If you’ve ever wondered what it is about horse racing that keeps us coming back for more, just look to the Iraqi people. A fascinating Los Angeles Times story on the Baghdad Equestrian Club depicts how horse racing in Iraq has rebounded from near extinction and is thriving.
Sports Columns
You still see it in movies. How boxing once was. How it truly mattered to all those watching. How the action inside the ring was thought far more exciting than whatever celebrity might be attending outside it.
The Arlington Million has not lost its shine as one of the prime stakes races. The racing festival built around the Million helps puts the spotlight on Arlington Park, one of the most fan-friendly, best-run racetracks in the country.
The sun was just lightening the eastern horizon as we made our way out of Boulder Harbor and Mike O’Donnell pointed his pontoon boat toward the northern tip of Saddle Island. That wasn’t our destination, but it was a good waypoint along our route to Government Wash. With the water so low, Mike could easily see the whitewashed rocks against the dark water as he guided the boat around the point.
See. This is what sport needs more of, and I’m not talking about some golf fan playing a flatulence machine along a fairway to make it sound as if Tiger Woods cut a big one while waiting to hit a shot over the weekend.
There was never some grand plan. She never really thought about it. She didn’t line up her body with a set of dots one day decades ago and point her toes toward the target and straighten her back and lift her chin and smell pizza and hear the ringing of video games and realize her slippery shoes were probably made ugly so nobody would steal them and think it would all lead to becoming one of the best female bowlers in history.
If there was any doubt about the glamour division in horse racing, this weekend will settle it. The best of the 3-year-olds, including all three winners of the Triple Crown events, will be showcased on the East Coast.
Whether you use them to haul your big game back to camp or for exploring Nevada’s backcountry, owners of off-highway vehicles soon will have a little more paperwork to complete before they can take their motorized toys out for a spin. With the passage of Nevada Senate Bill 394 during the recent legislative session, state law will mandate the registration and titling of off-highway vehicles.
It’s weird. The Dodgers today own the best record in baseball. They also have the second-best team ERA and average nearly five runs per game. They have a seven-game lead in the average National League West two days before August, which I suppose could be an edge comparable to beginning a 100-yard dash 15 feet from the finish line.
Columnist Ed Graney writes an open letter to the acting president at UNLV, offering advice on the qualities he should seek in a new athletic director.