Opining on sport's rich and famous, Bills GM Buddy Nix's legacy, Donovan McNabb's jersey retirement and more

Spraying opinions to all fields:

·         Sports Illustrated’s “Fortunate 50” list of the highest-paid American athletes is out and the leader is boxer Floyd Mayweather at close to $90 mil. Very surprising, considering the Sweet Science’s dramatic decline in popularity. There apparently still are big bucks to be made in close-circuit TV contracts – which explains where the lion’s share of Mayweather’s money came from. He didn’t earn a single dollar in endorsements, which, again, speaks to boxing’s precipitous decline.

Rounding out the Top 10 were LeBron James, Drew Brees, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson, Derrick Rose, Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez and Zack Greinke.

The Top 50 featured 25 baseball players – including four Yankees – 13 NBA players and only eight NFL players, despite the fact pro football is by far the most popular sport in the land.

Given Tiger’s rebound from his personal problems I wouldn’t be surprised to see him regain the No. 1 spot he’s had a strangle-hold on for several years.

The Bills have a representative on the list. Defensive end Mario Williams ranks No. 18 with his $50-million signing bonus. Who says the Bills are cheap?

Interestingly, to make this exclusive fraternity you had to earn – and I use that word “earn” loosely in dishonor of A-Rod – at least $18,2000,000 – which is what Cubs slugger Alfonso Soriano pocketed last year.

·         As evidenced by the hiring of coach Chan Gailey, the foolish contract extension of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, some big whiffs in the draft and free agency and a 16-32 won-lost record, Buddy Nix’s legacy as the Bills general manager is pretty underwhelming. But final grades can’t be issued for another couple of years. The old scout’s brief tenure as the man in charge of Buffalo’s football operations could receive a big boost if quarterback EJ Manuel and coach Doug Marrone pan out. Of course, those are big “if’s.”

·         I think it’s great that Syracuse University is going to retire the No. 5 football jersey worn by Donovan McNabb, the greatest quarterback in Orange history. His number will be hung from the rafters along with the 44 of Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little, the 39 of fullback Larry Csonka and the 88 of tight end John Mackey. I hope someday No. 47 also will be retired. It was worn with distinction by Little Joe Morris, who remains the all-time leading rusher in the school’s storied history.

·         We were supposed to tape an interview with Rochester Red Wings first baseman Chris Colabello yesterday for the baseball radio show I co-host on WYSL, but some extra hitting practice prevented that from happening. Chris is a class act who called later to apologize. The additional BP obviously paid huge dividends as Chris clubbed his 9^th and 10^th home runs of the season. The Wings are struggling with just 15 wins in their first 40 games, but Colabello has been a bright spot, and one of the true feel-good stories of minor-league baseball. Here is a guy who is 29 years old and toiled in the independent leagues for seven seasons. He could have given up on the dream many times in recent years, but persevered and now is looking at a possible promotion to the Minnesota Twins. I love these kind of stories and will be rooting for him to make it to big leagues.

·         Just in case you want to start filling out your 2014 NCAA basketball brackets early, Joe Lunardi has the SU basketball team as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest.