TGIM

With apologies to the late, great Jimmy Cannon, nobody asked me but . . .

1. No one absolutely no one -- is more paranoid than a professional football coach.
They are control freaks.
They treat their game as though it is war. It is their team against the world. You are either for them or agin them. Period.
Their world is black and white. There is no grey area.
They oftentimes are so wrapped up in their football world that they are oblivious to everyone and everything outside their shadows.
When it comes to being a control freak and a five-star football general, Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots has been on top of the heap, in a world of his own, if you will.
His Patriots having won three Super Bowls in a four-year period, Belichick pretty much had carte blanche. He was recognized as a football genius. Until last weekend when one of his flunkies got caught filming the New York Jets’ defensive signals.
Today, Belichick is recognized only as a cheater.
Just like Barry Bonds. Just like Rodney Harrison. Just like Rick Ankiel. Just like Troy Glaus. Just like Mark McGwire. Just like Rafael Palmeiro. Just like . . . the list is endless.

2. Of course, this is the same Bill Belichick who has continually thumbed his nose at the NFL by wearing that gawd-awful hoodie -- surely there is a homeless person in the Boston area who is shivering in the cold -- on the sidelines.
This is the same Bill Belichick who so absolutely hates the NFL rule pertaining to disclosure of injuries that every week the Patriots list quarterback Tom Brady as probable with a right shoulder injury. Yes, if you went to nfl.com last week you would have found Brady listed as “probable” with an “R shoulder” injury. And if you visit nfl.com this week Brady is sure to be listed as “probable” again.

3. By the way, Belichick -- or Belicheater as he is known in some corners -- got off lightly. For whatever reason, NFL commish Roger Goodell chose not to suspend him.
Goodell, who has been whacking players left and right, suspended Dallas Cowboys quarterback coach Wade Wilson for five games and fined him $100,000 when he fessed up to using human growth hormone. In Wilson’s case, he was diagnosed with diabetes 20 years ago and says he tried HGH in an attempt to improve his quality of life.
Belichick got fined 500 big ones but didn’t get suspended. He’ll get the money back from owner Robert Kraft in his next contract.
He may never get back his credibility.

4. By the way, if you’ve been listening closely, you noticed that Belichick has yet to admit guilt. Like Jason Giambi before him, Belichick has apologized. But for what?

5. If you’re wondering how much help a quarterback would get if he knew the defence he was going to face, consider this from Hall of Famer Dan Marino who, on CBS’s The NFL Today, offered: "To a quarterback, if you know the signals ahead of time, that's a huge advantage. If you know where the blitz is going to come from, what coverage that they're going to be in . . . you could make Boomer Esiason look like Joe Montana."

6. And you can bet that the Patriots approached Sunday's game with the San Diego Chargers as one of those "us against the world" contests. Every football fan outside of New England was wanting the Chargers to put a beatdown on the Patriots. We all saw what happened. Just think how bad it would have been had the Patriots had San Diego's defensive signals.

7. Just wondering, but whatever happened to Tank Johnson?

8. Yes, I’ll read The Water Boy, the book written by B.C. Lions president Bob Ackles, with Vancouver Sun columnist Ian Mulgrew, that details the former’s tour through the CFL, XFL and NFL.
As for the book’s title, well, it all began when Ackles was the Lions’ water boy.
And a case could be made for his still being a water boy. After all, he and his wife, Kay, are loving life on their 40-foot yacht.

9. Before getting to The Water Boy, I have to finish The Entitled, a novel by the great Frank Deford that is to be savoured.
There aren‘t a whole lot of terrific sports-based novels on book shelves, but this is one of them.
Howie Traveler is the manager of the Cleveland Indians in a book that overflows with major league life. You just know that every quote, every personality, every itch and every scratch is something Deford witnessed or experienced in a writing career that took him into more locker rooms than he cares to remember. And only he is able to bring it to life in such a way that the reader can smell the sweat.

10. And then there is the fabulous world of motorsports where the FIA World Motor Sport Council dealt with its own version of Spygate by fining McLaren, an English team, US$100 million.
Yes, $100 million! Makes you want to say: Th-th-th-that’s all folks!
Think about that one for a moment.
If you were to net $35,000 a year, it would take you slightly more than 2,857 years to make enough to cover that fine.

11. This is a great time and a terrible time to be around WHL teams. Great because the players are fresh and eager and full of pith and vinegar and optimism abounds. Terrible because many teams are carrying more than three 20-year-old players and that‘s too many.
Such is the case with the Kamloops Blazers, who know that one of Dustin Butler, Ryan Bender, Brock Nixon and Ryan White must go.
The odds are that it will be Butler, who has done nothing wrong other than grow older. Only in major junior hockey is that a sin. Only in major junior hockey can a player get cut not because he isn’t good enough but because he’s too old even though he isn’t too old.
Every year, WHL teams are forced to cut loose players in whom they have invested time, effort and money. In some cases, a team might recoup $1,000, which is the waiver fee. In many cases, teams get back nothing.
It makes one wonder why the WHL, which, after all, is in the entertainment business, doesn’t raise the roster limit to five or six 20-year-olds per team. That would remove some of the 16-year-olds from the rosters, allowing them to spend another season in midget AAA or junior A and get some much-needed playing time.
The end result, of course, would be an older, more mature and more entertaining WHL product.
And shouldn’t that be the bottom line?

12. Hey, it could be worse. You could be a fan of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.