Live long and prosper! William Shatner is determined to keep working for as long as he physically can, a source tells Examiner.
"Bill still has the spark and the playfulness that he had when he came to Hollywood 60-plus years ago," reveals the source. "He loves show business and he loves being famous … [and] has outlived and outlasted just about everybody he came up in the business with."
When asked in 2021 if he planned to retire, the Star Trek actor, 95, told AARP, "Why? What are you gonna retire to? I mean, I don't fish and don't play golf. I ride horses a lot. But what are you going to do? You can't sit and rock."
"The idea of just holing up and fading away behind the walls of an estate, something many of his acting peers wound up doing, is unimaginable to him," admits the source. "Bill is a strong believer in the philosophy of 'use it or lose it.' He firmly believes he would actually damage his health if he were to slow down and live the lifestyle of a retired man!"
ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA

#bill #business #retire

Saoirse Ronan has insisted the James Bond rumours don't come up home with her husband Jack Lowden.
During an interview with The ****** ociated Press, the Oscar-nominated actress was asked what it was like to live with the Slow Horses actor, given that everyone thinks he'll be the next 007.
The Irish actress insisted the subject doesn't come up much in their day-to-day life as they have other matters to deal with.
"I mean, we're kind of getting on with our life to be honest, we have plenty of other things to be dealing with, so yeah, it's not really a subject that's coming up in our house to be honest," she shared. "The dog needs to be walked, the dinner needs to be made, we're more focused on that."
She added, "Jack's on Slow Horses right now, and he's having a good time on that."
Ronan also quipped that Lowden's co-star Gary Oldman "thinks he's James Bond", after Oldman said in an interview that the next Bond had been picked and his "fingers are crossed" for the Scottish actor. Many people believed the Oscar winner had let slip that Lowden had secured the coveted role.

#ronan #horses #oldman #come

English actress Daisy Edgar-Jones has launched the Sense & Sensibility press tour with bold pieces from the McQueen Spring/Summer 2026 collection.
On Sept. 20, while promoting the film (due out next month), the entertainer wore a corseted bustier in flame red, a t-shirt in ivory merino silk, and a mini skirt in summer floral jacquard with gold frogging embroidery. Completing the look were matching Horn Heel boots in summer floral jacquard.
McQueen
McQueen
With credits in Twisters and On Swift Horses, Edgar-Jones is named among Complex's 26 Best Actors and Actresses in their 20s.

#floral #jacquard #english #daisy

Long Island mansion Oheka Castle will be sold to the highest bidder after its owner filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Taylor Swift filmed her "Blank ****** e" music video at the estate, riding horses through its formal gardens
Kevin Jonas, Joey Fatone, Curtis Martin and Megyn Kelly each celebrated weddings at the historic venue
America's second largest private residence, Oheka Castle, is heading to the auction block this October.
Completed in 1919, the Gilded Age residence was built by financier Otto Hermann Kahn to be used as a summer home. In the years since, the 109,000-square-foot, 127-room estate has become a wedding destination for celebrities. Kahn's own daughter, socialite Maud, became the castle's first bride when she walked down the aisle on June 15, 1920, according the castle's official website.

#oheka #long #island #chapter

One of the bigger question marks entering Detroit Red Wings training camp is seemingly answered − for now, at least.
Defenseman Simon Edvinsson, a restricted free agent, intends to report to camp even if he doesn't have a new deal, according to a report from The Athletic hockey insider Pierre LeBrun. LeBrun goes on to say Edvinsson is "patiently waiting for the Red Wings GM situation to iron itself out before resuming negotiations."
Edvinsson had 25 points (nine goals) in 72 games played this past season and finished with a plus-12.
Edvinsson should see a huge payday. Bowen Byram, the No. 4 overall pick from 2019, just received an extension from the Blackhawks with a hefty $12.5 million cap hit. The Wings can ill afford Edvinsson (No. 6 pick in 2021) to be on the sidelines awaiting a new contract when their season begins, as he is one of their top workhorses.
But who will hammer out that deal? That still remains to be seen, as the Red Wings are about a week away from the start camp (Sept. 17) and they still do not have a general manager. Steve Yzerman parted ways from the position on July 15, moving into a senior advisor role.

