A Grip on Sports: America’s sports tastes have changed and nothing shows that more than this weekend’s not-so-major-anymore sporting event, the Belmont
A GRIP ON SPORTS • For the past few years whenever the idea of America’s changing sports taste came up, boxing seemed to be the poster boy. After all, 100 years ago, heavyweight boxers were the toast of the town, whether that was New York, New York or Keokuk, Iowa. Now it’s even more violent sports in the limelight. The best example of tastes changing these days? Horse racing.
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• Even though no horse won the Triple Crown between 1919 (Sir Barton, the first) and 1930 (Gallant Fox), the 1920s were part of a golden age of horse racing. It was a decade that began with Man o’War dominating the headlines – literally – and ended with Reigh Count, sire of Count Fleet, the 1943 Triple Count winner, doing the same.
Back then, all that meant something. To everyone. Today?
Ask your neighbor who is the most important sire in the country and you probably receive back a blank stare. Or a treatise on no kings or the like. Horse racing?
It’s disappearing faster than your paycheck at the grocery story. And that’s not going to change unless the sport changes.
The proof presents itself this morning in stark relief. The Belmont is Saturday. The final leg of the sport’s golden spring races, the Triple Crown. I challenge you to share any conversation you may have overheard about it. Heck, trying to find a story about the race on one of the main sports websites was fruitless this morning. My last resort? A Google search. Yes, the major outlets have this and that. It’s just hidden behind a curtain built by basketball, hockey, baseball, Senate hearings, whatever. Anything but the ponies.
I am old enough to remember when the world’s eyes were turned toward New York the first Saturday each June. Wait, that was just a few years ago. They were focused on American Pharoah and its quest to end the almost 40-year Triple Crown drought (it did). By the time Justify turned the trick again in 2018, it seemed almost redundant. Now, just getting a horse to run in two of the three races – Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont – seems impossible.
The past two years the Derby winner has skipped the Preakness. This year no horse that ran in that Maryland race three weeks ago will run tomorrow. The Crown has fallen to the dirt and no one cares to pick it up.
• If you do want to watch, post time for the final Saratoga-hosted race – Belmont’s renovations are about done – is 4:04 p.m. on Fox.
• If no one cares about what once was an event, what has taken its place?
With the NBA Finals back tonight in San Antonio – Game Two tips at 5:30 on ABC – Saturday’s slate is pretty bereft of big events.
OK, there is the Stanley Cup, hockey’s showcase. The series shifts west to Las Vegas where we will find out if the Golden Knights can shake off Thursday’s mini-collapse in Raleigh, N.C. The 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina cost Vegas a chance to return home with two road wins tucked under its bench. Instead, the series is tied at a game apiece.
(By the way, the NHL gives its teams only a day to travel across the country. The NBA? Two full ones. Advantage, NBA.)
Otherwise, Saturday’s TV viewing is dominated by baseball (MLB and college), golf and tennis (if you are willing to rise early). Same with Sunday.
The red-hot Mariners are in Detroit – hey, didn’t those teams meet in the playoffs last season? – to face a Tiger team coming off a sweep itself. Today’s game starts at 3:40 p.m., Saturday the first pitch is at 10:10 a.m. and Sunday’s at 10:40. All will be on the Mariners Network.
The NCAA Super Regionals, best-of-three series that determine the eight schools that move on the College World Series, are all over the ESPN networks all three days.
Jack Nicklaus’ tournament, the Memorial, is on the Golf Channel today and CBS Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. both days. The U.S. Women’s Open from historic Riviera in Los Angeles is on USA on Saturday and NBC on Sunday (2 p.m. both days).
The French Open finals, will feature players four players no one outside of your tennis-crazed friend has ever heard of, thanks to the Paris heat, upsets and the usual clay court madness. The women’s final, which includes the lowest-ranked player in at least four decades, starts Saturday at 6 a.m. on TNT. The men face off at the same time and channel on Sunday.
The NBA? It takes the weekend off. Monday night the Finals will return to New York for the first time since Rick Brunson wore a Knicks uniform. Now his son Jalen will try to do something dad couldn’t do, defeat the Spurs and win a title.
