Since Peyton Manning's thumb may not be 100 percent, the pilot who flew the team to Miami decided to take over the duties of waving the Colts' flag. AP
	MAILBAG Have a question or opinion for Pete? He might answer/address it in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

1. The Colts touched down in Miami on Monday night. They weren't talking about the health of Peyton Manning's swollen thumb, but it might not have been a good sign that it barely fit in the overhead compartment.

2. We should get used to another full week of Manning family fascination. Now some wags are calling them the Bushes of football, with dad Archie as George H.W. Bush, Peyton as George W. and younger brother Eli as Jeb. The main difference is Peyton doesn't let his backup QB call all the plays.

3. With Roger Federer and Tiger Woods both notching impressive victories over the weekend, the natural question arises -- Who is more dominant? My answer: It depends. If we rely on the straightforward, dictionary definition of "dominant," Federer is your man. After winning six of the past seven Grand Slams, you'd have to give Federer at least an 85-90 percent chance of winning any non-French Open major that started tomorrow. Even the mighty Tiger would be, perhaps, a 50/50 choice. By that measure, Federer's iron grip over his sport (including a 36-match winning streak) is clearly greater than Woods'.

Yet when placed against the context of their sports, Tiger's triumphs are slightly more incredible. Tennis is a one-on-one contest, like boxing, in which a competitor can directly affect (and dominate) his opponent. If Federer is on his game, he can hit the ball where his opponent can do nothing with it. If Federer plays well, his opponent's chance to perform well is directly diminished. There's a reason why tennis (and boxing) lend themselves to long winning streaks and stretches of sheer dominance. Five tennis players, two men and three women, have won the Grand Slam a total of six times, as recently as Steffi Graf in 1988. In addition, nine men have won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year a total of 11 times; eight women have turned that trick a total of 17 times.

In golf, on the other hand, all players compete against the course. If Tiger hits a terrific shot, for example, it doesn't simultaneously knock his nearest pursuer's ball into the rough. It might not seem it from the way his rivals often shrink when he's on the leaderboard, but Tiger can't directly impact his competitors' performance. There's a reason that golf's Grand Slam has been won just once, in 1930 by Bobby Jones, and that included two amateur titles. Only twice has a golfer won three of the four professional majors in the same calendar year -- Ben Hogan in 1953 and Woods in 2000. Golf, unlike tennis, simply does not lend itself to dominance. Against this context, the fact that Woods has won 11 of the past 29 majors (37.9 percent) he has played trumps Federer's admittedly awe-inspiring run of 10 majors in his last 15 tries (66.7 percent). Then again, in the interest of full disclosure, I am already on record as a huge Tiger fan.

4. It looks like Barry Bonds and the Giants have finally agreed on a one-year deal for $15.8 million. Of course, if it doesn't work out, he can just blame Mark Sweeney.

5. Latrell Sprewell has been hit with a $200 million palimony suit by the mother of four of his kids; she says he recently skipped out on them. Hey, a judge just might go for this one. Once you get used to eating the Sprewell Way, there's no going back.

6. Most depressing item of the day: Pete Sampras, 35, will return to tournament play on the over-30 tour. Well, it's not Sampras' comeback per se that has me down. It's that tennis' version of the senior tour starts at age 30. I have finally reconciled myself to the fact that I am, at 37, older than most professional athletes. But now, suddenly, I would be a graybeard even on the senior tour? That's too much to process, too soon.

7. Army football coach Bobby Ross resigned on Monday after a 3-9 season. No word yet on when he'll interview for the Cowboys job.

8. Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling says he no longer plans to retire after the 2007 season, when his current contract expires, but that he refuses to pitch for the Yankees. In related news, the Yankees traded for Schilling out of spite.

9. Score of the week: Kazakhstan 52, Thailand 1 -- in hockey. The Kazakhs scored 17 goals in the first period, 20 in the second and 15 in the third in the Asian Games "showdown." Coupled with a 38-0 win over the United Arab Emirates in its previous game, the Kazakhs clinched Group B with a goal differential of 90-1. No word whether the game was carried on Versus, not that anyone could find it if it was.

10. The 49ers are denying a published report that they are considering a shared stadium with the Raiders. Yeah, it would have been a great fit between those two fan bases. Sort of like the Greasers vs. the Socs in The Outsiders.

Reminder: This Friday is the first of a new month, which means it's time once again for the all-reader-submission edition. Please send your entries by Thursday afternoon. Don't miss a chance to see your name (and wit) displayed in the 10 Spot. It certainly can't be any worse than what I write.