#edvinsson #lebrun #still

Never heard of the 12-week series of Traverse City Horse Shows? Always wanted to see Olympians in person? Now's your chance, through Sept. 20.
Here's what you need to know about the show, showjumping, and being around horses.
The show has a schedule on its website with information about each day's activities. Generally, the show runs Wednesday through Saturday or Sunday. It ends Sept. 20.
The show takes place at Flintfields Horse Park at 6535 Bates Road, Williamsburg. It's about 20 minutes from Traverse City.
More: Traverse City Horse Shows bring Olympians to Michigan, dollars to area

#traverse #sept

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Enos Mafokate, South Africa's first Black show jumping champion and veteran equestrian, has died at the age of 80, his family announced on Thursday.
Mafokate broke racial barriers in a sport that was dominated by white riders during South Africa's decades of apartheid. He was widely known as "Kgosi ya Dipere," a Sesotho language phrase which translates to "King of Horses."
"His journey was shaped by several leading figures in South African equestrian sport who recognised his extraordinary ability and, at critical moments, supported him as he challenged the racial barriers of the time," his family said in statement.
Mafokate started out as a stablehand. He won his first riding competition in 1963 but the country's segregation laws prevented him from taking part in further competitions until 1975.
In 1980, he was the first Black South African man to compete internationally as a show jumper, placing fifth out of 31 riders at the Royal International Horse Show at Wembley.

#south #racial

The biggest question facing the Carolina Panthers going into the 2026 season is how much quarterback Bryce Young will improve compared to last season. On the other side of the ball, the big unanswered question is if their pass rush can finally claw their way out of the NFL's basement after a bottom-five finish in sacks three years running.
To their credit, the Panthers went out of their way to improve their defensive front seven in free agency, signing edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd, a great pass rusher for his position, to huge deals.
Now, can defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero get this group up to a respectable level in the all-important pass-rushing category? That's what The Atheltic's NFL ***** yst Robert Mays will be watching for in the first month of the season:
Is Jaelan Phillips enough to take that pass rush from a team that finished 32nd when rushing four to a unit that feels dangerous? Because that's about more than individual talent, and he really is the only guy you're adding back into that. Turk Wharton is still hurt. You lose Nic Scourton before the season. There are some teams that even if they don't have the horses pass-rush wise, the plan feels dynamic.
Wharton didn't do much in this department last year even when he was on the field, but losing Scourton for the season is an undeniably painful blow to the Panthers' front. As of yet, they haven't added a dynamic option to replace him on the edge, leaving a lot of pressure on Pat Jones II and Princely Umanmielen to step up at the spot opposite Phillips.

#pass #rush #wharton #scourton

The heat outside can't mask the unmistakable drifting in of autumn. Not when there's college football across the country this weekend.
After another long offseason, the first full week of games is finally here. In Big Ten country, that means beginning to answer a host of important questions, none more so than whether the conference can make it four national championships in a row.
With that in mind, this week's power rankings will single out the league's top **** le contenders, plus any potential dark horses or diamonds in the rough. Let's have some fun.
Indiana football quarterback Josh Hoover throws the ball on Aug. 5, 2026 during fall camp.

Read more on Josh Hoover here.

#hoover #Football #country

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Chalk up another one who fell to the "Graveyard of Champions."
Saratoga Race Course has long been known as the track where some of horse racing's greatest legends suffered their most surprising losses. Saturday, another superstar was defeated at the Spa, as Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo could only muster a late-closing third in a Travers Stakes won by the inexperienced Leading Change, who was making just his third career start.
After winning the Derby and Belmont with similar late runs, Golden Tempo lingered at the back of the pack early in the Travers in company with his familiar rival, Renegade.
But unlike during the Triple Crown season, on Saturday the speed horses were able to hang on at the front of the field. Frontrunner Napoleon Solo held the lead deep into the stretch until the Brad **** -trained Leading Change, who sat second throughout the race under jockey Manny Franco, made his final surge to win by a half-length.
"The pace was slow, and I thought that was gonna be to our detriment," said Golden Tempo's trainer, Cherie DeVaux. "The horses in front of us are definitely quality horses … it didn't work out for us today."

