Top 10 Most Overrated Active Athletes

10) Michael Phelps - Swimming: Yes, 8 gold medals is quite an extraordinary achievement. But guys who finished 4th and 5th were breaking world records in that pool as well. Something tells me if Phelps was Chinese, we'd be questioning his age.

9) Maria Sharapova - Tennis: For all the accolades Ms. Sharapova receives, her domination seems to come only when the Williams sisters are off their game, either literally or mentally. If she recovers from her current injury well enough to beat them at Wimbledon next year, I'll be a believer.

8) Rick Nash - Columbus Blue Jackets: The former 1st-overall pick has only been a plus player twice in his pro career - with a + 5 and a + 2 last year, with no playoff appearances for his Blue Jackets. Add in that his highest point total was last year with 69, and it's easy to see why he shouldn't have a team built around him.

7) Donovan McNabb - Philadelphia Eagles: Too many injuries (only 3 seasons where he started all 16 games) and no ring means he shouldn't be put into the upper echelon like he is.

6) A.J. Burnett - Toronto Blue Jays: It's easy to get a career high in wins when you don't go the distance once all year and baseball's best pen is behind you. Halladay went the distance 9 times, A.J. - 0.

5) Michelle Wie - Golf: This one's hard because it's not really her fault. She's been placed as a sponsor's exemption in second-tier men's events rather than play with her own gender. Thankfully, her success at Q-school is the first step to getting back on track.

4) Francisco Rodriguez - Los Angeles Angels: Also not K-Rod's fault that he's here. His "record" 62 saves are impressive, yes, but playing on a great team helps. Not to mention the rule that even with a 3 run cushion, a save can still be recorded. He'll get a huge offer from a number of teams - the largest from the Mets, I'm sure, after this year's failures from the pen - and a decent number of pitchers could likely set the same record on this Angels team.

3) Brett Favre - New York Jets: It's hard to write this one after his 6 TD performance against Arizona today (although it would have been less had the Cards, you know, covered anybody), but Mr. Favre holds all the bad records for quarterbacks as well as the good ones. That comes with his Ripken-like starting streak and the natural law of numbers. If you play more than everybody else, you'll set more records than they will. He does get points, though, for saying today "Don't book your Super Bowl tickets yet."

2) Tom Brady - New England Patriots: Brady's inclusion on this list is tied to the performance of Matt Cassel, who so far has been good, not great, for the Pats. If Cassel improves as I think he will and leads the Patriots to the playoffs, Brady's mystique is gone forever.

1) Phil Mickelson - Golf: The reason Phil Mickelson is so popular is because of his endearing personality. Everyone loves him, and I think he's a very engaging character. His 34 PGA tour wins help his fame, but after finally breaking through the majors wall by winning 3, Phil has faded. He only has 2 wins this year, even without the omnipresent Tiger Woods over his shoulder. Everyone wants a rival for Tiger, like we have with Federer and Nadal in tennis. The only problem, Tiger has no rival, no equal. He is the best golfer ever, period. And much like Sergio Garcia (who narrowly missed this list), Phil Mickelson is rated higher by the media and by fans because of that desire.

Bartlet Meets Obama

Oh, Aaron Sorkin. Thank you.

Paging Mr. Bledsoe

It was made official today - Tom Brady's knee injury suffered in yesterday's game against the Chiefs is serious enough to make the reigning MVP miss the rest of the season.

The scuttlebutt around the media today is centered around the "other" teams in the AFC, who now have a chance to win the conference - and even the division.

Now, let me take you back to '01. Patriots star quarterback Drew Bledsoe goes down early in the season. Previously unknown 6th-round pick from Michigan (where he backed up Drew Henson) takes the reigns and leads New England to the Super Bowl.

Now, fast forward to today. Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady goes down early in the season. Previously unknown 7th-round pick from USC (where he backed up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart) takes the reigns and...

Well, we'll see.

If Matt Cassel, who will likely make his first career NFL start against Brett Favre and the Jets on Sunday, can succeed in the Bill Belichick offence and lead the Pats back to the Super Bowl, or at least deep in the playoffs, all discussion of the greatness of Tom Brady must stop.

Forever.

If Cassel succeeds, it will be proven that any quarterback will a head on his shoulders and a decent arm can win in the Pats' system. Now, whether that success is from coaching and match-ups, or from cheating and spying, remains unknown. But a Patriots Super Bowl is not out of the question simply because #12 isn't behind centre anymore.

Certainly there will be a learning curve, as there was with Brady. But Belichick's system is solid, and after a few weeks, Cassel should thrive and bring the Patriots back to the playoffs. And if he does, the cynical members of the media will begin to doubt the merits of whomever New England puts behind centre.

