racingmeridian.com

GRID IRON..one of the great fallacies of Superbowl week is likely to be the repeated assertion that Indy’s march to the Championship vindicates coach Jim Caldwell’s decision to rest starters beginning with the Dec 27^thgame against the New York Jets. It does nothing of the sort. It is entirely plausible that Peyton Manning et al could have comfortably accounted for their final two games and still marched to glory in Miami. Caldwell’s decision undermined the “entertainment and enjoyment” mandate that energizes modern professional sports. With an iron man like Manning playing quarterback, it was rash and unnecessary to pull him from consecutive games. Sports does not, should not, mimic the caution and reserve required in matters of fundamental importance like, for instance, providing aid to Haiti. The pleasure of watching a team roll to an undefeated season is one that Colts fans deserved. Manning is playing as well as any quarterback ever has, he is healthy and passionate, and he deserved a chance to make history. An intellectually stunted coach did not have the vision to let him obtain an achievement for the ages, a season of perfection culminating in a Superbowl win…I wish S I writer Peter King would just get it over with and announce he’s in love with Brett Favre. His cloying columns on a guy who’s just a pretty good QB, nothing more, have undermined his work and his credibility…I’d be very interested to see how Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson does as the pivot in Minnesota. There are so many weapons on that team and one of those young men is deserving of a chance, after a year on the sidelines, to pilot the bus…Don Banks makes the point that the NFC will be represented in the Super Bowl by a different team for the ninth consecutive year. During the same period the Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots have accounted for eight of the nine AFC appearances…only four NFL teams have never made it to a Superbowl; the Houston Texans, the Detroit Lions, the Jacksonville Jaguars and, shamefully, the Cleveland Browns…

ICE..the Edmonton Oilers have employed rookie goalie Devan Dubynk in six of their last seven games. Dubynak has yet to record a win. The Oil have lost seventeen of their last eighteen. Can you name the one team they defeated during the ignoble slide? Of course it’s the Toronto Maple Leafs…the Sporting News notes the Buds are 0-24-5 this year when trailing after two periods. They remark, dryly, that this is a trait of a team without “much fight”…the Washington Capitals have ascended to the top spot in the SN Power Poll, with San Jose second and the Chicago Blackhawks dropping to third…nineteen year old Steve Stamkos became only the fourth active player to score fifty goals while still a teenager with a marker Saturday night. Can you name the other three? (Rick Nash, Ilya Kovalchuk and Sidney Crosby)…the San Jose Sharks are killing penalties at a league leading 87.8 % strike rate. Interestingly, the Sharks like to put Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley out at the end of a penalty kill, then use the fresh legs of the pair to attack as their penalized colleague returns…Mike Babcock has announced the intention of the Detroit Red Wings to reunite Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk on the top line. The pair will play with a likely overjoyed Daniel Cleary…nicely put; current bet in Toronto is who will golf first, Tiger or the Leafs?…interested in Mike Danton? Breathlessly awaiting the next development? It has to be the most ridiculous waste of space since mainstream media attempted to convince readers they should have a care for the NHLPA leadership manoeuvres…ex Leaf Carla Colaiacovo is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. His current team, the St Louis Blues, have yet to initiate contract talks…

 PUG LIFE..legendary champ Erik Morales, last seen by the average fan getting blitzed by Manny Pacquiao in 2006, has opted for an unnecessary and unfortunate comeback, commencing Mar 27^thin Mexico. Morales must rank as one of the greatest featherweights of all time, and his three bout series with Marco Barrera deserves recognition as the division’s version of “Ali - Frazier”. But Morales looked utterly spent while dropping twelve round decisions to Zahir Raheem and David Diaz, and, in fact, has lost five of his last six scraps. He hasn’t fought in two years and this comeback looks both exploitive and dangerous. Morales banged with the divisions best and he is risking his long term health by stepping back into the square circle. There will be a line-up a mile long of vicious young men looking to punch their ticket by knocking out an aged “El Terrible”…newly pumped up Tomasz Adamek has agreed to fight fat bastard Chris Arreola on April 24^th. It’s a smart call by the Polish fighter, Arreola couldn’t beat a good fighter in anything but an eating contest…Irishman John Duddy went to 28-1 (25 KO’s) Saturday night in New York, dispatching Juan Astorga in the first round. Duddy, wildly popular, is tabbed for a high profile spot on the Manny Pacquiao - Joshua Clottey undercard March 13^th. The Derryman will encounter one consistent problem as his career develops; he can’t fight…

PONIES..Steve Haskin publishes his first “Derby Dozen” column of the year in Blood Horse today. The much anticipated journey to the first Saturday in May is now officially underway and, through Haskins, one can follow all the latest moves up and down the contender ranks. The initial offering projects the Derby as a war between the troops of Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher. Both trainers are up to their eyeballs in lush, expensive stock, and both are preparing their charges in dramatically different fashion. While Baffert has three Derbies, Pletcher has none…

MEDIA..my homeboy Lenny G will be handling on-air duties at The Fan tonight in the 11pm-2am slot.  The show will be smart, funny and opinionated, so keep your radio tuned to 590…will Len reveal his mysterious relationship with the new Blue Jay GM? A couple of sharp kids, I’ll tell ya, with very bright futures…