Sports Comments: F1, New England Patriots, Toronto and the NFL

Movie fans will recall, in "The Magnificent Ambersons" George eventually got his "comeuppance."

Yesterday, the entire McLaren team got theirs. In the most improbable of scenarios Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen - thanks to his victory in Brazil - earned his second World Driver's Championship. Teammate Felipe Massa finished second while Fernando Alonso came in third. Ferrari were annointed constructor's champions in light of spygate.

Of course, 2007 will go on record as being the most controversial and bizarre seasons in racing history. The year had it all internal dissention, intrigue and deceit. Hey, see I told you. It's not only the NBA, NHL, MLB and the NFL that go through the soap-opera tunnel. Europeans are familiar with it as well with cycling, soccer and racing. No sport is spared of controversy it seems these days.

Given the theft of Ferrari's intellectual property by McLaren, this was a just result.

-So. What will the "devastation scale" look like by the time the New England Patriots are done? Wow. It's been a long time since sports fans have witnessed such outright dominance. I...love...dynasties. Bring back Rome and Britain dammit!

-Last, in the "thoughtless comment category" we head to Sportsnet. Canadians - well Torontonians - are giddy with the prospect of the NFL coming to Canada. It seems the NFL is apparently looking into having Toronto host some games at the expense of the Buffalo Bills.

Poor Buffalo. Not only are they "always a bridesmaid but never the bride" but they are in perpetual danger of losing their beloved sports franchises: the Sabres and Bills. They are a combined 0-6 in Stanley Cup and Super Bowl finals.


Anyway, if the NFL would ever come to Canada - and it still remains a long shot - the implications for the CFL would be great. With the CFL being the perfect tool for all things nationalist I would imagine politics - as in Ottawa - would get involved and make things difficult. Canadians are justifiably attached (even though they don't always show it. I still think that if the NFL offered to annex the CFL outright most Canadians would accept the offer) to the CFL and the loss of Toronto would probably spell the end of the league as a viable commercial enterprise - or at the very least weaken it significantly.

With this background, in a conversation about the NFL coming to Canada with an American NFL insider the hostess closed the topic by saying, "Good news for Canada."

Make that good for Toronto. It is good news on one end but it's terrible news for the CFL. I think she should have chosen her words wiser.

I'm just saying.