On Saturday at 5:17 p.m., the eyes of most of the world will be on Belmont Park.
For 1½ miles, Kentucky Derby and Preakness romper Big Brown will chase the holy grail of thoroughbred racing, attempting to become the first horse in 30 years to capture the Triple Crown.
Affirmed was the last horse to do it. His 1978 battles with Alydar are legendary.
Big Brown has no archrivals. In five starts, no horse has gotten within 4¾ lengths.
In recent years, Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide and Smarty Jones won the Derby and the Preakness but were denied their place in history in the Belmont Stakes.
With the exception of Chicago hero War Emblem, as well as Smarty Jones, I rooted against them all. I loved it when Victory Gallop nailed Real Quiet, and when Funny Cide got stuck in the mud.
Besides history, Big Brown has two factors that may work against him. Unfortunately, one of those isn’t the collective talent of his competition.
The most obvious problem is his damaged hoof. A horse with notoriously bad feet, he developed a quarter crack in his left front. It has healed amazingly well, and he calmed fears that it could affect his effort with a stellar 5-furlong workout Tuesday.
The second issue may be the weather. Saturday’s temperatures may climb into the low 90s, and some horses can’t handle heat, especially over 12 grueling furlongs.
Big Brown is special, but he has benefited by racing against an average group of 3-year-olds. He has a high cruising speed but is rateable. When asked, he simply explodes, regardless of the distance. He may relish Belmont’s 12 furlongs.
Many believe the rail post may hinder him, but with Da’Tara the only horse who hints of tactical speed, he should have no problem finding early position.

dailyherald.com

Hillary Clinton returned to Washington, D.C., Wednesday to take a breather from the campaign trail and enjoy a convincing victory in West Virginia before re-launching her longshot bid to defeat front-runner Barack Obama for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
Clinton rallied supporters with her decisive win Tuesday, but she will have to shout to be heard in the final three weeks of the Democratic contest as Obama increasingly turns his attention toward the general election.
The Illinois senator was campaigning and meeting with newspaper editorial boards in Michigan Wednesday, a state in which he refused to appear on the ballot to support the Democratic National Committee’s decision to penalize the state for holding its primary ahead of Super Tuesday, Feb. 5.
With Clinton vowing to stay in the race until every vote is counted — and the party likely to find a mechanism to seat Michigan as well as the also-penalized state of Florida at the Democratic National Convention in August — Obama may be trying to sew up some loose ends.
But the Illinois senator is talking like he is already the nominee, and heading to Michigan could be his attempt to signal that he has moved on to the general election and is preparing to fight for the potential battleground state against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. Obama headed to Michigan Tuesday night from Missouri, another expected battleground, where he delivered a speech at an economic forum without ever mentioning Clinton’s name.
With his wide lead in total delegates and much of the political talking class in Washington ready to designate Obama the Democratic nominee, Clinton has quite a mountain to climb to convince Democrats she’s the best candidate. But she tried her best to signal that her 40-point margin of victory in West Virginia proves the race is far from over.

elections.foxnews.com

[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]
Quick Take for Tuesday, May 6, 2008 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)
Marking its Most Competitive Finish on the Evening Since the ReturnOf “Idol” in January, ABC Tallies its Top Tuesday Numbers in 6 Weeks
“DWTS Results” is the Most-Watched Show in its 9pm Slot for the 6th StraightWeek and Stands as Tuesday’s No. 2 Program to “Idol” for the 7th Week Running
ABC’s “DWTS Results” Hits Season Highs with Viewers and Young Adults,Producing ABC’s Top Numbers in the Time Period in More Than 5 Months
Moving Up to Second in its New Time Slot in Viewers and Young Adults,”Women’s Murder Club” Grows from its Week-Earlier Premiere in the Hour
Tuesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
Posting its most competitive finish on the night since the return of “American Idol” in January, ABC took a strong second place to Fox on Tuesday evening in Total Viewers (12.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.0/8). ABC topped third-place CBS on the evening by 1.8 million viewers and by 30% in Adults 18-49 (CBS = 10.6 million and 2.3/6).
In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC turned in its highest Tuesday numbers in 6 weeks since 3/25/08. In addition, the Network was up from the same night last year by 1.9 million viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49 (10.5 million and 2.8/8 on 5/8/07).
“DWTS: Judges’ All-Time Favorite Dances” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Up against “American Idol,” the ABC special “DWTS: Judges’ All-Time Favorite Dances” generated the Net’s best non-sports numbers in the time period since November among Total Viewers (10.5 million-tie), and since December among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7) since 11/27/07 and 12/18/07, respectively.

