Hockey's short list

Region - While the Central Mass. D3 hockey scene doesn't appear to be as deep as in some previous seasons, local teams are certainly in the mix near the top with Marlborough, Shrewsbury and Hudson among the elite. They appear to be in the small group chasing after prohibitive Central Mass. favorite Gardner.

Shrewsbury helped bunch things up by pulling out a 1-1 tie Jan. 26 with a late goal from Kevin Charboneau. The Cols, under first-year coach John Binkoski, seem to have a real knack for playing games even, extending their unbeaten streak to 11 games, now 6-3-5 overall.

Marlborough, now at 9-1-2, and unbeaten at 4-0-2 in the Roy Conference, is arguably the best of the local bunch. Marlborough and Shrewsbury are left to chase after Gardner in the conference.

Hudson lost, 4-3, to Worcester Jan. 26, dropping to 8-3-2 overall, 3-1 in the Quinn conference, and will likely have to beat out Auburn for the league title. Marlborough's Brown

joins elite club

Congrats go out to Panthers' hoopster Keith Brown, who eclipsed the 1,000-point high school career mark in Marlborough's Jan. 22 win over Nashoba. Brown is part of the more potent off ensive duos in the region and perhaps beyond. Brown is second in the league to his teammate and fellow 1,000-point scorer George Jordan.

Brown transferred from Dorchester High to Marlborough this season and has had an immediate impact. It certainly helps make coach Ilya Nicholas's job easier when someone like Brown falls into the gym. He's only a junior, so he's a good bet to continue pushing up both his high school point and the Panthers' win totals.

Those Super

Bowl bets

While most of us around here will be pulling for our Patriots to win Sunday's big game, there will be much more than just the final score that some people will be paying attention to. The Super Bowl has become a gambling bonanza, with it possible to place a bet on virtually any scenario. No reason to wait until the end of the game to win a bet.

A review of some online betting websites reveals some unique possible bets. You can win even before the game kicks off by betting not only which team wins the coin toss, but whether that toss is heads or tails. You can take a chance on whether either team will score in the game's first 5-1/2 minutes. Or if either team will score three straight times without the other team scoring. Getting antsy before the end of the first half? Keep things interesting by wagering whether either team will score in the last two minutes of the half.

There are bets on which team will get the game's and second-half's first first down and touchdown. The Pats are prohibitive favorites in both.

Want a crazy one? Take a chance on whether the shortest touchdown will be over or under 1.5 yards or the longest touchdown over or under 47 yards.

The list continues with several hundred diff erent betting possibilities such as: will the jersey number of the first player to score a touchdown be over or under 43, will the game's largest lead be over or under 18 points, and which team will commit the game's first penalty?

You can bet on a bunch of diff erent individual team categories: what will a team do first, punt or score; what will be the total number of players on a team to catch a pass, or rush the ball; and whether a team scores in all four quarters.

You can also bet on performances of individual players, such as whether Tom Brady's first pass of the game will be complete or not, or whether Brady will first throw an interception or a touchdown. You can take a try at which player will score the game's first touchdown. Randy Moss and Laurence Maroney are favorites there with the Giants' Brandon Jacobs close behind.