And if he doesn't succeed, and whoever the Patriots bring in fails also, we will know that Tom Brady is worth all the praise heaped upon him.

Autumn - When A Young Man's Fancy Turns To Football

So, here we are (finally): After months of doldrums (yeah, yeah, the Olympics. What else you got? Nothing? Exactly), we finally arrive at the best season for sports - autumn. Of course, autumn kicks off with the NFL season, and with that, my pathetic attempt at predicting the upcoming campaign. So, on that positive note...

AFC

East
New England (12-4)
Buffalo (9-7)
New York (6-10)
Miami (4-12)

It's hard to imagine a team other than the Patriots winning this division, but the rest of the division will make strides this year. Just not enough to catch the Evil Empire.

North
Cleveland (10-6)
Pittsburgh (10-6)
Cincinnati (7-9)
Baltimore (3-13)

Remember when Baltimore and Cincinnati were contenders? Me too. The battle between the Browns and the Steelers should come right down to the wire, and I have a sense Pittsburgh will fall just short of the division and the wild card.

South
Indianapolis (12-4)
Jacksonville (10-6)*
Houston (10-6)*
Tennessee (6-10)

Easily the conference's strongest division, the South should produce both wild card teams; but, unlike most people, I'm not sold on Tennessee. Instead, the Texans will finally break through and squeak past Pittsburgh for the last playoff spot.

West
San Diego (14-2)
Oakland (7-9)
Denver (5-11)
Kansas City (2-14)

What is there to say about this horrendous division? The downside for the Chargers is they won't have any games with playoff implications and may be flat in the post-season. Besides that, they have it quite easy this year.

Playoffs:

(3) Indianapolis over (6) Houston; (5) Jacksonville over (4) Cleveland
(1) San Diego over (5) Jacksonville; (3) Indianapolis over (2) New England
(1) San Diego over (3) Indianapolis

The Colts victory over the Patriots will produce an empty feeling as the Chargers ride home field to victory and a berth in the Super Bowl.

NFC

East
Dallas (12-4)
New York (10-6)*
Washington (7-9)
Philadelphia (6-10)

It's hard to imagine the Giants repeating this year, since it took everything falling into place perfectly last year for it to happen. But the Cowboys are unpredictable, and the Skins and Eagles aren't at the Giants level.

North
Green Bay (10-6)
Minnesota (10-6)*
Detroit (5-11)
Chicago (3-13)

This division is a toss-up between two mediocre teams, the Packers and the Vikings. Both squads have inexperienced pivots, so in the end, it comes down to the Vikes running game against the Pack's balance and experience from last year. Slight edge to the cheeseheads for one simple reason: If Minnesota wanted Brett Favre so badly, just how bad is Tarvaris Jackson anyway?

South
Tampa Bay (11-5)
New Orleans (9-7)
Carolina (5-11)
Atlanta (2-14)

The Saints, after an amazing season two years ago, are coming off a sub-par campaign, and as a result, are stocked up for this year. The only problem is, they aren't stacked up enough. Look for the Bucs to hold them off for the division title.

West
Seattle (11-5)
Arizona (6-10)
San Francisco (4-12)
St. Louis (3-13)

It's hard to imagine a division worse than the NFC West. So, once again, the Seahawks will walk away with the title.

Playoffs:

(6) Minnesota over (3) Tampa Bay; (5) New York over (4) Green Bay
(1) Dallas over (6) Minnesota; (5) New York over (2) Seattle
(1) Dallas over (5) New York

Dallas gets their revenge on their division rivals by knocking off the Giants at home to advance to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl: San Diego over Dallas. The Chargers balanced attack and defence prove too much for the Cowboys, who are worn down after a tough division race and punishing NFC Championship game to handle San Diego.

My View From The "Cheap" Seats

Well, there it is.

A ticket from the "first" game for the Bills in Toronto (and by first, of course I mean third).

Please note the price.

Well, we all have, haven't we. The biggest complaint going into the Bills in Toronto experiment was the outrageous pricing Rogers put on seats to these games.

100 level seats are $575, and nosebleed 500 level seats like the one in the picture were almost $200 each.

And yet...48,000 people were in the Rogers Centre with me last night.

And yes, I know the stories. Scalpers unable to unload their plethora of tickets. Thousands given away by Rogers in the past week to show the NFL that this wasn't a colossal mistake. The Rogers tickets, by the way, were how I was able to get this seat, because, honestly, I wouldn't pay $10 for a pre-season game in any sport, let alone $200.

But throughout all the negative stories and frustrated CFL fans, one thing remained true about the game: it was entertaining. An opening drive deflected interception, a kickoff return for a touchdown and several exciting catch and runs. Was it worth $200-$575? I guess that depends on your disposable income.