That’s a great story. Almost as great as a 3-year-old Thoroughbred winning three pressure-packed races in nine weeks. And probably just as rare.
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WSU: June is a big month in the college football world. It’s the time a lot of high school players decide where they are headed. In more than a year. OK, so sometimes the destination they share on social media doesn’t hold that long – for a variety of reasons. But for now, they are on the record. Greg Woods has a story today on the third player in four days to say they are headed to Washington State in 2027. … We shared the news yesterday former Coug quarterback Ryan Leaf is joining USA Network and will serve as its main football analyst. There is a story on the S-R site today. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, if you read Jon Wilner’s column today in the S-R and listen intently, you might be able to hear him shake his head. The hearings in D.C. this week seems to have revealed a new alignment in college sports. … Wilner also has a Mercury News column on the Big 12’s payouts. … Oregon State ran an under-the-sonar search for its new athletic director. So deep, in fact, nothing surfaced until Thursday when the school announced Kevin Griffin will be the new AD. Who? We have the answer to that from John Canzano and newspapers in Oregon. And a look at what he faces. … As we mentioned above, it’s that time of the football year in which recruiting never stops. Not for Oregon State. … Nor for San Diego State. … The Beavers’ schedule has some highlights. … A Washington offensive lineman and many of us have something in common. A love of a good steak. … One of the folks who testified in Congress this week plays for Utah. … In baseball news, as we said above, the Super Regionals begin today. The West’s hopes? Oregon, Cal Poly and USC. Of those, we believe only the Trojans will move on to Omaha, though if the Ducks turn back on their power, watch out Texas. … Oregon State’s roster is undergoing some change, in and out. … In softball news, Texas won the Women’s College World Series for the second consecutive season, topping Texas Tech again, this time in two games. … In basketball news, Colorado’s men have added two freshman to their roster, which makes it complete for next season. … Boise State coach Leon Rice has hired his son Max as an assistant.
Gonzaga: Not sure anyone was holding their breath for this nugget, but the Zag men will open their 2026-27 season at 4:30 p.m. in Las Vegas on Nov. 2. Yep, the game time against Purdue in T-Mobile Arena was released yesterday and Theo Lawson has a story.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, we can pass along some Weber State football notes.
Preps: The GSL’s spring sports all-league teams were released. Cheryl Nichols has all the lists here.
Indians: Dave Nichols was back at Avista on Thursday and has a story. On a Spokane win. The Indians evened their series with Hillsboro with a 2-1 victory keyed by three consecutive walks. Including, yep, a walk-off walk, which is as on the money as one can get.
Mariners: The CBA proposal released this week by MLB includes a salary cap, limiting how much a franchise can spend. It’s something the players adamantly oppose. But it also includes a salary floor, a minimum spending threshold. That’s something most fans can get behind. … Last year’s two top American League MVP candidates are both out. Cal Raleigh is expected back soon. Aaron Judge? He will miss most of the season. … We mentioned above how hot the M’s have been. Is it real or just a mirage? … If it’s the latter, maybe one or two Double-A pitching prospects will be called upon. … I have my money on Ichiro.
Seahawks: Cooper Kupp is back for another season with his home-state team. And wants to make it a better one. … Mike Sando, who watched Russell Wilson’s career close up, examines Wilson’s Hall of Fame case in The Athletic. … There was one Hawk who didn’t make a play all season. Until the Super Bowl. He’s back.
Sounders: Want to know what constitutes a star? Getting a pizza named after you. … The MLS has 44 players on World Cup squads, its most ever.
NBA: Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama are the stars. But the championship will be decided on which team’s secondary players shine the most. In the first game, that was New York.
Reign: The franchise is going to allow kids under 12 to attend a match for free.
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• Though I don’t really know the actually day, I have decided to celebrate my dog’s birthday on June 5. Why? His name is Donut and being that today is National Doughnut Day, well, why the heck not? Happy birthday Donut. You’re really sweet. Until later …