2008 Breeders' Cup

The two-day Breeders' Cup festival, which encompassed a record 14 races for the first time. Nine were contested on Saturday and the day's results highlighted the international flavor of the event. In addition to the Classic and Juvenile Turf, Europeans won the Turf, Mile on turf, and the inaugural Marathon, which is run on the main track. The Classic lost the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to injury, and it almost lost its other big draw - defending champion Curlin - to Santa Anita's new synthetic surface. The most radical change to the Breeders' Cup in the last 25 years was tested Friday in five races exclusively for females that opened the two-day, season-ending championships.

The $2 million Ladies' Classic was billed as one of the glamour matchups of this year's Breeders' Cup, pitting the undefeated Zenyatta against Ginger Punch, last year's champion, along with six other quality opponents. It turned into a one-horse show as Zenyatta roared to victory with a scintillating last-to-first sweep to extend her winning streak to nine. Ginger Punch, who won last year at New Jersey's Monmouth Park when it was called the Distaff, was never a factor, finishing sixth. Zenyatta has to be a serious contender for Horse of the Year.

Ventura won the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint; Maram won the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf; Stardom Bound captured the $2 million Juvenile Fillies; and Forever Together took the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf.

Curlin was upset in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Saturday, demoted to a fourth-place finish behind 13-1 long shot Raven's Pass from Britain. Neither reigning Horse of the Year Curlin nor Raven's Pass had ever raced on a synthetic surface. But Raven's Pass trains on something similar, and European horses used to running on turf often make an easier transition to synthetics. Raven's Pass capped a day of long-shot upsets at the season-ending championships, with European-based horses winning five of nine races. Seven of the winners at Santa Anita were long shots.

Goldikova was particularly dazzling in the Mile, and enabled her trainer, Freddy Head, to become the first person to both ride and train a Breeders' Cup winner. Head rode Miesque to victories in the Mile 1987 and 1988. Midnight Lute became the first two-time winner of the Sprint, and only the eighth horse to win two Breeders' Cup races, joining Bayakoa, Da Hoss, High Chaparral, Lure, Miesque, Ouija Board, and Tiznow. Ireland-bred Conduit won the $3 million Turf by 1 1/2 lengths in an upset. Desert Code, a 36-1 shot, won the $1 million Turf Sprint; Muhannak captured the $500,000 Marathon at 12-1 odds; and Britain-bred gelding Donativum won the $1 million Juvenile Turf under Dettori.

Garrett Gomez was the riding star of the day, doubling his career win total at horse racing's richest weekend, picking up a record four wins, including a record-breaking three Saturday. The 36-year-old Gomez piloted Midshipman (Juvenile), Albertus Maximus (Dirt Mile), Midnight Lute (Sprint) and Ventura (Filly & Mare Sprint) to victory over the sun-splashed track. Bob Baffert won two races, the Sprint with Midnight Lute, and with Midshipman in the Juvenile. Among owners, Darley Stable claimed three victories, with Princess Haya of Jordan sharing in two, including the Classic.

Basketball video fun

US Open

Displaying the talent and tenacity that allowed her to dominate tennis earlier in the decade, Serena Williams outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 Sunday night in a thrill-a-minute match chock full of marvelous strokes and momentum swings to win her third US Open championship and ninth Grand Slam title. And there was this "added bonus," as Williams termed it: She returns to the top of the rankings. "I think this title meant more to Serena than any title she's ever won," her father and coach, Richard Williams said. As the women met at the net when it ended, Williams felt compelled to say to Jankovic, "I'm sorry I got so excited."

Back at his best, back at the top of tennis, Roger Federer easily beat Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 Monday to win his fifth consecutive U.S. Open championship and 13th major title overall. Federer is the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win the tournament that many times in a row. He also moved within one major championship of tying Pete Sampras' career record of 14. The victory clearly came as something of a relief to Federer, who has struggled during a lackluster-only-for-him season. He lost in the semifinals at the Australian Open, and to nemesis Rafael Nadal in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon, meaning Federer was on the verge of his first year since 2002 without a major title. And his record streak of 237 consecutive weeks at No. 1 ended last month when Nadal surpassed him.

I'm happy to see both Serena and Federer win. It wouldn't have bothered me much had either of them lost, but especially in Federer's case, I'm glad for the outcome. I was also happy to see Murray make the finals. He had never won even a set against Nadal before, so this is a big deal for him, and for the UK, who have been waiting for a champion of their own.

R.I.P. Genuine Risk

Former Kentucky Derby winning filly Genuine Risk passed away at Newstead Farm in Virginia on Monday. The mare was 31 years old. Owned by Diana Firestone, Genuine Risk became only the second filly to win the Kentucky Derby when she made history in 1980. Sent off at odds of 13-1 she defeated Rumbo by one length in the 1 1/4 mile race. She was the first female to capture the Run for the Roses since Regret in 1915. Eight years later, Winning Colors joined the two as the third filly to claim the Kentucky Derby… Trained by Leroy Jolley, she was voted 1980 champion three-year-old filly. In a 15-race career, Genuine Risk found the winner's circle 10 times and earned $646,587. She entered the Racing Hall of Fame in 1986.

Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones was released Friday from federal prison after completing most of her six-month sentence for lying about her steroid use. Jones left a halfway house in San Antonio around 8 a.m., said LaTanya Robinson, a community corrections manager for the federal Bureau of Prisons. Jones, who has a house in Austin, will remain on probation. Jones' attorney did not immediately respond to a call or e-mail from The Associated Press requesting comment. The sprinter admitted last October that she used a design Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab that became the center of a steroids scandal that touched numerous professional athletes, including baseball star Barry Bonds. Her admission of drug use in 2007 came after years of denials.

Two members of the 2008 Jamaican Olympic track team received shipments of performance-enhancing drugs through an Internet distribution network, according to documents obtained by SI. The documents state that between June 2006 and February 2007, two shipments of Somatropin (Human Growth Hormone, HGH) and one shipment of Triest (Estrogen) were sent to Delloreen London, at a Texas address that traces to the athlete Delloreen Ennis-London; the birth date on the document matches the athlete's as well, though the document lists the person's gender as male. Ennis-London, 33, is a Jamaican hurdler who won the silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2005 World Championships. In Beijing, she finished fifth in the event, but came within .01 of taking bronze. Though the information only pertains to receipt and not actual use of performance-enhancers, both drugs are banned for Olympic athletes.

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics came and went without too much going wrong. Todd Bachman, the father-in-law of the US men's volleyball team, was murdered in an attack. His wife was seriously injured, but survived. From Wikipedia:

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, People's Republic of China, from August 8 (except football, which started on August 6) to August 24, 2008. A total of 10,500 athletes competed in 302 events in 28 sports, one event more than was on the schedule of the 2004 Games.[2] The 2008 Beijing Olympics marked the first occasion that either the Summer or Winter Games were hosted in China, making it the 22nd nation to do so. It also became the third time that Olympic events have been held in the territories of two different National Olympic Committees (NOC), as the equestrian events were being held in Hong Kong (the other two instances being the 1956 games, where the equestrian events were hosted in Stockholm, Sweden, due to strict Australian quarantine rules, and the other events were hosted in Melbourne, Australia; and the 1920 games which were hosted in Antwerp, Belgium, but the final two races of the 12ft dinghy event in sailing were held in The Netherlands)…

The Games saw 43 new world records and 132 new Olympic records set.[10] A record 87 countries won a medal during the Games. Chinese athletes won 51 gold medals altogether, the second largest haul by a national team in a modern, non-boycotted Summer Games.[11][12] Michael Phelps broke the record for most golds in one Olympics and for most career gold medals for an Olympian. Usain Bolt secured the traditional title "World's Fastest Man" by setting new world records in the 100m and 200m dashes…

US swimmer Michael Phelps was the big news, achieving his goal of winning eight medals. The US basketball team won gold, as did the US beach volleyball duo May-Treanor and Walsh. A complete medal tally can be seen here.

Little League news

Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player -- too good, it turns out. The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said. Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned. But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch…

Congratulations to Hawaii for winning the Little League World Series over Mexico.

Catching up, again

The Celtics clobbered the LA Lakers last night 131-92 to win their first NBA Championship in 22 years. The "Big Three", Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, were big indeed, but everyone contributed. Rajon Rondo had quite a night. Though he shot only 8-for-20 from the field, Rondo spearheaded Boston's superior defensive effort, finishing with six steals (including one monster rip from the hands of the 6-foot-10, 230-pound Lamar Odom) to go with his 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. For the Big Three, this was the first NBA title for each of them, and the first for the league's most-decorated franchise since the original Big Three of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish won No. 16 in 1986. Danny Ainge was the point guard for that team and the general manager for the one that won 66 games a season after winning 24 -- the biggest turnaround in NBA history. The Celtics join the 1975 Golden State Warriors and the '77 Trail Blazers as the only teams to win it all a year after missing the playoffs. Pierce was name the finals MVP - I would have given it to Garnett. Pierce had 17 points and 10 assists in the clincher, Garnett had 26 points with 14 rebounds, and Allen returned from a red-eye from the coast and a poked eye in the lane to add 26 points, including an NBA finals record-tying seven 3-pointers.

R.I.P. Jim McKay. I spent many hours watching Wide World of Sports and remember hearing McKay's best known broadcast, the 1972 Olympics. McKay and Howard Cosell are the two voices I remember clearly from the early days of TV sports.

This was the year Roger Federer was supposed to beat Rafa at the French Open. It wasn't even close, ending in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. Assured of rising to No. 1 in the rankings for the first time, Ana Ivanovic collected Grand Slam title No. 1 by beating Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 in the French Open final.

Big Brown turned out to be less freakish than many had hoped and didn't have his usual power in the Belmont Stakes. Rather than risk any injury, Kent Desormeaux loped across the finish line in last place, far behind 38-1 shot Da' Tara, who lead wire to wire and won by 5-1/4 lengths. He was followed by Denis of Cork in second and a dead heat for third between Anak Nakal and Ready's Echo. Macho Again was fifth, followed by Tale of Ekati, Guadalcanal, Icabad Crane and Big Brown.

