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'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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods both greeted Sunday with unbridled optimism. But the day would end happily only for Mickelson.
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
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - If anyone knows how much it costs to stage Saturday’s lavish Dubai World Cup horse race, they’re not saying.
The world’s richest race hands out $15.25 million in prize money alone, and costs millions more to organize, including flying in horses from Japan, the United States, South Africa and Europe.
But the Nad Al Sheba racetrack — and the United Arab Emirates — doesn’t allow betting, so there is little income to offset the millions laid out to hold the one-day, once-a-year spectacle.
Even entry and parking is free, allowing poor immigrant families to mingle among the world’s wealthy racing aficionados who’ve jetted in for the glamorous event.
Sponsors’ fees and broadcast rights recoup a portion of the costs, but most are simply paid for from the pockets of Dubai’s royal family, the Maktoums. The family, incidentally, owns the powerful Dubai-based Godolphin stable, with several horses running on the day’s seven-race card.
“It’s basically a tool to promote Dubai,” said Matt Howard, spokesman for the Dubai Racing Club.
With the race expected to reach one billion households, the Maktoum family stands to reap its dividends by pitching this beachfront sheikdom as one of the world’s hottest luxury destinations.
They might also use the race to showcase Dubai as one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities.
The crowd milling in the grandstands, clubhouses and on the lawns covered the gamut of nationalities, adorned in their finest ethnic costumes, enforced by strict dress codes demanding tasteful clothing.
Emirati men in long white dishdasha robes strolled with women in black head-to-toe chadors and copper-colored facial masks. Pakistani men in skullcaps decorated in glittering cut glass consulted their racing forms, alongside Indian women in bright, billowing saris.
Westerners in sharp suits and dresses, some in audacious hats, thronged a food pavilion, quaffing champagne and watching 24 young women compete for the best-dressed lady award.
At the other end of the grandstand, Somali men in skullcaps and white robes knelt in prayer, foreheads pressed to the grass.
“This is what you call cosmopolitan, in the true sense of the word,” said Tony Bury, an English businessman living in Dubai, surveying the crowd.
In one popular clubhouse, wealthy Westerners slurped raw oysters and munched sushi.
“We just need a small excuse to get dressed up, and you have the weather here, which is lovely,” said Cathy Walker, in a wide-brimmed fuschia hat.
Beyond the track, with a backdrop of Dubai’s glimmering modern skyscrapers, camel trainers could be seen walking their prize beasts amid the sand dunes. Camels also race at Nad Al Sheba, in another age-old tradition among Arabs.
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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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.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.