Tuesday, August 31st, 2010...1:37 pm
Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For; It’s Time To Retire Rachel Alexandra
GRID IRON…Matt Leinart is really making a mess of things in Arizona. Stomping his feet and pouting, the about-to-be-cut QB has demanded Coach Ken Whisenhunt explain why he is not being named the Cardinals starter. Leinart believes he outplayed Derek Anderson in camp; a view shared by, uh, no one…
…the reeling Dallas Cowboys, plagued by an ineffectual offensive line, may play all their starters in their final preseason game…
…here are the Las Vegas over/unders for the upcoming season (alphabetical order);
Arizona 7.5, Atlanta 9, Baltimore 10, Buffalo 5.5, Carolina 7.5, Chicago 8, Cincinnati 8, Cleveland 5.5, Dallas 10, Denver 7, Detroit 5, Green Bay 10, Houston 8, Indianapolis 11, Jacksonville 7, Kansas City 6.5, Miami 8.5, New England 9.5, New Orleans 10.5, N Y Giants 8.5, N Y Jets 9.5, Oakland 6.5, Philadelphia 8.5, Pittsburgh 9, San Diego 11, San Francisco 8.5, Seattle 7, St Louis 4.5, Tampa Bay 5.5, Tennessee 8.5, Washington 7.5…
ICE…Danny Markhov, Montreal defenseman extraordinaire, is expected to miss the first 6-8 weeks of the 2010-11 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL…
PUG LIFE…Canadian light heavy Jean Pascal, fresh off his stunning upset of Chad Dawson, is getting a victory lap. He gets to pummel the remains of Bernard Hopkins on Dec 18th, with HBO kicking in some meaningful coin. No, no chance of an upset here, Pascal will pound Hopkins from ringpost to ringpost…
…December, rather oddly, will play host to two exciting fights. On Dec 4th Miguel Cotto will take on Julio Caesar Chavez Jr and on Dec 11th Amir Khan will tackle the very tough Marcos Maidana…
…for his next act, Dan Rafael suggests James Toney wrestle a bear…I’m partial to Toney and a boxing kangaroo…Dana White has announced Toney will not be given any further MMA dates…
PONIES…horse racing never recovered from the loss of Andrew Beyer as a regular columnist. Beyer was utterly fearless and possessed of a scythe like intelligence. Thankfully he has weighed in on the past weekend at Saratoga and his cogent analysis of the Travers and the plight of Rachel Alexandra offers wonderful insight…concerning the Travers, he notes the six dirt races prior to the Travers were all won by inside speed. The track was biased and a boon to eventual winner Afleet Express. Fly Down, second by a nose, has developed into a top class runner and his stout wide rally was the most impressive aspect of the race…in regards to Rachel, Beyer is quick to revisit the 2009 campaign. He boldly states, “She was as good as any American female racehorse ever - including the legendary Ruffian”. After Sunday’s embarrassment, which saw Rachel awarded a paltry 93 speed figure, it’s disheartening to talk to those who can’t understand why Rachel’s constituency want to see her retired. She was such a revelation last year, a magnificent competitor who loved to burn out other speed early and then use her grit to stymie the closers. To watch her on Sunday was to remember Muhammad Ali against Larry Holmes, or Earl Campbell as a second string New Orleans Saint, or Pele as a bloated member of the New York Cosmos. There is nothing left to prove and no end is served by watching the shadow of greatness sullied repeatedly by animals that wouldn’t have come within 20 lengths of her last year…Zenyatta vs. Rachel, the epic that never came to fruition. Pity…
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