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GRID IRON… the odds are already out for the 2011 Superbowl. Indy is favoured at 6.5 to 1 with New Orleans next in line at 7-1.  Dallas is 7.5 to 1 with San Diego and New England at 8.5 to 1. I’m close to viewing Minnesota as a “cursed” franchise, so am not tempted by their 11 to 1. Miami certainly offers value at 30 to 1, with Mike Nolan guaranteed to pump up an already punishing defence. The longest shot on the board is St Louis at 150 to 1…in a nice evaluation of the Good Ole Boys in charge of the Buffalo franchise, the Bills are bracketed with the dregs at 100-1…the Glazers,  owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are in a world of financial hurt with their ownership of Manchester United. The Bucs were a disappointing 20 million under cap last year and with the well documented debt issues with the English Premiership team, I’ll be watching closely this year to see if the owners look to build the Bucs, or if they view them as a cash cow…the Indianapolis Colts have a league leading 115 wins in the past decade, but only one Superbowl…Clifton Brown of the Sporting News gets it right, noting, “…Jim Caldwell and staff were outcoached by Sean Payton and his staff.” Payton deserves special recognition for adapting and, at all stages, letting his passion for the win dictate the need for inordinate risks…running back Reggie Bush is due a healthy 8 million dollars next year. The big hit has lead to rumours that the Saints were going to cut the running back, but that move is going to be problematic after the Superbowl win and Bush’s resulting high profile. The skinny; he should be cut. He’s not worth that much and is currently ensconced as the Meridian’s “most overrated running back in football” (with apologies to perennial winner LaDainian Tomlinson)…forty year old Mark Brunell, now a back-up QB, received (earned?) his first Super Bowl ring on Sunday…

ICE… the Boston Bruins are currently tenth in the Eastern Conference. Despite all the rhetoric and mean spirited rumours, the Bruins have been unable to replace the scoring punch of Phil Kessel. That’s interesting. Now the pressure is on the club to ensure that one of the draft picks they picked up from Toronto develops into a player as skilled as Kessel, a player the Leafs will have for the next decade. The argument that Brian Burke paid too much for the goal scorer is tenuous, at best. The Phoenix Coyotes, for instance, have been unable to turn any of their number one picks into a big time player for seven, eight years now (Kyle Turris, Martin Hanzal, anyone?)…Kessel has ten points in the last five games. His new centre, Tyler Bozak, is one of the few Buds, according to coach Ron Wilson, with the speed to keep up with the winger…the Washington Capitals, leading the League in points, just became even better; number one goalie Semyon Varlamov has just returned to the Caps line-up…put this on your calendar; the Olympic Gold Medal hockey final will be played Sun Feb 28^th at 3.15 pm. Canada will be there, Martin Brodeur willing…nice consolation for any of you out there who missed the Superbowl due to these bloody colds that are going around - it’s going to be a party day, uhh, Martin Brodeur willing…Brodeur, incidentally, has let in three or more goals in his last five starts. Very unlike the Devil, and a tad worrisome with the Olympics starting in a few days…Frederick Sjostrom missed last night’s Leafs - Sharks game. The winger has been outstanding for Toronto after being acquired from Calgary last weekend…Mikhail Grabovski’s return to the Toronto line-up is imminent…some things never change; with rumours circulating that Philadelphia goalie Ray Emery may require surgery on his hip, the Flyers could be looking for a netminder. Tim Thomas of the Bruins is apparently available, though he would need to waive his no-trade clause…

PONIES…Quality Road has been awarded a spectacular 121 Beyer for his romp in the Donn Handicap Saturday at Gulfstream. That is the highest Beyer, at a distance greater than a mile, of the past five years. If the animal can remain healthy and mentally sound (Quality Road had to be scratched at the gate of the 2009 Breeders Cup Classic after a bout of fantastically unruly behaviour) he is certainly going to vie for top honours…Andrew Beyer and company once, for the sheer fun of it, went through historic races and calculated a Beyer, just to gain some perspective on the great thoroughbreds. The highest Beyer of all time, they discovered, would have been notched by the incomparable Secretariat, a high 140’s or low 150’s, for his 31 length win in the Belmont Stakes…

TURN LEFT…Saturday’s NASCAR Shootout was highly entertaining. I had placed a small wager on Greg Biffle at 30-1 and was pleasantly surprised to find him leading with two laps to go. Some tired tires resulted in Biffle being caught and sent airborne, an indication, I think, of the way this season is going to play out. Aggression is back. Bumping is back. Being a mean ole, paint swapping, beer swilling, rubber burnin’ sunofagun is back. Cleverly, after a period of docility, the rules have been overhauled to ensure that, as they say, this is your father’s NASCAR…it was nice guy Jeff Gordon, by the way, who rammed Greg Biffle. Yep, it could be a rough and tumble year on the circuit…

MEDIA…William Houston reports the Toronto Star first posted this; “Brendan Burke - the gay son of Leaf general manager Brian Burke-has been killed in a car accident in Indiana”, before changing it to, “Brendan Burke-the youngest son of Brian Burke - has been killed in a car accident in Indiana”…had a really bad moment when I realized the deplorable Olympic anthem “I Believe” is going to be played non-stop for the next couple of weeks. The song is just brutal…I just finished Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist” and admit to being a bit flabbergasted. The bloody thing is another “self-help” book, a la Tony Robbins and his ilk, dressed up as a modern parable! I didn’t know whether to laugh or stop as the ruddy little tale unfolded. Here’s a message; get mugged, it’s an opportunity! Starving in the desert, hey dude, don’t despair, your one step closer to your Personal Legend! If you’re into that kind of hokum, The Alchemist is far from the worse book of its type. But here’s the skinny; you’ll read it, feel inspired, and keep on doing what you’ve always been doing. Only real literature, or real art, can motivate a human to change. I became suspicious when the author boasted, in the forward, that Bill Clinton had been spotted reading the book. What author concerned with spiritual enlightenment would be delighted to find that cretin reading his book? “Great Expectations” will provide you with more intellectual and spiritual nourishment than any of this “self help” flotsam - but, unfortunately, reading and exploring Great Expectations will also require some actual effort and commitment on a reader’s part…two of the smartest readers I know, three thousand miles apart and independent of each other, have both told me I must read Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”. It’ll be my book on that long ride to the Kentucky Derby in May…