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GRID IRON…wideout Anquan Boldin will not play for Arizona Saturday…in an interesting and welcomed move, the Chicago Bears are involving quarterback Jay Cutler in the interview process as they search for a new offensive coordinator. Cutler’s high profile debut in Chicago was one of the busts of the past season, with the Bears apparently incapable of integrating a quarterback of genuine talent and panache. The addition of a new sensibility, as well as a freshly stocked receiver crew, will put the shine back on the gutsy addition of Cutler…the St Louis Rams have emerged as a major player in the Michael Vick sweepstakes. The Rams are willing to part with the relatively cheap price of a late round pick in order to bring Vick to the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams have evidently not factored Vick’s utterly washed up status into their thought process…Esquire magazine has a lengthy article on Marvin Harrison’s involvement in the execution of a drug dealer in Philadelphia last summer. It’s not surprising that no team opted to sign the bad-ass. It appears he could be on his way to a lengthy stay in the slammer…the New York Jets boast three Pro Bowlers on their offensive line, including left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson. It’s the best line in football, one that benefits from the familiarity inherent in 34 consecutive starts together. Yep, I’ll take the points and look for the Jets to, at a minimum, keep things close against the clumsy San Diego Chargers. The Bolts have established a pattern of performance during their post season engagements that I think precludes a Superbowl winning campaign. At some point, they are going to stumble…seeing is believing; no team is scrutinized to the same extent as the Dallas Cowboys. Having said that, the Boys are playing as well as I can ever recall, utilizing the suddenly confident and careful Tony Romo. The Minnesota Vikings were shaky down the lane and, still smarting from key injuries, look vulnerable. Take the points…the New Orleans Saints can restructure their attack and return to their early season form with a series of relatively innocuous adjustments. If they opt to pressure Kurt Warner, than this can be a comfortable cover and an “under” (57) scenario. Either way, look for Drew Brees to benefit from flooded lanes and a high tempo approach, the absence of which lead to their late season trials…no, you’ll never feel comfortable betting against Peyton Manning, but the generous allotment of points on offer make the Baltimore Ravens the pick in the most anticipated game of the weekend. The Ravens delivered a peak effort against the New England Patriots and are bolstered substantially by the healthy status of all-world Ed Reed. The stupid decision to keep Peyton Manning out of football for the better part of a month will be a factor when the Ravens come calling…the satirical online magazine The Onion reports the Indianapolis Colts will rest their starters during this weekend’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. The Colts are opting to keep their starters healthy for the Superbowl…

 ICE..the New York Islanders are proving committed and persistent suitors for the talents of Atlanta Thrasher Ilya Kovalchuk. The Isles are desperate to acquire some assistance for their well stocked pool of young talent and have ample cap space to accommodate Kovalchuk’s nine figure pay demands. With the right deal, the superstar Russian could play pied piper to a team poised to steadily improve over the next half decade…pressure is mounting on the Thrashers to move Kovalchuk before the March 3^rdtrade deadline…two ex-Leafs, Alex Steen and Brad Boyes, have found themselves stagnating on the St Louis Blues third line…the best player no one has ever heard of, Tim Connolly of the Buffalo Sabres, has five goals and ten assists in his last ten games. The Sabres are great fun to watch and are emboldened nightly by the lights-out play of Ryan Miller…the Boston Bruins are currently without their three top centres. Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci have all been sidelined with injuries. Creaky Mark Recchi has been forced to shift to the middle of the ice…Shawn Horcoff is minus 21 for the sinking Edmonton Oilers…Peter Forsberg? Injured again and now doubtful to play for Sweden in the Olympics…the Toronto Maple Leafs, red hot after a, uh, win, are catching a wonky Washington Capital team tonight in Landover. The Caps have struggled without goalie Semyon Varlamov,  playing .500 hockey while giving up bushels of goals,  and are ripe for the picking…

PONIES..the NTRA has awarded Zenyatta the “Moment of the Year” for her win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Whatever. Just as long as the Eclipse for Horse of the Year, announced Monday January 18^th, is reserved for Rachel Alexandra…more Zenyatta; the backstretches around North America are crackling with rumours of her connections decision to forgo retirement and instead meet Rachel in an epic showdown. Race of the year? How about race of the decade, or even century? It’s Ali - Frazier for the horsey set and could be a go for March in Dubai or April at Oaklawn. I pray this race happens. For Rachel fans it is a promise of around 80 cents to the dollar for two minutes of only the mildest discomfort…yeah, baby, bring me that California cow…

PUG LIFE..shocking news from the Floyd Mayweather camp has the unbeaten welterweight apparently on the verge of taking on former champ Kermit Cintron. I’ll definitely put this in the “believe it when I see it” file but Cintron could represent the most formidable challenge of “Money’s” career. The Puerto Rican has only two defeats, both at the hands of the reprehensible Antonio Margarito, and the veracity of those results is surely questioned by any fair minded fan. Cintron had a brilliant 2009, defeating top prospect Alfredo Angulo in a corker, and drawing with Sergio Martinez, the best junior middleweight in the world. The move back down to welter would have Cintron poised for the best fight of his stellar career. Can it happen? Mayweather was excoriated for proposed fights against light hitting Paulie Malignaggi or mediocrity Mathew Hatton. A fight with Cintron would be an act of boldness and one which could quite possibly produce the best fight of 2010…if Manny Pacquiao defeats Joshua Clottey, and Mayweather bests Cintron, the anticipation for a proposed Pacquiao - Mayweather superfight will be brought to an absolute boiling point, marking a September showdown as maybe the biggest money making fight of all time. High reward, yes, but quite the risk. I do not find it implausible that one, or even both, of the pair could be upset in their proposed March 13th bouts…the Global News feature on Shawn O’Sullivan will air Sunday at 6.30pm…Ricky Hatton has announced he will fight this summer, likely against Juan Manuel Marquez. A win would inevitably lead to a mega fight with Amir Khan. It’s been five years since Ricky pulled a huge upset over all time great Kosta Tszyu. Regrettably, it has been a downward arc for the likeable Mancunian ever since. He should retire and enjoy his riches…heavyweight Eddie Chambers, who actually can fight a wee bit, well in a 2010 context anyway, will challenge Vladimir Klitschko on March 20^th. The quick Chambers looked impressive in his last two, defeating Samuel Peter and Alex Dimitrenko, the latter while weighing a mere 208 pounds, but it is difficult to imagine a scenario where the light puncher could win a decision in Germany against Vladimir…

MEDIA..Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo has told S I that he has no intention of moving Chris Bosh before the trade deadline. The Raptors will take their chances on the flimsy hope that Bosh will opt to re-sign in the Big Smoke. SI scribe Ian Thomsen suggests a trade of Jose Calderon, in order to allow Hedo Turkoglu a more committed prescence in the offense, is a logical move. He also suggests Andrea Bargnani could represent the real future of the dismal Dinos…Gilbert Arenas is apparently pissed that Washington Wizard management failed to support him after the details of his Dec 21^stconfrontation with a teammate emerged. Seriously. He believes the top dawgs should have had his back after he pulled guns on a fellow player. This jackass is perpetuating harmful stereotypes as he purports to be a hard ass gang banger instead of an ice cream soft phony. The sooner he is given a criminal sanction and a lengthy ban, the better…