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
NEW YORK - Afleet Alex won’t run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, after all.
Trainer Tim Ritchey and veterinarian Patricia Hogan said Monday that the Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner’s leg injury is not fully healed and the popular 3-year-old colt won’t be ready for such a tough race on Oct. 29 at Belmont Park.
“It came down to crunch time, to enter him in a prep race, and there just wasn’t enough time,” said Hogan, who has viewed X-rays every two weeks since Afleet Alex was sidelined with a fractured left-front cannon bone July 21. “I was very much on the fence. It was a tough decision, but it’s better to be safe and just wait.”
Afleet Alex, the star of the Triple Crown series with his acrobatic Preakness win and overpowering Belmont victory, had two strong workouts on the comeback trail and was looking to run in the Classic after a prep race.
But the prospect of running this weekend, either at Belmont Park or at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., then coming back two weeks later and taking on the top horses in training in the $4 million BC Classic was just too much to ask.
“He’s just too valuable, and the owners care a lot about him,” Hogan said. “They are looking at the bigger picture and want to race him next year.”
Afleet Alex underwent surgery on the ankle a week after the injury was discovered, and a screw was inserted in the bone. A few weeks later, though, Ritchey had Alex walking, then jogging, then galloping. The workouts over the last two weeks were impressive, but Hogan was not totally convinced.
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“This was a test to see if there was a possibility of returning to racing within the scope of the Breeders’ Cup races,” Ritchey and Hogan said in statement on the Afleet Alex’s official Web site. “All involved with Alex agreed that if that was to be a possibility, then the healing process was to have been completed 100 percent for this to be considered. After the recent works, Alex was radiographed again, and although it is very subtle, it is evident that bone is still in the end stages of the healing process. We are 99 percent there, but for this horse we require 100 percent.”
Afleet Alex will remain in training and could race again before the end of the year, Hogan said. One scenario includes a prep race, followed by a start in the prestigious Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Nov. 26.
“The horse is doing very well clinically and has progressed remarkably well,” Hogan said.
Afleet Alex has won eight of 12 career starts for earnings of $2,765,800 for Cash Is King Stable.
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. |
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.
