BALTIMORE — Thoroughbred racing has its share of issues, as the past two weeks have shown, but Big Brown doesn’t appear to have any. And for one day, the sport was able to focus on exactly the type of performance that makes it so compelling.
Now it’s on to Belmont Park in just under three weeks for a date with history.
Big Brown didn’t just dazzle in his latest performance, he thoroughly dominated 11 rivals in winning the 133rd Preakness Stakes by 5 1/4 lengths — wrapped up — at Pimlico Race Course.
The unbeaten son of Boundary, now 5-for-5 lifetime, will head to the June 7 Belmont Stakes with a chance to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner — and first since Affirmed in 1978.
Since 1997, six horses have been in the position Big Brown finds himself in, but all came up short in the grueling mile-and-a-half final leg of the Triple Crown. None of those, however, not even Smarty Jones, overwhelmed the opposition the way Big Brown has as a 3-year-old.
“He just keeps on getting better, keeps on showing he is something special,” trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said.
Jockey Kent Desormeaux, who originally left the jockey’s room without his whip, had to quickly turn back to retrieve it before getting a leg up on Big Brown. Turns out it was little more than a prop.
As he and Big Brown approached the final turn, they were outside of Gayego and Riley Tucker. Then, in a breathtaking turn of foot, they were gone.
Big Brown, the prohibitive 1-5 favorite, exploded off that final turn and left the field in his wake as he did, with Desormeaux taking a peek back to see if anyone was coming. No one was.
He kept stealing peeks — five more times in the stretch after that, just to be sure. Macho Again, a 39-1 shot, managed to grab the place spot a half-length ahead of Icabad Crane.

nj.com

The drought that drove large festivals out of Piedmont Park this year won’t stop Atlanta’s popular street festivals. The annual Inman Park Festival, set for April 26-27, draws a diverse crowd of thousands to the neighborhood of bungalows and small parks just east of Little Five Points.
In addition to mingling in the streets, an artists’ market, and people-watching, the Inman Park Neighborhood Association also presents a dance festival, a tour of homes, a quirky Saturday parade, and live pop, rock, jazz, country and world music bands under a tent on Euclid Avenue, in Delta Park and on Poplar Circle. Gay favorites Elise Witt and Cowboy Envy are among the scheduled musicians.
The streets of Inman Park are closed to through traffic during the festival, and parking is often a problem, so a shuttle bus is available. Information on all of the events and logistics is available on the festival’s website.

southernvoice.com

The TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival revealed its lineup and locations Monday, April 21 and although the bulk of it takes place in the downtown area, east Toronto residents will have some local venues close to home.
Organizers expect more than 500,000 people to attend the 22nd annual festival, which runs June 20 to 29 at nearly 50 locations across the city, most in the downtown area.
More than 1,500 musicians will perform at more than 350 concerts.
The illustrious world-class lineup ranges from 14-year-old dynamo Nikki Yanofsky who returns on Sunday, June 22 (at Diesel Playhouse) after two soldout concerts in February, to American jazz giant and festival favourite Dave Brubeck July 2 at the Four Seasons Centre.
A definitive singer of soul music, Al Green, will kick off the festival on Thursday, June 19 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 1 Front St. E.
Voted Canada’s Best Jazz Festival by the National Jazz Awards in 2006 and 2007, the festival features an array of talent and themes, including a Grandmaster series (Brubeck, Michael Legrand, Oliver Jones and Ahmad Jamal), a 10-night guitar hero lineup, cabaret series and even a special speaking series with selected jazz artists discussing their upcoming performances.
East Toronto locations include Black Swan Tavern (154 Danforth Ave.), Lolita’s Lust (513 Danforth Ave.), Ten Feet Tall (1381 Danforth Ave.), Whistler’s Grille and Cafe Bar (995 Broadview Ave.) and the Opera House (735 Queen Street E.).
Lolita’s Lust is designated as one of three after-hours locations featuring late-night jams with extended liquor licences until 4 a.m.
East Toronto is home to its own huge jazz festival with the huge 20th annual Beaches International Jazz Festival slated for July 24 to 27 with a special preview weekend at Woodbine Park July 18 to 20.
Visit www.tojazz.com for a complete list of locations and performers for the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival.

