The NFL loves it when a good plan comes together. Or so it must seem for the poor Detroit Lions, whose play-off demise on Sunday was sparked by a highly-questionable refereeing decision.

A certain symmetry. The man who went before — Big Ron — met Alex Ferguson in autumn of 1986 and found him strangely distant. Soon after, the rumours Ron had heard proved correct.

TOPPING their own standard for dramatic triumphs, the New England Patriots won their second Super Bowl crown in three years on Sunday with a repeat of the same heart-stopping thrills that brought a title in 2002.

EACH year in Green Bay hundreds of new Packers fans are born. They are carried home from hospital wrapped in green and gold NFL Packers blankets, sucking happily on Packers soothers and fed from Packers baby bottles.