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GRID IRON…ex Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford was extremely impressive working out for scouts and GM’s on Monday and is now viewed as the likely first overall selection in the upcoming draft. Congratulations, Sam, and hey, hope you enjoy standing behind that creaky Ram offensive line…the football world is abuzz with the news that QB JaMarcus Russell may have weighed as much as 290 lbs when he reported to the Oakland Raider voluntary camp last week. The Raiders had assured the media that Russell was working hard in the offseason and would report in the 250 lb range. Al Davis appears to have thrown in the towel on JaMarcus, an extremely talented player with the energy and commitment of a sloth, and redoubled his efforts to pry Donovan McNabb from Philadelphia…the Raiders are rumoured to be offering CB Nmandi Asomugha straight up for McNabb, a beauty of a deal for the Eagles…

ICE…the Chicago Blackhawks have seven losses in their past ten games. The Hawks have been ripped for playing “undisciplined and emotionless”, a peculiar combination for one of the Stanley Cup  favourites. The team has significant challenges in goal and could be vulnerable as the playoffs begin. The team was walloped by a moribund Columbus team in two games recently, allowing 12 goals to a team safely outside of the post season race…Henrik Sedin, the NHL scoring leader? If that isn’t one of the biggest surprises of the past year than I’m a chocolate rat. With a mere seven games to go Sedin has the slimmest of leads (one point) on Alex Ovechkin. Peter Forsberg is the only Swedish player to have ever won the NHL scoring race…Marco Sturm is the only Boston Bruin player with more than 20 goals this season…Jonas Gustavsson will attempt to win his eighth game in a row as the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Atlanta Thrashers tonight. The Leaf record stands at nine, set by Felix Potvin during the 1993 season…Tim Thomas looked brutal last night, whiffing on three goals after facing just 14 shots. Tuukka Rask came in and was perfect, but it was too little too late as the Bruins were beaten 3-2 by the Buffalo Sabres…

PUG LIFE…it had appeared that American fighters had ceded superiority in the Super Middleweight division to their European counterparts. The Showtime Super Six tournament has recorded two stunning upsets and in both instances Americans have shocked highly regarded opponents from across the pond. Mikkel Kessler was out boxed by Andre Ward and, this past Saturday, Arthur Abraham was beaten by Andre Dirrell. The upsets, as well as the high quality of the fights, has added considerable spice to the tournament. The next fights feature Mikkel Kessler against Carl Froch (who holds a win over Dirrell) and Allen Green vs. Andre Ward…in a non tournament bout, Lucian Bute squares off with Edison Miranda in Montreal on April 17^th. It’s a risky fight for Bute but one that could generate enormous rewards. Bute is positioning himself to be the first challenger to the “Super Six” tournament winner in a mega bucks battle. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bute fight Jermain Taylor in the fall if he is successful on the 17^th…David Hayes and John Ruiz fight this Saturday in London. Hayes was lucky to get a decision over Nikolai Valuev in his last and still has not really established his heavyweight bona fides. Ruiz is a universally disliked plodder. But here’s where it gets interesting. Ruiz is +400 on the betting lines and that is far too charitable. People are clearly being blinded by what they desperately want to happen (which is that Ruiz would just go away) and not the reality that this is a match between two relatively evenly matched fighters. At this price an investment in Ruiz is a must…this will be the second straight heavyweight “title” fight without American network coverage…

MEDIA…ESPN’s Bill Simmons is in top form with his coverage of the most recent Wrestlemania. His column is quite funny than suddenly poignant as he reflects on the career of Shawn Michaels. The ending is strange - Simmons seems on the verge of renouncing wrestling, perhaps a wise choice for all of us upon reaching a certain age, but then backs down as he speculates his young son is likely to grow into a WWE fan…Bruce Dowbiggin certainly stirred the pot with a terrific piece of writing in yesterdays Globe and Mail. The usually cautious columnist decided to unload on the “closed door” mentality of hockey commentary on those ubiquitous television panels. The best part was when it was suggested the most important part of hockey today, a team’s ability to manage the salary cap, is a topic simply beyond the talking heads. Shawn Horcoff and Matt Stajan, respectively of Edmonton and Calgary, were mentioned as two players with preposterous, future killing contracts…