THIS week I'm going to indulge my intimate love of sports and chat about last Sunday's Superbowl. Since I'm a Dolphins fan and therefore an AFC guy, I had to root for the AFC representative, the Pittsburg Steelers who won the game. I must congratulate this entire classy organisation on a well-deserved win.

However, the game was a huge disappointment. The football, save a few plays, was horrible. The ads, at a cost of $2.5 million per 30-second spot, were mostly weak. I like Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones; they are icons for good rock and roll music. But their halftime performance was so bad that I went to wash my dishes and didn't bother watching at least half of it. Surely they could have done something better than what they gave us. They should have put Aretha Franklin, Aaron Neville and the choir that sang the pregame session into the halftime slot!

But worst of all was the officiating. I gotta give my Dad his props; he told me before the game that the officials were gonna mess it up. You know what they say, "Listen to your parents". Good parents are always right. All in all, it was one of the biggest letdowns I've experienced when it comes to a major sporting event. It was of the least satisfying Superbowls I've watched. But there were lessons to be learned from the game that we can apply to our daily lives.

More on this after the Top 20.

Still at number one is the kicking new joint from the Queen of R&B, Mary J Blige, entitled Be Without You. Hanging on at number two is Jamie Foxx with his hit single Unpredictable.

Shifting gears to dance music, accelerating up the chart to number three is Madonna's monster new hit, Hung Up, a former essential new joint. Her CD, entitled Confessions on a Dancefloor, is banging. I have friends who love Madonna's older stuff. They should check out her 2006 Confessions! The girl's still got it.

Tumbling to number four is Grillz by Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali and Gip. Falling to number five is Don't Forget About Us by Mariah Carey. You have to hear the dance mix, which slams.

Way, way up to number six is So Sick by Ne-Yo a smooth, sweet song. Gorillaz by Feel Good Inc, improves to number seven. This one is generating quite a following and is easing up dance charts all over the world.

Climbing to number eight is the latest from Canadian/Guyanian diva Deborah Cox - House is not a Home. Dropping to number nine is Kryptonite (I'm on It) by the Purple Ribbon All Stars. Down to number 10 is I Think They Like Me by Dem Franchize Boyz featuring Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat and Bow Wow, while Here We Go by Trina featuring Kelly Rowland drops to number 11.

Now some new joints that are making some noise. Up to number 12 is last week's essential new joint - Nasty Girl by The Notorious B.I.G., Nelly, Diddy, Jagged Edge and Avery Storm. This is hott. Up to number 13 is Yo (Excuse Me Miss) by Chris Brown, who has hit the ground running in the industry, with two hits already. Improving to number 14 is the new one by Dem Franchize Boyz featuring Lil Peanut and Charlay, entitled Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It.

Falling to number 15 is There It Go (The Whistle Song) by Juelz Santana. Slipping to number 16 is Unbreakable by Alicia Keys while One Wish, by RayJay drops to number 17. Window Shopper by 50 Cent, tumbles to number 18 and on the way down to number 19 is I Should Have Cheated by Keyshia Cole. Now, this week's essential new jam. In at number 20 it's the new one from Beyonce featuring Slim Thug, entitled Check On It. B is back, with a big, big hit.

Now back to this week's word - what can we learn from Superbowl XL.

The first thing that comes to mind is that trash talking is not for chumps; if you're gonna trash talk, you better be able to back it up and make plays. Jeremy Stevens, the tight end of the Seattle Seahawks couldn't get it done and dropped several key passes, after initiating a verbal exchange against his opponents through the media. Big mistake!

Lesson two is that whenever you're on a big stage like that, you have got to be as prepared as possible. No amount of practice and rehearsing is enough, until you are sure that you will be able to execute exactly what it is you would like to do with your performance. Seattle made too many mistakes, dropped too many passes, had far too many penalties and as we say in the army, "It all went horribly wrong". I felt really sorry for their Quarterback, Matt Hasselback, who I thought played well. He played well but his teammates let him down this time. Such is life with team sports.

Lesson three is for the companies who spent millions just to have their ads on when the whole world (well, most of it anyway) is watching - if the whole world is watching, produce some decent, cool ads, instead of the depressing and uncreative garbage to which the viewing public was treated. If I were an investor or owner of one of those companies, I would have been largely unhappy. I thought the Pepsi ads were some of the more creative, but at the same time, they showed Coke, thereby promoting Coke, which was kind of dumb. However, since I like Bad Boy and Diddy, it was cool to see him featured in one of the ads.

Lesson four is for officials of sports and other competitions. We know you must have rules and judges, but let the competitors decide on the outcome of the competition. Let the players play, let the coaches coach, and the officials' job is not to get in the way or be noticed too much. Officials are there to make sure nobody gets hurt and that fair play ensues, not to make game and momentum changing decisions that, in the case of this year's Superbowl, were bad decisions. Seattle has a right to have a gripe with the officiating, but give that organisation credit; not once have they publicly blamed the officiating. But I'm here to tell you that the officials screwed up big time in Superbowl XL. I know they're only human, but those mistakes were huge and avoidable.

The final lesson is one that I always try to practice. It is best to be gracious in victory and in defeat. Don't be arrogant when you win and a crybaby when you lose. Both teams in this year's Superbowl were gracious. I remember vividly losing Eastern County matches to certain teams and my opponents would be arrogant in their victory speeches. No problem; God doesn't like ugly. What goes around comes around; and for these blokes, it came around. Unfortunately, it wasn't at Cleveland's hands.

Your boy Rudyard Kipling says, "If you can take victory and defeat, and treat both those imposters just the same, then you will be a man". Now that is a dubplate!

Peace be with you ...