Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
Candace Dobson, Gunslinger, LLCAlthough no other racing organizations currently register clones, the American Quarter Horse Association may have opened the door for eventual approval by giving the green light for breeders to use artificial insemination and embryo transfers, some experts say.
Tom Persichino, senior director of marketing for the quarter horse association, said his organization is watching the results of the early cloning experiments but has no immediate plans to add it to the assisted-reproduction techniques it allows.
“In 2004 we passed a rule not allowing them to be registered because there are so many unknowns, particularly regarding the welfare of the horse,” he said. “What is the life expectancy of cloned horses? … What unknown genetic defects might lurk within the cloning process that we’re not aware of?”
But Hinrichs expects a grass-roots movement will eventually lead the AQHA to accept the practice.
“In the quarter horse industry, there are so many people doing so many things — they race, they rope, they rodeo, they cut, they rein, they show — and there is a whole spectrum of people in the industry that already are cloning their horses … with the aim of competing in the non-breed association competitions,” she said. “Once they have all these horses cloned, one assumes there will be push to allow registration.”
And Blake, the ViaGen official, predicts that as the procedure becomes more efficient and less costly, there will eventually be enough cloned horses to create such a groundswell.
“We have invested in the horse business and we think we’re going to be making potentially something like 100 horses a year, not as soon as next year but on the five year horizon,” he said. “…That number could increase if people decide the clones perform as well as the originals.”
But none of the cloning experts expects thoroughbred racing to change its view on cloning in the foreseeable future.
Veneklausen said that thoroughbred breeders will resist with all their might, fearing that cloning would flood the market with popular bloodlines.
“It’s a numbers game,” he said. “You want those yearlings to bring $7 million.”
Fick, the Jockey Club official, agrees, but for a different reason.
“We’ve held the position of natural breeding for over 100 years, and I don’t see that changing,” he said. “I think it’s fine for livestock and trying to improve their production levels, but horses are entirely different from the standpoint of being part of an organized sport and entertainment. I just don’t see the sport going in that direction.”
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.
 | INTERACTIVE |
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 | Slideshow |
 | Derby celebs Plenty of stars from the entertainment and sports world attend the 136th Kentucky Derby. more photos |
| INTERACTIVE |
 | Triple Crown winners The horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in the same year. |
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
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.