Kentucky Derby

The unbeaten Big Brown's start from the outside post did little to hamper his charge when the 20-horse field turned for home at Churchill Downs. Under the urging of jockey Kent Desormeaux, the 2-1 favorite cruised to an easy victory to become the seventh unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner with his fourth consecutive win. The last one was Barbaro in 2006.

That wasn't the only reason thoughts of Barbaro were hard to ignore on this Derby Day. Eight Belles was my Derby pick. She finished a good, strong second to the favorite, then broke both front ankles when she was pulled up after the finish. She went down almost immediately and was euthanised on the track. The breakdown brought back memories of the 2006 Preakness, where Barbaro shattered his right rear leg just after the start. The colt was euthanized months later, after developing laminitis from the catastrophic injuries.

Big Brown became the first Derby winner since Regret in 1915 to have raced only three times previously. He is only the third in 60 years to win after racing in just two Derby preps -- Sunny's Halo in 1983 and Street Sense last year were the others. In addition, Big Brown became the second winner to start from the No. 20 post. The gelding Clyde Van Dusen did it in 1929.

Big Brown covered the 1¼ miles in 2:01.82 in front of the second-largest crowd in Derby history at 157,770. He paid $6.80, $5 and $4.80. Eight Belles paid $10.60 and $6.40, and Denis of Cork, at odds of 27-1, returned $11.60.

After a long absence...

I've missed pretty much everything news/sports wise over the past four months. Let's recap...

The Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the NY Giants and Eli Manning got married a couple weeks ago.

Novak Djokovic won the men's Australian Open Tennis Championship and the women's went to Maria Sharapova. The French Open begins May 25.

Lance Mackey won the 2008 Iditarod and to the delight of the crowd, a 15" Beagle called Uno won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Show.

The Lady Vols won the NCAA tourney, as did the Kansas Jayhawks in the men's Division I tournament.

The Boston Marathon...Dire Tune of Ethiopia edged out Russian Alevtina Biktimirova by two seconds to win the women's championship, and Robert K. Cheruiyot won the men's for the fourth time.

The Bruins lost to Montreal in the first round Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Philadelphia leads Montreal 3 games to 1 in the semis.

Roger Clemens is a bigger liar and loser than originally thought (ok, that's my op, but we'll see).

The Red Sox are hanging on to first place in the AL East by the skin of their teeth. I loved that play.

The Celtics find themselves in a must-win game 7 with Atlanta.

NFL Football

Eli, the baby of the Manning quarterback clan, has finally arrived. Playing before the largest home crowd in Green Bay history (72,740 spectators), in the third-coldest game in league history (minus-1 at kickoff), Manning threw neither a touchdown nor an interception. Manning repeatedly put the Giants in position to win the NFC championship Sunday, and when Lawrence Tynes came through at last with a 47-yard field goal in overtime, New York had itself an improbable 23-20 victory over the Green Bay Packers at frostbitten Lambeau Field. Now comes Mission Impossible: beating the undefeated New England Patriots in two weeks in a Super Bowl matchup hardly anyone saw coming. Manning wasn't the only Giant who came through. Tynes had two earlier misses - a 36-yarder at the end of regulation following a bad snap, and a 43-yarder with 6:49 to go - before nailing his long winner 2:35 into OT. He got a reprieve in overtime after Corey Webster intercepted a struggling Brett Favre - the kind of mistake Manning often has made before his recent turnaround. The best game Eli has had in his four-year career was the season finale against the Patriots, when he threw four touchdown passes. He and the Giants are getting another shot at New England, the first team to go 18-0. The Patriots will be after their fourth Super Bowl title in seven years on Feb. 3, as well as the league's first perfect season since Miami went 17-0 in 1972.

History has been the Pat's constant companion all season, but in Sunday's AFC Championship Game in frigid Gillette Stadium, New England put this one in the win column by looking to their own storied past rather than writing another gaudy chapter in the league record books. This was the way the Patriots used to win games, long before the points-palooza of 2007 and chatter about a perfect season and running up the score became a near weekly refrain. New England didn't remotely dominate the San Diego Chargers in the AFC title game. All they did was defeat them, 21-12. Reminiscent of how the blue-collar Patriots got things done in their previous Super Bowl seasons of 2001, 2003 and 2004, when they won with sturdy bend-but-don't-break defense, a propensity for takeaways, and just enough ball-control offense to get the job done. It was old-fashioned, conventional football, and for the most part it led to wins that were narrow, with New England needing to bleed the clock in the final minutes of the game to lock things down. That was exactly the recipe for success on Sunday, when the Patriots limited the Chargers to four field goals, forced two San Diego turnovers, and held the ball for the staggering total of 9:13 to end the game. The Chargers' four best drives reached all the way to the New England 8, 5, 22 and 6 yard lines. And all that the Patriots allowed were four measly Nate Kaeding field goals. Eighteen down, one to go.

Super Bowl matchup