The Maple Leafs will not make the playoffs this season and it is in their best interest to bottom out. The Raptors don't look anything like a playoff team and, barring a turnaround of this unforeseen collapse, don't figure to be any kind of factor in the NBA. The Blue Jays are victims of the economy, their general manager, the spending of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and the growth of the Tampa Bay Rays. And the Argos don't have a coach or a clue.

Other than that, all is well.

If you look around, every city that is fortunate enough to have at least one NHL, NBA or team, should play host to a playoff game in this year. It's crazy in Boston, where the Celtics are atop the NBA East, the Bruins are atop of the NHL East, the Red Sox are the Red Sox and the Patriots somehow missed the playoffs with an 11-5 record. But in Toronto, where four of the five pro teams fired coaches in 2008, this year does not hold a great deal of promise.

THIS AND THAT

Hockey Night in Canada's favourite running back: Le'Ron McLain of the Baltimore Ravens ... How long before Pat Quinn is coaching or managing the Ottawa Senators? Or both? ... The more the Leafs play Curtis Joseph in goal, the better chance they'll have of being in the lottery for John Tavares ... The next month or two of hockey should be fascinating, watching to see what Brian Burke gets in return for Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina and Nik Antropov, three valuable pieces of playoff fodder ... For all those who credit Richard Peddie for all he has built at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., answer this: How much money has the company forfeited from all the Peddie years that the Leafs or Raptors didn't make the post-season? The decisions to hire John Ferguson and Rob Babcock alone cost MLSEL about $20 million ... Who saw this coming? Three years after the controversial Joe Thornton to San Jose trade, the Boston Bruins and the Sharks have the best records in all of hockey.

HEAR AND THERE

If Chantal Petitclerc is indeed Canada's athlete of the year, then how is it that Valerie Grand'Maison did not receive a single vote of the 114 ballots cast for The Canadian Press female athlete of the year? Grand'Maison won six paralympic medals at the Beijing Games in swimming, three of them gold. If one paralympian is deemed good enough to win, then surely an athlete as dominant as Grand'Maison should have appeared on one of the 342 votes for the award. Or is Petitclerc's victory nothing more than symbolic? ... Also, how is it that St. Louis Rams free safety O.J. Atogwe didn't get a single vote either for male athlete of the year? As the only Canadian playing a skill position in the National Football League -- and playing it near all-star level -- what does Atogwe have to do to get somebody's attention ... Glad to see Justin Morneau win the Lionel Conacher Award, especially after learning he had taken four needy families on a holiday shopping spree in the Twin Cities.

SCENE AND HEARD

With Ryan Howard, Josh Hamilton, Roy Halladay, Brandon Webb and Josh Beckett all saying no to Team USA -- the Americans are making a mockery of the World Baseball Classic. This event has a chance to grow into something special, but not until the best Americans buy in ... How does Mike Shanahan get fired in Denver, but Dick Jauron keep his job in Buffalo, Marvin Lewis keep his job in Cincinnati and Jack Del Rio keep his job in Jacksonville? ...If I had a Hall of Fame ballot this year, my only two votes would go to former Blue Jays Rickey Henderson and Jack Morris ... The pride of Medicine Hat and the University of Calgary, Dan Federkeil, started at guard last night for the Indianapolis Colts ... If John Ferguson had made the monumental error of drafting Andrea Bargnani he'd have been crucified for it. But there's something about Bryan Colangelo that makes you want to believe everything will turn out all right ... Anyone knowing the whereabouts of the Jays this winter, please contact the authorities ... Is there a more complete team in football than the defending Super Bowl champion, New York Giants, even without Plaxico Burress?

AND ANOTHER THING

The tragic hockey death of 21-year-old Don Sanderson should spark a meaningful debate about fighting in hockey, at all levels. Worth watching in all this is how the NHL Players' Association, under the insightful leadership of Paul Kelly, reacts ... Word is around that the Vancouver Canucks plan to take a run at Antropov to play alongside Mats Sundin ... Any Bowl game Nick Saban loses is a good one ... Happy birthday to Don Shula (78), Tom Wilkinson (65), Jay Z (39) and whatever the hell Puff Daddy (38) is calling himself these days ... Why the Raptors desperately need change: The team is 4-15 against NBA teams with winning records this season ... Am I alone in this? After the pre-game show was over, and after an NBC annoucner mistook Billy Williams for Ferguson Jenkins, the Winter Classic looked like just another hockey game to me ... Memo to the folks at Rogers: I went online yesterday afternoon and could have purchased Minnesota Vikings playoff tickets for $41 US and that includes all the regular Tickermaster thievery ... Never thought I'd see this in the NBA: Too many men on the court ... Terrific to see Usain Bolt win the world athlete of the year award, as voted by representatives of 90-plus countries. In the United States vote for world athlete of the year, Michael Phelps trounced Bolt. The world got it right: The U.S. didn't ... And hey, whatever became of George Ferguson?