The undefeated New England Patriots are heavily favoured over the New York Giants for Sunday’s Super Bowl largely because of their offensive line, which consistently gives quarterback Tom Brady enough time in the pocket for, say, a manicure.
With these behemoths protecting him, Brady threw an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes in the regular season. Yet the linemen haven’t attracted anywhere near the attention that Pretty Boy Tom, coach Bill Belichick, receiver Randy Moss and the other Pats have.
We here at Metro aim to rectify that. We’d like to mention the starting linemen: Centre Dan Koppen, guards Logan Mankins and Stephen Neal and tackles Matt Light and Nick Kaczur.
Kaczur’s name should be familiar to Canadians. After all, he’s one of us. He’s a 6-foot-5, 320-pounder from Brantford, Ont. He was selected in the first round (ninth overall) of the 2005 CFL draft by the Argonauts, but understandably chose New England, who selected him in the third round (100th overall) of the NFL draft that year.
Hey, I don’t spend much time watching offensive linemen and I assume you don’t, either. But let’s give Kaczur some looks Sunday, OK. He’s No. 77.
•Ottawa lost its CFL team and, more recently, its Triple-A baseball team, but there will still be a team to watch in the nation’s capital this summer.
Quietly, the CanAm Baseball League has moved into Ottawa. It’s an independent league with teams in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Quebec, and now, Ontario.
The new team will play at beautiful Ottawa Stadium, and thank the heavens the politicians didn’t tear down the facility (as they discussed).
The team’s GM will be baseball wizard Don Charrette, founder of the College of Baseball Connect, a service that connects elite high schoolers in Canada with scholarship opportunities in the United States.
•And don’t be surprised to see the slumping New Jersey Nets make major changes.
Coach Lawrence Frank could be out shortly.
In three-plus decades as a columnist and broadcaster, Marty York has built a network of solid contacts and a renowned reputation for his hard-hitting, groundbreaking style. The tradition continues in Metro Sports.
