Here in 2008, diversity remains a foreign concept in thoroughbred racing. The sport is still mainly a club for good ol’ (white) boys. You need a search warrant to find females or African-Americans in the important decision-making roles of industry organizations or race tracks.
Look at it like this: The campaign for President of the U.S. […]

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Today we are proud to bring you the first installment of our public-service series, “Ask Colonel Billy.” The purpose is to give you a way to find out everything you ever wanted to know about the Kentucky Derby but were too scared – or stoned, as the case may be – to ask. Today’s topic, […]

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Don’t get the wrong idea about Larry Jones. He did not catch an incurable case of Kentucky Derby Fever when he finished second last year with Hard Spun. He has plenty of common sense under his trademark cowboy hat. He’s so respectful of convention and history that he gets a sort of crooked grin when […]

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Given our city’s longtime fascination with all things brown, it was inevitable the day would come when we would have a Kentucky Derby horse named Big Brown. This animal is named for UPS, our city’s leading employer, and will take an unbeaten record – three wins in three starts – into the 133rd Derby on […]

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – The final day of the 2008 Masters golf tournament was a simple story: the South African kid didn’t choke and the Tiger didn’t charge. Period. Everything else went pretty much as Bobby Jones and the golfing gods might have planned it.
The Sunday pressure grabbed guys like Steve Flesch and Paul Casey right […]

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – It has been the sort of Masters where the weather has been different every day, leading to different playing conditions, and where the leaders, through 54 holes, have played steady, sometimes spectacular golf, that’s worthy of the Hogans and Sneads and Palmers who made this place a holy shrine to the most […]

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SAN ANTONIO – You may be shocked to learn that precocious freshman guard Derrick Rose, didn’t matriculate – is that a great word or what? – at Memphis because he thought John Calipari was a coaching genius, because he loves ribs and Beale Street, or because he really liked the business school.
The truth is, he […]

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SAN ANTONIO – So here we were, standing in front of the Hyatt, waiting for an ESPN car to pick up my friend, Robert Montgomery Knight, the noted college basketball analyst, and his entourage, which included his wife Karen and yours truly.
The fans materialized immediately, bringing balls and papers to be signed. A couple only […]

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The obits about Bill Keightley, who died at 81 Monday evening, say that he had been the University of Kentucky’s basketball equipment manager for 47 years. Unfortunately, that’s not quite accurate. In fact, I used to kid “Mr. Wildcat” about padding his resume.

Through the 1961-’62 season, UK’s equipment manager was S.C. “Buster” Brown. I’m not […]

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