insidetoronto.ca

LOS ANGELES — Wonder Woman, King Kong and Shrek are heading for the Persian Gulf as part of what could become the world’s largest theme-park playground in the United Arab Emirates.
Movie studios, however, are grappling with ways to make their signature characters and amusement parks fly in the conservative Muslim region.
Politically sensitive characters such as Captain America could be left at home. But prayer rooms will join the list of accommodations.
Investors, studios and park operators are aiming to cash in on what some observers call the Middle East’s decades-long fascination with American culture.
In recent months, eight major licensing deals have been struck.
The first, a $2.2 billion Universal Studios park based on franchises such as

dispatch.com

An Ankeny-based group is one step closer to bringing a dog park to the city.
The City Council officially recognized the organization last month with the formation of the Ankeny Dog Park Task Force. The move means organizers can begin formally working with the Ankeny Park Board to put together a detailed proposal.
The task force consists of members of the Ankeny Dog Park Initiative, the group that brought the idea to city officials. Ankeny resident Diana Baratta will serve as the liaison between the Ankeny Park Board and the dog park group.
Todd Redenius, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said the council’s move is the first step in bringing the park to the city.
Redenius said the park board is currently helping the dog park group collect data to decide what features might be needed, what type of land would be best and what the cost might be. Organizers are also studying what has been successful at other dog parks.
Redenius said a dog park is a great project because they are becoming common in Iowa communities and elsewhere.
“We’d like to see one in Ankeny in the future,” he said.
The group will be working over the next few months to put together a proposal for the City Council. Redenius said the biggest issue for the group is time because “these projects don’t move forward that quickly.”
“It’s a relatively long process,” he said. “It won’t be built overnight.”
Jacquie Holm-Smith, president of the Ankeny Dog Park Initiative, originally hoped to have a proposal to city officials this June and have the park ready to open in June 2009.
“It’s a moving target,” Holm-Smith said. “We’re moving as aggressively as we can but these things take time.”
The members of the initiative are dedicated to the project, she said.

desmoinesregister.com

Nearly a year after the Naperville Park District’s last executive director left the post, commissioners have found a successor.
Next month the district will welcome Daniel Betts, who is currently deputy manager of recreation and facility services for the city of Denver. Park officials will make a formal announcement on Bett’s hiring at Thursday’s board meeting.
“Plans do call for him to start March 24, pending the approval of his contract Thursday,” park board President Kristen Jungles said Tuesday.
The district did not have a contract with former executive director Barbara Heller. Heller, who was an at-will employee, began working for the district in November 2004 and left in March 2007.
“He will have a contract that will show the commitment of the board … to him,” Jungles said.
Park commissioners on Tuesday declined comment on the new director, opting to wait until the formal announcement Thursday evening.
Last week the Rocky Mountain News reported Betts, who started working for Colorado’s capital city four years ago, turned in his resignation effective March 4. In the article he said becoming executive director of the Naperville Park District was a promotion, a great opportunity and a chance to return to the Chicago area, where he grew up.
“This has been a great experience all the way around,” he told the paper about his time in Denver.
A Web site profile said Betts graduated in 2001 from Western Illinois University, which he began attending in 1998. The profile described Betts as an education management consultant in addition to being Denver’s deputy director of parks and recreation.
In September Betts faced a firestorm of criticism from Denver City Council members over a proposal to reduce the hours that 12 of the city’s recreation centers were open to the public, the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News reported. The cutbacks were considered a cost-saving measure.
In 2005 Betts helped organize a youth basketball tournament and other events designed to highlight Denver’s diversity when the NBA All-Star Game was held in Colorado, the Post reported.
In April Betts was one of six finalists named for the director of recreation in Cincinnati, according to minutes of that city’s Public Recreation Commission.

