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.
AP fileAlthough 2-year-old purses are extremely lucrative, it’s possible to achieve the Derby’s earnings requirements by capturing one of five to seven key graded stakes in late spring. If anything, the trend for success seems to be with horses that are lightly raced as 3-year-olds.
All combined, Street Sense, Curlin and Hard Spun ran in only seven races prior to the Derby as 3-year-olds. Curlin was one of only eight Derby starters this decade to not race as a 2-year-old. Neither Curlin nor Hard Spun, with three starts – all victories -- as a 2-year-old, made the Experimental Free Handicap. Lightly raced horses have comprised the Derby field for at least the last 30 years, which could explain, in part, why the dual qualifier method stopped working 20 years ago.
Ten years ago, writing for the New York Times, Jay Privman noted, “Of the 13 horses in the 1960 Kentucky Derby, the average number of pre-Derby starts was nearly 21.” In the year of his article, Derby entrants averaged a mere 8.4 starts. Could the fragility of the current breed be a contributing factor to the lower number? Last spring, several Kentucky Derby hopefuls, including the promising Horse Greeley and Tiz Wonderful, disappeared to the sidelines early.
Last year, the field averaged 7.9 pre-Derby starts, with nine starters having had seven races or fewer. Moreover, it is an old belief that a horse must have raced as a 2-year-old in order to be good enough for a chance for the roses. At least one Derby starter in each of the last five years began racing as a sophomore. And so the debate about dosage, the Experimental Handicap and seasoning ensues.
“People like lists and rankings, and horse people are no different,” said Cooney, who Curran lauds as the “Human Fact Machine.” But no fact will ever get in the way of a horse destined to win a race, even if it’s a race steeped in history. A horse that’s a man, not a boy, will negotiate the Derby’s demanding challenges. How handicappers determine which horse that is…well, that’s their business.
“Discussion and debate is healthy,” Cooney added. “That’s what the Experimental gives the sport.” By anybody’s measure, that’s a sounder reason than tradition for The Jockey Club to keep its handicapping calculus alive.
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.
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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.