Any handicapper who says jockeys don’t make a difference hasn’t been watching Rafael Bejarano ride on a day-to-day basis. His dominance of the Southern California jockey colony in his first year out west is truly remarkable.
Sports Columns
It is in their hands now for the first time in what seems an eternity. Eight years, really. But what a long, painful, frustrating eight it must have been for those who follow UNLV football. Think of the world’s incessant wait for Tom Cruise to take up scientology full time and try ruling the universe in anonymity. That long.
The striped bass in Lake Mead have taken a page from the casino industry’s playbook. They have adopted the use of “periodic payouts” as a means of keeping the attention of anglers hoping to put a few of the fish on their stringers. Sometimes these periodic payouts come in the form of a striped bass, and sometimes the payout comes in the form of a striper boil.
He has made this walk before while thinking of her and will do so again.
The fifth season that could decide Mike Sanford’s future as head football coach at UNLV will arrive with this certainty: The Rebels are solid at a most significant position.
Face it. Watching poker live or on television is hardly like watching Ellen Burstyn in “Requiem for a Dream.” There is the drama of winning millions of dollars and a shiny bracelet, and then there is an electroshock therapy scene that leaves you immobile.
Horse racing could learn a lot from President-elect Barack Obama. And it matters not if Obama signs one piece of legislation to help the industry.
As Hyrum slid behind the wheel of the 21-foot, custom-painted Skeeter bass boat, I was more than a little nervous. Knowing a 225-horsepower outboard was on the back didn’t help. Though he is 12, Hyrum already has a well-earned reputation as The Wildman, mostly because he knows no fear. He’ll try just about anything at least once, especially if it involves speed or heights.
This is how the game is played: A college basketball program signs a highly rated recruit who also considered a program of superior stature and tradition. In this case, Kentucky.
They begin to occur in a college football coaching’s staff third season and increase in the fourth. Measuring games. Those weeks when it is determined where your program stands in relation to the best in its conference. Those weeks when you discover how far you have come and how far you must travel to be considered valid.
Did you hear the one about the guy who makes snow for a living and who woke up one day to find himself a crew member for an NHRA team, handling everything from tires to rear suspension to repacking parachutes?
The biggest question to come from Breeders’ Cup weekend was did Zenyatta do enough to beat out Curlin as Horse of the Year? The undefeated filly was the shortest-priced winner of a Breeders’ Cup stakes at 1-2 odds in the Ladies Classic.
There was a moment at a Texas football practice last week when the winningest coach in program history approached the man who has been in charge of the Longhorns since 1998.
Luke turned and asked me to keep an eye on the drift boat while he and Brett Prettyman, outdoor editor at the Salt Lake Tribune, shuttled the pickup and boat trailer to our intended take out at a place called Dearborn several miles downriver. Brett and I were fishing partners for the day, and Luke, a tall drink of water from Virginia, was our guide.
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