UR TV CAST

That opinion was shattered when the judges, outrageously even in New York eyes long familiar with cynically adjudicated events at Madison Square Garden, scored a draw.When he left the arena Lewis said: “I knew they would try do pull something, but nothing as bad as this.” Now he fights to heal self-inflicted wounds. It is the crusade of an essentially good man who, no doubt, made a few mistakes on the way to a unique achievement in 20th century British sport. It means surely, as Frank Maloney has been decent enough to remind us, that cheering Lennox Lewis’s redemption will be a challenge for only the meanest of spirits.. Every great team needs a reliable running back, and while the St Louis Rams continued to win while Marshall Faulk spent three weeks absent through injury, they are clearly an unstoppable force when he is at full strength. He gained an astonishing 183 yards on only 15 carries, scoring two touchdowns before half-time as the Rams imposed their will on the feeble Panthers. In truth, perhaps anyone would have had a big day against Carolina: Faulk’s replacement, Trung Canidate, gained 145 yards on a mere 16 carries in the second half as the Panthers went into meltdown.With the quarterback Kurt Warner continuing to throw an alarming rate of interceptions (three more against the Panthers, giving him 10 in his last three games), the form and fitness of Faulk will clearly be a major factor as St Louis seek a second Super Bowl title in three years.If Faulk was a known commodity, Seattle’s Shaun Alexander confirmed his arrival with a blistering display against the Oakland Raiders.

Alexander, in his second season, is only playing because of an injury to Ricky Watters. Watters, however, may be seeking pastures new after Alexander pounded Oakland for 266 rushing yards, the fourth-highest total in league history. An 88-yard touchdown run helped the Seahawks prevail 34-27 in a game they had to win to keep their play-off prospects alive.The New York Jets were similarly indebted to their runner, Curtis Martin, who scored three touchdowns to lift his side past the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-7. No trip to the end zone for Pittsburgh’s Jerome Bettis, but the powerfully-built back’s 163 yards enabled the Steelers to edge the Cleveland Browns 15-12 in over-time.The result vindicated coach Bill Cowher’s decision to persist with his kicker, Kris Brown. Last week, Brown missed four field goals in the loss to Baltimore: on Sunday, he was responsible for all Pittsburgh’s points, including the crucial 32-yard effort in over-time.The Philadelphia Eagles unexpectedly dormant offense spluttered into life with a 48-17 crushing of the Minnesota Vikings. The running back, Duce Staley, gained 146 yards on 17 attempts, but the Eagles took flight behind the arm of their quarterback, Donovan McNabb, who threw three touchdowns and ran for another himself.A sound running game may be important, but it helps to have a quarterback who can rise to the occasion. The San Francisco 49ers passer Jeff Garcia threw four scoring passes, including a pair to Terrell Owens, as the Californians edged New Orleans 28-27.Without their injured running back, Edgerrin James, the Indianapolis Colts also turned to the air.

Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison combined for three touchdowns, but the Colts were beaten when Miami’s quarterback, Jay Fiedler, found Chris Chambers from 29-yards out for the game-winning score with less than eight minutes remaining.Few passers can match Green Bay’s Brett Favre for sustained brilliance, however. Favre has been amongst the league’s deadliest quarterbacks for more than a decade now, and confirmed that he has lost none of his guile as he steered the Packers to a 20-12 triumph in Chicago.. The piece of land at the foot of Cleeve Hill which routinely supplies the most exciting moments in all of horseracing is, at the end of this week, to be returned to its proper usage, the business of staging Festivals. They will be as keen as anyone to see the politics of the sport thrown on the muckheap and replaced by the raw excitement of top-class horses competing over obstacles.This week’s grandly-named Open meeting is no spring Festival (nothing ever could compare), but it does, once again, remind us what the winter sport has in store over the next six months. Friday’s opening card comes under the guise of countryside day, when the mazy run around Cheltenham’s cross-country course will provide the feature.Sunday may give us another novice chaser of great merit, as it did 12 months ago, when Best Mate captured the Independent Newspapers Novices’ Chase, while sandwiched between the two is the main day, the main race, of the meeting.The Thomas Pink Gold Cup may have suffered an identity crisis over the years – it can still be easily referred to as either the Mackeson or the Murphys – but it remains a formidable test for trainers attempting to attain an early readiness in one of their better horses.Of course, there is no figure better qualified in this area than Martin Pipe, who brings a formidable record into Saturday’s highlight.

We had barely heard of the limping one when Beau Ranger took this contest in 1987, but since then there have been victories with Cyfor Malta in 1998 and Lady Cricket, who led home another Pond House inmate in Exit Swinger last year. Pipe even managed to win this race in 1996 with Challenger Du Luc, who was such a monkey that he should have resided on a volcanic island and been worshipped by the natives.Lady Cricket will allow someone else to have a go this year as she will wait until next month and the Tripleprint Gold Cup to test herself over Prestbury Park’s contours. Exit Swinger returns for another shot, however, but is not the most favoured of Pipe’s four entries. That honour belongs to Shooting Light, a talented hurdler when in the charge of Pat Murphy, and an even more potent chaser now that he is being serviced at Nicolashayne and is running on Pipe super.It was only a race in the broad meaning of the word when the eight-year-old ran over course and distance last month.