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?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
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.
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.
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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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"If you're a thoroughbred and you're not dangerous to humans, there's a home out there for you,'' said Gail Hirt, a Michigan-based board member of the Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses.
Horses that don't win in Puerto Rico quickly become liabilities for their owners. It costs about $750 a month in food and stable fees to keep a thoroughbred at the track, and many owners would rather spend on horses that still have a chance of winning.
Farms and ranches that could take retired horses often prefer lower-maintenance breeds such as the Paso Finos, bred locally since Spanish colonial times and prized for their smooth gait.
That often leaves euthanasia as the cheapest option. The clinic charges owners only about $20 for the chemicals, Garcia said.
The sport attracts many small-time businessmen such as Maldonado, who devotes most of his time to running a booth at a flea market in nearby Rio Grande. Garcia said many take on more horses than they can afford in hopes of striking it rich.
"A lot of times people will have good luck with one horse, that horse will make them a lot of money, and they feel they can do that with every horse,'' he said. "What ends up happening is this renewable resource, which is the racehorse, ends up being treated like just another raw material. When it doesn't produce, you toss it away. And that's sad.''
The thoroughbreds, mostly imported from the United States, often begin racing before their third birthday. After a brief career on the track, they can live to 30 or older.
But veterinarians say they would rather see unwanted horses destroyed humanely than given away or sold to somebody who cannot afford to feed and care for them.
Some horses wind up fending for themselves. Emaciated thoroughbreds, marked by tattoos from the track, have been found among the "chongos''- stray, mixed-breed nags - chewing grass by the roads, according to Amigos de los Animales, an animal sanctuary.
Zequeira has saved dozens of horses. He retrains them at a farm nestled against a mountain ridge in eastern Puerto Rico as sport jumpers for equestrian contests, then sells them or gives them away.
"What they do with horses, that's not human,'' he said.
The horses can take months — even years — to become docile. But trainers say even the hot-tempered thoroughbreds can adapt.
One gray gelding, Divo, whose racing career was cut short because he was too temperamental, is now gentle enough for 12-year-old Claudia Colon. The two have won blue ribbons at jumping contests. Still, Divo does retain some of his wild streak.
"He can be crazy,'' Claudia said, twirling a white lock of hair on his forehead. "He has his moments.''
The vast majority of horses have no such luck.
"Unfortunately, the racehorse industry is dealing in an expendable commodity,'' said Keith Dane, director of equine protection for the Humane Society of the United States. He said his group would like more alternatives for the horses "rather than see them wasted in this way.''
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 |
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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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.