Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
LIVE VIDEO: NBCSports.com shows Washington-New York, with alternate camera angles, HD views and more.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) -England defender Joleon Lescott preserved Manchester City's two-point lead in the Premier League by scoring a second-half winner in a 1-0 victory at Aston Villa on Sunday.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
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When turf writers for such national journals as the New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today question the efficacy of last weekend’s Blue Grass Stakes results as a predictor of Kentucky Derby form, Polytrack advocates may have a problem.
Horsemen, handicappers and journalists everywhere have tried to get a handle on Dominican’s Blue Grass victory and what it will mean three weeks hence. And who could blame them? How does anyone know how to interpret splits of :26, :25 2/5, :25 1/5, :24 3/5, with a final furlong in :11 2/5?
The old inside-speed highway at Keeneland Race Course has produced 22 Derby winners from the storied Blue Grass. Based on those numbers, this nine-furlong fixture has been the best way to arrive in Louisville and depart with a few red roses from the winner’s blanket to be pressed forever between the pages of Derby history.
Like any worthwhile academic exercise, interpretation of Polytrack data compiled from results posted at the new Keeneland needs historical context. But know that the first meet on the new surface was last fall and frontrunners went 1-for-48. Or, as three-time defending Eclipse champion trainer Todd Pletcher noted: “It looks like they replaced one bias with another.”
Pletcher, of course, is correct. He believes that in a perfect world training is done or artificial surfaces and racing on conventional dirt. In Great Britain, where artificial surfaces have been in vogue much longer, noted European author and professional horseplayer Nick Mordin shared this opinion:
“[Artificial surfaces] erode the difference between horse race betting and other forms of gambling. Races are harder to predict and are unquestionably more competitive. When you’re betting on a horse you hope that it has a significant edge. Polytrack denies you that. The surface has reduced betting almost to the level of a lottery.”
Last weekend bettors believed they had a significant edge backing Breeders’ Futurity winner Great Hunter over favorite Blue Grass favorite Street Sense. Great Hunter beat Street Sense last fall, so why not again? Instead, it was Dominican that would remain undefeated in three career Polytrack starts.
Of course, the Kentucky Derby will be run on a conventional dirt track, one that gets faster as Derby Week progresses and is close to superhighway-fast by May’s first Saturday. What to do?
The benefits of artificial dirt surfaces such as Polytrack should be noted. It’s vertical drainage system virtually eliminates treacherous sloppy or muddy track conditions, carrying water down and away from the surface. Although Polytrack has been adversely effected by extreme cold and breakdowns over Turfway Park’s Polytrack increased at the winter/spring meet, Polytrack has proven to be a safer surface.
There are other benefits, too. Faster recovery time between starts, fewer scratches that help maintain field size and thereby the bottom line, and a greater incentive for turf horses to remain in rescheduled grass races is not inconsequential. All this and the unqualified success of turf-bred specialists racing on the new artificial surfaces.
The first of three pools of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager begins its three-day run on Friday and the bet's opening scenario is very similar to each of its opening pools since the wager was created in 1999.
It's first time that Classic will be broadcast in primetime on Nov. 3.
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
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 | Derby celebs Plenty of stars from the entertainment and sports world attend the 136th Kentucky Derby. more photos |
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 | Triple Crown winners The horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in the same year. |
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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