Buccaneers 27, Bills 6

Last week I asked friends and colleagues if they could think of a world figure, at any point in history, who was more revered, more respected, more loved or more admired than Nelson Mandela. Names like Gandhi and Mother Tesesa were suggested - and they are obviously worthy of admiration - but, for many reasons, it's hard to top Mandela. His commitment to reconciliation so soon after his release from 27 years of imprisonment was truly visionary and even a modest impulse of retribution on his part would have been entirely understandable. But he chose not to act on that impulse, if he had it at all.

In 1998, I saw him, from a distance of about 20 feet, as he arrived at the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto to speak at a luncheon in his honour. He was a tall, impressive and fatherly figure who smiled at the crowd as he made his way from his car and into the hotel. As we spent the past few days remembering him, when I saw the footage, from the same trip, of his attendance at the re-naming of a Toronto elementary school in his name, I saw the same smile and his deep sense of appreciation which he had for Canada. He had a great respect for Brian Mulroney and his efforts to urge the world to join him in shaming the South African government to make the changes which it eventually did. In this regard, history will rightfully not be kind to Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher.

On this Monday morning, I sit at the table in my cottage as steady snow falls on the frozen lake. It's -5 now and a winter wonderland here. I will probably need to put my tire chains on to ensure that I can get up the big hill without worrying about it. I'm here with my cousin Peter who has a full cast on after breaking his lower left leg in late October. He wanted so badly to take a sauna but, so far, has decided against it. He is moving surprisingly well on crutches through the snow. I bring firewood into the cottage for him but, other than that, he is self-sufficient.

Yesterday, I walked with Sophie the white dog over to Saw Lake with my skates. It is frozen a bit thicker than our lake is but let there be no doubt that I was skating on pretty thin ice. But I kept close to shore, wore my life-jacket and maintained my speed. The ice was perfectly smooth - and a good thing because I would not have been able to see any cracks or other anomalies through the 2 inches of fresh powdery snow. I used the opportunity to work on my backward cross-over turns. Didn't fall once.

I did see most of the Seahawks / 49ers game and the ending of the Ravens / Vikings game. Those were good games, unlike the Bills game which I gave up on at 17-3 when I went skating. It was nice to Rian Lindell still kicking well. He was always a class act.