The one thing I do know, though, is that the crowd at the game was evenly split between Bills fans and Steelers fans, who were only outnumbered by general NFL fans. When the Dolphins come here in December for Canada's first regular season NFL game, it will not seem like a home game for the Bills, regardless of the signs and cheerleaders on the field.

Until the Bills move here permanently, and build a new football-friendly stadium along with it, Toronto will just be a city where the Bills play, and not their home.

As for the CFL fans worried about the state of their preferred league...the only reason to be concerned would be if more people went to see the Bills in Toronto than the Argos or the Tiger-Cats. And if that happens, your preferred league wouldn't have stood a chance anyway.

Bretty And The Jets

So it's official - and just like a New York team to announce something big like this in the middle of the night - Brett Favre is a New York Jet.

Some things to keep in mind, roughly 24 hours after news of the trade broke:

1) For all the talk of the greatness, amazing ability, and all-around God-like qualities Mr. Favre apparently possesses, it strikes me as somewhat humbling (I hope) that the best deal the Packers could get for him was a conditional draft pick. For one of the all-time great quarterbacks in NFL history, Green Bay is guaranteed a 4th-round pick, and only gets a 1st-round pick if the Jets make the Super Bowl under Favre's command. A tall order, especially since their odds of making the playoffs are low to begin with.

2) New York decided, in its infinite wisdom, that an accurate quarterback in Chad Pennington is less appealing to them and their future than a "gunslinger" QB who has the ability to lose a game as much as he has the ability to win it. Don't get me wrong; Brett Favre, even at age 38, is a better pivot than Chad Pennington. But is he really the saviour for a franchise trying to compete with a Super Bowl champion who plays in the same stadium?

3) If Favre had ended up in Tampa as was reported on Wednesday, Jeff Garcia would officially have the title of "Most Underappreciated Quarterback." All the guy does in win wherever he goes, and still nothing. He should have never left the Stampeders...

4) If Aaron Rodgers does well in Green Bay and Favre stumbles with the Jets, public and media sympathy for Brett will go very far...out the window.

5) The Jets and Packers don't play this year, which means we won't have to deal with the inevitable media build-up to such a match-up, particularly had it been in Green Bay.

6) Summer brings out some really lazy headlines by sports writers and editors: "Leaving On A Jet Plane"? How about "Pack, Pack, Gone!" or the title of this entry. Everyone checks out in August, it seems.

In the end, the NFL season is so unpredictable that a trade like this will have little to no effect on the outcome of the season. Neither Green Bay nor New York is a playoff team, so, once the season gets going and the post-Favre hangover wears off, we can focus on what matters: watching the Patriots crash and burn.

ADDENDUM: As per the headlines, the NFL home page probably had the most clever one: "New Jersey for Favre". Well done.

Now THAT'S A Frenzy!

When comparing trade deadlines in sports, Major League Baseball's version is usually as exciting as a Tiger-less non-major golf tournament. But yesterday's (non-waiver) trade deadline produced 2 blockbuster deals that may dramatically shift the balance of power in half of the divisions in baseball.

First, the one no one saw coming as the deadline passed at 4 p.m.: Manny Ramirez to the L.A. Dodgers, Jason Bay to the Red Sox, and 4 guys named Moe to the Pirates. The A.L. East now no longer has to deal with Big Papi and Manny back-to-back, but Jason Bay is a very good hitter and fielder, and will fit in nicely with the Boston squad. Even with the Yankees improvements this week (Nady and Pudge), Boston is still the best team in the division, and should squeak by the Yanks and the Rays (who did nothing, but were close to getting Bay) to represent the East in the playoffs.

As for the Dodgers, the Ramirez acquisition puts them clearly ahead of Arizona in baseball's worst division. Adding his power to complement Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent should push this .500 team to the post-season, and it may allow them to challenge the Mets and Cubs for the NL pennant.

The other big deal of the day was Cincinnati sending Ken Griffey (please stop calling him Junior) to the White Sox. This gives Griffey his best shot yet of winning a World Series, but nothing is locked for him and Chicago. After fighting off Minnesota and Detroit for the Central crown, they will be forced to knock out at least one of Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Tampa, three of which have recent World Series championships. Kudos to the Sox for the trade, but in the deep American League, it likely won't help their chances.

And then, there's our beloved Blue Jays. Rumours say the Jays turned down a Jason Bay - Shaun Marcum/Travis Snider deal, as well as a deal with the Mariners for Raul Ibanez. At the end of the day, Toronto is not as strong a team as they were in April, what with the losses of Marcum, Aaron Hill and Dustin McGowan to injury this year. And let's be honest: they weren't that strong in April to begin with. But in a year where teams held on to future talent tighter than grim death, Toronto fell into line with the rest of the major leagues. We just need to hope that Snider is everything the Pirates wanted - and soon.