EX-ARGONAUT FINDS UTOPIA ON YOGA FARM

His season in Toronto now well behind him, Ricky Williams is intent
upon returning to the NFL. The route back, appropriately enough, runs
through Grass Valley.

That's right.

Williams tested positive repeatedly for smoking the stuff.

Now, that's where he lives and teaches and plots his comeback - at
the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, Calif.

Two or three times a week an NFL representative shows up there to
collect samples of the running back's urine.

He's hoping that testing clean repeatedly will persuade the league to
look favourably upon him when he petitions for reinstatement in time
for play this season.

As happy as he claimed to be in his stint with the Argos, cut short
by injuries, Williams apparently views Grass Valley as a slice of
heaven on Earth. He and his partner Kristin Barnes and their
children, Prince and Asha, live in a house near the yoga
establishment that he has credited in the past with getting him off
his marijuana habit, which led to his series of suspensions.

"The reason I was smoking was to find that place of clarity," he
tells the San Francisco Chronicle. "When I realized I could get it
through this (yoga), a light went on. ... Because it was a habit of
mine for a couple of years, the thought (of smoking) does come back
into my mind. Fortunately for me, the thought that comes right behind
it is that there's a better way. ...

"I feel I've lived more in these past two years than I did in the
previous 27. One thing I've learned about life is that if you really
let go, it's just a joy ride."

Burning question: Are there animals at a yoga farm? The ashram's
website says the 80-acre spread "has become a real refuge not only to
worn-out city dwellers but also to 26 kinds of birds, seven kinds of
mammals (especially mule deer), lots of frogs, 12 'special status
wild life species' and hundreds of different species of plants."

AND, FURTHERMORE: Damon Allen, at 43, shows no signs of letting up as
he contends for the Argos' starting QB position in 2007, which marks
the 10th anniversary of big brother Marcus's retirement as a player.

Time flies. ... They may be two of the best-ever hitters and
pitchers, but Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens still have a way of
leaving a chill in their wake. Break a leg, boys. .. The NFL salary
cap for '07 is $109 million (U.S.) per team, up 23 per cent from two
years ago. Let the good times roll - and TV pay the freight. ... TV
special waiting to happen: Roger Federer vs. Tiger Woods in five
sports other than golf or tennis. ... Early in the 21st century it
became official: Men and women are equal. Wimbledon said so. ... Fore
(sic) the man who has everything: Donald Trump is attempting to have
zoning regulations changed so that he can eventually have himself
interred in a mausoleum next to the first tee at his Trump National
Bedminster golf course. .. Sure, it's early but - is Manny being
Manny yet? ... Has anyone sued Jose Canseco over his steroids
allegations? Didn't think so. ... Has anyone seen or heard of Mark
McGwire lately?

Didn't think so. ... Buy steroids over the internet?

Say it ain't so. ... Desperate Chicago Cubs fans have started a
petition asking Dallas Mavericks billionaire owner Mark Cuban to buy
their franchise.

Maybe they could come up with a package deal that included the
Pittsburgh Penguins. Maybe Cuban should have one of everything in sports.

Wouldn't it be great it you could trade/fire owners? ... How the
mighty have fallen: Eric Lindros has five goals in 47 games played
this season in Dallas. He had 11 in 33 games in his one season in Toronto.

THE FAME GAME: Phil Niekro, a member of baseball's hall of fame, is
on the second-chance veterans' committee that has failed to nominate
anyone to the hall for the last three years.

It is not as if they haven't tried. "Stats don't change year after
year," he says. "It is what it is. And no matter how much one guy
could tell you about how great a guy was someplace else, in your mind
you've still got to feel that it's right or wrong." Tough job.
Somebody's got to do it.