But the historical antecedents of a rich and textured sport demanded that a warrior like Cotto be afforded every possible chance to, if not win, then demonstrate his courage and nobility. The night was just a colossal success and the fight a lasting testament to Manny Pacquiao’s storming of the fistic pantheon…I would expect a Pacquiao - Mayweather bout to be signed for September. My head will explode if I think too much about this fight. If Cotto dips in the pound for pound rankings, then it is Money who slips into the vacant second spot (Pacquiao number one, yes?). Effectively, it will be the second meeting of the top two ”pound for pound” fighters in the world within a year. Fight fans aren’t often spoiled, so we better enjoy it…if, as is rumoured, the fight will take place at Yankee Stadium, then I’m going. No ifs and buts -  it will be like stepping back in history with a wild, frenzied throng, 60,000 people strong, screaming for their favourite…my notes from the Mayweather - Marquez fight are off the charts with praise for Floyd. Mayweather has a left hook that is much faster than virtually any other fighter’s jab. He has blinding foot speed and, despite what you may hear, a mean streak. He has consciously fought conservatively in order to protect his chronically sore hands, but we can safely assume he’ll be firing at will against Pacquiao…oh, hey, by the way, all the mainstream media who predicted the death of boxing with the retirement of Oscar De La Hoya, how’s that working out for you? The removal of the painfully overrated Golden Boy has been the best thing for the sport…