This week in sports

Hi folks,

The One Hundredth and Thirty-Fourth (134) Kentucky Derby is in the books for this year. Big Brown is the winner, but the big story this year is runner-up Eight Bells. She broke her two front ankles and had to be euthanized by injection on the track after the race. This is the second time in three years that a horse has gone down in a Triple Crown race. At the 2006 Preadness, Barbaro broke one of his ankles. A horse named George Washington was euthanized in last year’s Breeders’ Cup races. Horse racing is the sport of kings and when they are running down the stretch it is beautiful, but when it goes wrong it is very sad. I believe the problem lies with the tracks and not the trainers or owners. The tracks in California and the Keeland in Kentucky have installed artificial surfaces that are a lot easier on the horse joints and ankles. As we all know dirt is hard, tracks do water the surface to give the horses more traction but this is not enough. Also you don’t hear about breakdowns on the turf or grass courses. This is what happened to George Washington, he raced on turf and grass for most of his life but last fall at the Breeders’ Cup his owner’s put him in the Classic on dirt because it is a bigger money race then the races on the turf course. I think this owner was the exception to the rule; most owners’ care about their horses more then the purse.

NBC showed great restraint in not showing Eight Bellies going down or going into the horse ambulance. I have to say, I did not like their pre race red carpet show, it was very cheesy. It did not tell me anything about the upcoming race. ESPN did a much better job in telling the story of the race and the characters that make up the “RUN FOR THE ROSES”. ESPN did go overboard with its piggy bank; they named it and then broke it. It was a little over done and I’m not sure we needed to see any of that.

This week’s big event is the Players Championship in Golf. It is considered the 5th major because it’s owned and run by the PGA Tour. Most of the top 50 players in the world are playing this week. Also the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour. The signature hole is the 17th, Island green. Keep you eye on this one.

Talk to you all next week.

That’s my take: I would like to hear yours.

Jamie Lazaroff