thefutoncritic.com

-I’m curious to know what you thought of WWE Backlash. Feel free to send in a paragraph or two of comments on the show last night for possible inclusion in a Mailbag article. Send your comments to dotnetjason@gmail.com. You’re also welcome to vote in our latest poll: What was the highlight of WWE’s Backlash pay-per-view?
-WWE Raw is live from East Rutherford, N.J. tonight on USA Network. The company has yet to announce any matches for the show, but we should get at least one or two advertised matches later today.
-TNA is taping two weeks of Impact over the next two nights in Orlando. The company is advertising A.J. Styles and Tomko vs.The Rock-n-Rave Infection, and LAX vs. Eric Young and Kaz in Deuces Wild tournament matches. TNA management direction Jim Cornette will announce the names of the “Elite Eight” who will form randomly drawn teams to compete in the tournament. Cornette is also slated to announce the details regarding TNA’s latest concept match. You know, because TNA just doesn’t have enough gimmick matches these days.
-Check back later today for the WWE Backlash Hitlist. I’m also planning to record a new Prowrestling.net Podcast sometime before the end of the day.
-USA Network is advertising a three-hour Raw for June 23 in San Antonio, Texas.
Dot Net Poll Results: 43 percent of Dot Net voters felt the WWE Backlash pay-per-view lineup was average. 30 percent of the voters felt it was a strong lineup. Only 27 percent of the voters felt it was either a one-match show or a lousy lineup.
-Steven Richards and Kevin Thorn are scheduled to appear on an upcoming WWE developmental show. They are scheduled to work the May 3 Florida Championship Wrestling show in New Port Richey, Fla. Visit FCWwrestling.com for more information.
-Rambo is presenting WWE Judgment Day. No, really. That’s how it appears on the WWE live events page, so get read for plenty of Rambo DVD plugs on WWE television over the next three weeks.

prowrestling.net

- WWE Raw kicks off tonight with the usual pyro explosions as Jim Ross welcomes to the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
- Lilian Garcia is in the ring introducing RAW General Manager William Regal.
Regal introduces Orton’s opponent for Backlash, who he calls the most deserving #1 contender in WWE history, JBL. JBL’s limo pulls up to the ramp and out comes the self proclaimed Wrestling God.
JBL comes to the ring and extends his hand to Randy Orton for a shake. Orton doesn’t return the offer and Regal gets on the mic. Regal begins to talk and the music hits and out comes The Game, Triple H.
Triple H enters the ring and says he’s confused. He asks Regal if he is out of his friggin’ mind? Triple H asks him if this is his main event for Backlash? Triple H says he knows he was busy with Flair’s retirement last week, but he must have missed something. The Game says while Randy Orton won the match at WrestleMania, he didn’t really beat anyone. Triple H says Orton took a cheap shot and got lucky with the win. Then he asks how is a guy, who spent the last two years retired as an announcer on SmackDown, be the #1 contender? Triple H says JBL’s biggest claim to fame since being back is slapping a midget.
Regal says he has a solution and says Triple H has to earn his way into the Backlash main event. Regal announces that Triple H will face JBL and Randy Orton in a Handicap Match tonight and if he wins, the Backlash main event will be a Triple Threat. Orton and JBL argue with Regal at this as his music hits and JBL keeps arguing with him. We cut to commercial.