suburbanchicagonews.com

At the turn of the millennium, the first incarnation of a fully professional women’s soccer league in the United States began with a wave of publicity, grand expectations and a million reasons why the product would work. Just three years later, it ended with a sorrowful wave goodbye, a bunch of shattered dreams and an opportunity lost.
And what about those million reasons geared towards success, the biggest of which was the 1999 Women’s World Cup triumph by the U.S.? In the end, there were 100 times that many reasons why the Women’s United Soccer Association collapsed – as in the number of dollars blown on the failed enterprise.
Fast forward to 2008. Rising from that spectacular pile of ashes is Women’s Professional Soccer, a smaller, frugal and much more sensible endeavour than its arrogant and defunct older sister.
Still a year away from kickoff, WPS has no brazen predictions of packed stadiums and huge television ratings or boasts of how a prominent spot on the national sporting landscape is inevitable. The new league has a much better grasp on reality with a plan focused on measured progress.
“We know we are not going to get another shot at this,” WPS chief executive officer Tonya Antonucci said. “We have to get it right this time. There is no going back.
“That is why we can’t afford to get ahead of ourselves and set targets that are unrealistic. I firmly believe there is a place for this league, but it is about finding our niche market and growing steadily.”
Such an honest appraisal is rare in the pro sports business. Some may argue that Antonucci is imposing her own glass ceiling on WPS by not claiming to be aiming higher. But if women’s soccer fans were sick of being lied to and deceived, this time they are getting the truth. Time will tell if they can handle it.
Certainly, there is no indication of entitlement. Antonucci knows that it really doesn’t matter whether women’s soccer deserves its own pro league or whether, given participation numbers in the U.S, there simply should be one.
The brutal fact is that if she, the new team owners and the players on the field do not pull together to manufacture something far more economically viable than its predecessor, there won’t be a professional league for women.
“There is nothing Title IX about us,” said Antonucci, referring to the law that mandates gender equity in high school and college athletics. “It is up to us to prove there is a market for this league. No one is going to do it for us.”
This time, there is no standout superstar such as Mia Hamm, the retired soccer icon whose silhouette makes up the WPS logo (a la Jerry West in the NBA’s). Even so, if the U.S. can win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, that feat would provide a perfect and timely injection of interest ahead of the WPS launch.
“This is coming at a good time,” U.S. captain Christie Rampone said. “We don’t have as many big-name players, so we have to make sure it is strong and exciting and that, this time, it is here to stay.”
When WUSA folded, more than 100 players suddenly had to look elsewhere for their livelihood and the failed enterprise took an emotional toll on many.
“I couldn’t hold back the tears,” said Heather Mitts, who played for the Philadelphia Charge. “I was devastated because we had the right product and people who loved the league, but the right business plan was not there.”
One key factor for WPS will be in knowing which type of audience to target. Where as Major League Soccer is starting – to its approval – to gather appeal among a more knowledgeable and passionate soccer clientele, WPS will look to foster a primarily family atmosphere.
“We want dads and their daughters, moms and their daughters, and whole families to come along,” said Antonucci, a former director of Yahoo! Sports and college soccer player at Stanford. “We also want to attract more women fans, and also men who want to come along because they both admire our players’ skills and find them attractive to watch.”
So far, seven teams are in place, with scope for an eighth to be added in the next few months. Some links with MLS will be created naturally. The Los Angeles franchise will play at the Home Depot Center, and the Chicago club at Toyota Park. Dallas is currently in negotiations with Pizza Hut Park, while several teams will play at college venues.
“Last time around, it was felt that renting out expensive stadiums was affordable and practical,” Antonucci said. “Now we want to do things differently and we believe we can sustain this for years to come.”
Martin Rogers is a soccer writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Martin a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated on Sunday, Feb 17, 2008 1:37 pm, EST

sports.yahoo.com