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GRID IRON…the 2009 NFL season was my least favourite in recent memory. The dearth of competent defence’s made each game a raucous cornucopia of discord and inconsistency. The plunge of the NFL into CFL-like erraticism will hopefully be arrested during the 2010 season. There is cause for hope. Potentially superb D’s are being assembled in places like Green Bay, New York (Jets), Washington, Dallas, Minnesota and San Francisco, and perennial powers in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago (yes, it’s true) and Baltimore should rebound with some minor adjustments. Two years ago the ferocity of the Pittsburgh - Baltimore rivalry was causing the Commissioner’s Office to fret about a potential death in a game. Last year left most speculating if the art of tackling had completely disappeared in places like Arizona, Buffalo and Tampa…speaking of the Bills, speculation continues that the moribund franchise will make a determined play for Michael Vick. The team is going to really struggle at the box office without some bit of sizzle and, according to some, the washed up Vick brings the steam…Julius Peppers seems pissed that the Carolina Panthers are balking at paying his 14-15 million dollar salary request. Peppers plays hard every once in a while. When he does, he is very, very good. When he is pouting, he is very, very bad. Does not add up to that outrageous demand…NFL teams begin their off-season programs in the middle of March…

ICE…you can settle for Damien Cox’s toothless evaluation of Bob Gainey’s tenure in Montreal, or check out the superb evaluation by Michael Farber on the S I site. Farber is quietly scathing in pointing out the numerous failures of Gainey as he methodically downgraded a franchise that seemed set to join the NHL’s upper echelon a mere three years ago. Now their undersized collection of forwards, massively overpaid, act as a millstone on a team seemingly without direction…Gainey’s best work in Montreal revolved around his ability to massage the very best from that reluctant star Alex Kovalev. His persistent championing of the immature Carey Price, including the trade of Cristobal Huet for a second round pick just before a Price playoff meltdown, represented Gainey at his worst…disappearing act; John Tavares of the New York Islanders is currently doing his best imitation of Houdini. Seldom has a highly touted star hit “the wall” the way Tavares has, slumping to two goals and five assists in his last 28 games. This despite abundant ice time and plenty of power play action…also falling apart - Jimmy Howard has won only won three of his last twelve starts between the pipes for Detroit. The Red Wings are in trouble. Would they do the unthinkable and get in play for a new goaltender? Tim Thomas and Marty Turco are only a couple of the big names apparently available…speaking of Thomas, with Tuukka Rask having started four games in a row, it’s apparent that a new era is underway in Beantown…the most important player in the upcoming Olympics may well be defenseman Andrei Markhov. The only weakness on a spellbinding Russian roster is along the blueline and the Habs stalwart will likely be asked to shoulder over 25 minutes a game. If he can handle the pressure, as well as quarterbacking the power play, the Russians will be close to unbeatable…

PUG LIFE…great news, Spike TV will be showing the documentary Facing Ali on Mon Feb 15^that 9pm. The acclaimed documentary, based on Stephen Brunt’s book of the same title, interviews ten men who fought Muhammad Ali. Brunt’s book is already an essential in any fight fans library. The documentary interviews a few different fighters than the book, with the key acquisition being Neon Leon Spinks. In an interview on The Fan, Brunt admitted that despite four months of effort, he was unable to track down Spinks. The film and the book are separate projects but both Brunt and the filmmakers appeared cordial and copacetic during the Bob McCowan segment…I kept the book on my bedside table for about a year after it was published. It was fantastic to read the perspective of the men who were granted the opportunity of a lifetime, facing The Greatest, and the repercussions of their stint at the centre of the sporting world. The fighters are amusing in the sense that virtually all of them recall being on the verge of beating Ali except for the intervention of some untimely calamity. One can read the fighter’s description of the fight, and then, thanks to You Tube, actually watch the bout. Two fighters, Ron Lyle and Earnie Shavers, certainly have cases for being hard done by. Lyle was magnificent, outboxing Ali and leading on all scorecards before being caught with a vicious right. Shavers, by any objective reading, deserved a decision win against Ali but for a ferocious and, too many, legendary last round rally by Ali. His fifteenth round excoriation of The Acorn was Ali’s last great moment in the ring. Pat Putnam, the incomparable Sports Illustrated writer, echoed my sentiments by dismissing those who regarded Manila as Ali’s last stand…two myths surround Ali’s fights of the seventies. First, no way, no how, did Jimmy Young get robbed during his 1976 fight with Ali. Watch the fight. Young has his moments but is clearly beaten by an enormously overweight Ali. Secondly, Ken Norton was not jobbed by the refs in his Sept 28^th, 1976 scrap with Ali. Norton was guilty of complacency and is the sole architect of his strategy to take the last round “off” (the judges had the fight dead even after fourteen rounds, Ali clearly wins the last). Norton’s grievous miscalculation is incomprehensible given the magnitude of the fight and the sheer heft of Ali’s reputation. The win was bobbing in front of Norton like a shiny, golden apple - he made the decision to fall asleep by the tree trunk…

PONIES…the first Kentucky Derby Futures pool is offered this weekend. Twenty three runners are offered with the twenty fourth option being “all others” (every eligible thoroughbred not listed among the twenty three options). The field, as usual, will be favoured (5-2 in the morning line odds but more likely to be around 8-5 at the pool’s closing) with the lowest bet runner expected to be Looking At Lucky (8-1 in the morning line), a horse guaranteed to be up the track on Derby Day. Last year we started the big pimping for PioneeroftheNile at this time. It was an incredible journey with the game runner launching a heroic quest that saw him finally upset on Derby Day by “The Horse That Shall Not Be Named”, costing yours truly thousands. Will I have another heartbreaker for you this year? Count on it…