wrestlingnewsworld.com

There is only one track meet in the nation that has enough pomp and circumstance to surpass the national championship meet: the Penn Relays.
Beginning Tuesday, a group from the UCLA women’s track and field team began competition on the other side of the country at that prestigious meet held at the University of Pennsylvania.
In its rich, 113-year tradition, the most famous and widely attended meet in the United States has brought together high school and college teams from all over the country, as well as athletes from all over the world. Over 100,000 track fans will pack into the stands over the stretch of the three-day event, with over 50,000 expected on the final day.
“It’s great. There’s so much tradition,” coach Jeanette Bolden said. “It’s a lot bigger than (the national championships).”
The meet is famous for popularizing relays and has races that are not seen very often. Besides the normal 4×100 meter and 4×400 meter relays, there is a 4-mile relay and 2-mile relay,
The squad representing UCLA will consist of jumpers, sprinters and a few distance runners. There will be relay teams in the 4×100m, 4×400m and a distance medley team.
“We don’t have the entire team going,” Bolden said. “This is a good chance for the relays to do well and get a national ranking.”
With the wide field of competition – around 15,000 athletes will participate – the Bruins will get a peek at what to expect at nationals.
“This meet gives you a nice preview for NCAAs,” Bolden said. “You see a lot of teams you wouldn’t normally see during the season.”
For a couple athletes, it will be a chance to show the country, as well as their families what they can do on the track.
Freshmen Lindsey Rowe (100m hurdles, 4×100m relay) is from Jamaica, Queens, N.Y., and junior Nicole Leach hails from West Philadelphia, Pa. The meet gives them the chance to compete in front of family and friends who do not get to see most of their meets.

dailybruin.ucla.edu

Facing another must-win political battle, Sen. Hillary Clinton emerged victorious Tuesday in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, but it’s unclear how much the victory will help close her delegate deficit against the better-funded Sen. Barack Obama.
“It’s fair to say she had the entire political establishment in the state,” syndicated columnist Mark Shields said Tuesday night on the NewsHour. “He had the money. There was a kind of parity of resources.”
In the six weeks since the Mississippi contest, Clinton worked to show her blue collar bona fides in the Keystone State and highlight her Pennsylvania family roots — and went on to win more of the blue-collar workers, women and white men in an election where the economy was the dominant concern.
Obama, meanwhile, was favored by black voters, the affluent and those who recently switched to the Democratic Party, a group that comprised about one in 10 Pennsylvania voters, according to the surveys conducted by The Associated Press and TV news networks.
“The future of this campaign is in your hands,” Clinton told supporters at a Philadelphia victory rally. “Some people counted me out and said to drop out, but the American people don’t quit and they deserve a president who doesn’t quit either. Because of you, the tide is turning.”
On Earth Day, Clinton proposed creating more “green jobs” to kick-start the flagging economy and help minimize climate change.
“We’re going to end the war on science and have a renewed commitment to science and research,” she said.
Clinton ended her speech by co-opting Obama’s “Yes, we can” slogan into a more determined “Yes, we will.”
Obama’s most politically powerful supporter in Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey, said the Illinois senator managed to cut into Clinton’s polling lead, which was well into the double digits as recently as the beginning of April.

pbs.org

Interested in betting on the UFC? Check out the MMAjunkie MMA Wagering Guide. It will tell you everything you need to know to get started. We recommend our partner site Bodog.
After earning his fifth straight victory in the UFC’s welterweight division, American Top Team’s Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (14-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is now directly behind No. 1 contender Jon Fitch (17-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) for a shot at the title.
Alves was informed of his positioning by UFC matchmaker Joe Silva immediately following the 24-year-old Brazilian’s TKO victory over Karo Parisyan (18-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) at Ultimate Fight Night 13.
Alves discussed his possible title contention, as well as the hotly debated ending of the Parisyan bout, while a guest on Monay’s edition of TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), a content partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
“Right now I heard I’m right behind Jon Fitch,” Alves said. “That’s what Joe Silva told me.”
With Fitch expected to take on the winner of next weekend’s Matt Serra-Georges St. Pierre UFC 83 main event, Alves could potentially sit out briefly and wait on the results of these fights and his pending title shot. Alves, however, would prefer to stay active.
“I know I want to fight,” Alves said. “My manager asked me if I want to wait to see what’s up, and I said, ‘I don’t want to wait, I want to fight.’ Probably I’ll be fighting by June or July.”
By most counts, Alves lost the first round of his bout with Parisyan. But Alves contends that was due, at least partially, to his always-patient strategy.
“I was feeling great,” Alves said. “In the beginning, I always start slow. I don’t start 100 percent. I start to pick up the pace while the fight is going.”
That slow start also had much to due with Alves’ respect for Parisyan.

mmajunkie.com

Nepalese turned out to vote for peace and democracy in their millions in historic elections marred by a few outbreaks of violence.
Two people died in separate incidents and polling was suspended in 33 out of 21,000 polling stations.
The elections for a new assembly are likely to spell an end to the country’s 239-year-old monarchy and see a new constitution drafted that will bring peace after 10 years of Maoist insurgency.
After widespread fears in recent weeks that the country was too unstable to hold elections at all, the day was greeted as a great success.
There had been no election in the country of 27 million people since 1999.
The slogan raised by all the major parties is for a “new Nepal”, and the electoral system guarantees greater representation to the country’s many disempowered castes and ethnic groups.
At a polling station in the capital, 84-year-old Bhanudas Mahajan was pushed in a wheelchair to cast his vote.
“I’m satisfied,” he said, explaining that he chose the Maoists because “it is a new party.” Like many, he was demanding change.
Polling stations across the city witnessed a rush of voters in the morning and had recorded a 50 per cent turnout by midday. The election commission estimated turnout at 60 per cent nationally.
Watching the polling was Devendra Raj Pandey, a former finance minister turned democracy campaigner. “I’m so excited I can’t tell you,” he said. “After all the fears of violence we can be very proud of ourselves.
“When you look at the people you feel hope,” he said. “It’s when I look at the political leaders that I feel numb in a way.”
The results may not be known for several weeks due to the need for re-running the polling in some areas before the complicated proportional representation system can be calculated.

telegraph.co.uk

For the second year in a row, “American Idol” transforms, for one night only, from trying to sell Coca-Cola, Apple computers and iTunes and Ford vehicles to raising money for underprivileged children. The results show, in which somebody goes home, gets moved to 8 pm Thursday night. “Idol Gives Back” is a star-studded affair, and kicks off with a group number by the Idolizers, doing “Please Don’t Stop the Music,” while “So You Think You Can Dance” hoofers hurl their bodies around the big stage of the Kodak Theater.
Why did the words “Exxon Mobil” just appear in red on the bottom of the screen? Is “Idol” selling simple word placement now? Not just commercials?
But more to the point, organizations that will benefit this year include Save the Children, Malaria No More, the Global Fund, Children’s Health Fund, Children’s Defense Fund and Make It Right, a campaign started by Brad Pitt for New Orleans recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
Last year, “Idol Gives Back” raised $76 million; this year, they’re shooting for $100 million.
Getting the taped fundraising pleas off to a bilingual start, George Lopez makes a plea in Spanish. Kylie Minogue makes a plea in an Australian accent. Maria Shriver, aka California’s first lady, comes onstage joined by what appears to be a small army. Ben Stiller appears in a spot in which he makes an unfunny joke about singing Whitney Houston songs, says we may be thinking he’s crazy, then adds the zinger: “Isn’t that what ‘American Idol’ is all about, convincing crazy people that they belong on television?”
What is that white thing on Kobe Bryant’s face? A bandage?
Paula and Randy appear in a taped segment in which they visit a school in California where the kids are forced to worry about things like drive-by shootings instead of their schoolwork. It’s touching, low-key and effective.

oregonlive.com