#saratoga #belmont #tempo

Five-year-old Ways and Means was the odds-on favorite on the morning line in the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina Stakes, and she was the odds-on favorite when the field of 10 broke from the gate, and she ran exactly how an odds-on favorite should, with confidence and ease, hitting the wire 5 ½ lengths in front for her fifth graded stakes win, four of them coming at Saratoga Race Course.
The bay mare broke from post 7 under regular rider Flavien Prat, who kept her off the rail and several lengths off the pace in the early going of the 7-furlong Ballerina. With little urging from Prat, Ways and Means advanced on the horses in front of her, swinging wide around the final turn. Prat offered her some encouragement at the 3/16ths pole, rousing her to open up on her rivals, and open up she did for her seventh lifetime win from 13 starts.
"I was traveling well behind the pace, and when I got to the turn I didn't want to move too soon," said Prat, "but she naturally came with me and was wanting to go, so I kind of let her creep up to the pace. After that, when we turned from home, she responded.
"I think she has always shown how good she is. I think before it was more of a raw talent, but [now] she has the ability to be a bit more push-button. So [with] the mix of the talent and that, she made a good run today."
The Ballerina was Prat's fifth win on the Travers Day card.

#pace #lengths

Will Harris spent his spring and summer months trying to provide his best player advice regarding her future. For Harris, the Troy High girls' basketball coach, that meant having long conversations with his daughter, Amaya Harris, regarding whether she'd remain with the Flying Horses or leave to play at a prep school.
Father and daughter spent the majority of that time prior to the start of the new school year believing they'd both stay with Troy. But the opportunity that presented itself for Amaya Harris to head to Darrow School - a member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council that claimed a 2025 Class AA ***** le - was one that was too good to pass up.
Amaya Harris, 15, is a 6-foot guard who led Troy to the Colonial Council ***** le during the winter and was named the league's Most Valuable Player as a freshman. She has reclassified and is now a member of the Class of 2030, and is already in attendance at Darrow.
"It is definitely different, but in my past few days I have really been enjoying it, for sure," Amaya Harris said. "It was definitely a hard decision. I was going back and forth on it. From about May, it was, 'Should I stay at Troy or should I leave?' When it got to July, I played in New York vs. New York (and Darrow coach Jelani) Williams was my coach, and I realized after that (Darrow) was a great place for me to go to be with the coaching, the team and the environment. This is the best place for me."
The New York vs. New York event starts in July and features elite players battling in New York City in such places as Dyckman Park and Rucker Park. Amaya Harris, competing for the NY Gauchos, excelled.

#council

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Note: It was 58 years ago (Aug. 27, 1968) that I first reported for work at United Press International in Chicago, five floors above the Billy Goat Tavern. I've been writing for the company continuously ever since. Sunday will be the 45th anniversary of the first horse race I covered for UPI -- the inaugural Arlington Million.
It's a good thing it's a quiet week on the international front because the North American horse racing schedule is jam packed with goodies. There are five Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" races and three others that offer purses of $1 million or more.
One of those seven-figure purses is the $1.25 million Grade I Travers at Saratoga, the "Midsummer Derby" with Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo seeking a virtual lock on year-end honors.
Another is the $1.75 million Grade I Ladies Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs, where the advertised purses are for Kentucky-breds. Others run for reduced amounts. The third is Friday's $1 million Grade II Charles Town Classic in West Virginia.
The Travers is one of the few remaining chances for 3-year-olds to run against their peers before trying their luck with older horses.

#million #purses #derby

As Mike Dunleavy explained it, at least, his call log is a graveyard. Deals buried six feet under, never to see the light of day. Cold calls, dangling "stuff" - as Dunleavy put it - where the other line eventually died. He tried, at least.
"There's a lot of guys that we really, really value that don't end up getting moved," Dunleavy told reporters earlier in August, "and that's probably because - so do those teams."
Trying, of course, only counts for so much in Stephen Curry's final seasons as an offensive engine. What do they say, after all, about horseshoes and hand grenades? Two months ago, the budding expectation for swaths of Dub Nation was Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Two months later, the stark reality is Brandon Williams and Georges Niang.
With the franchise publicly announcing deals for Williams and Niang, Golden State's 15-man roster is officially set heading into training camp in late September, with little significant movement from the group that finished 37-45 in 2025-26. There are plenty of pinpricks of upside on an aging roster, though, from Williams' potential as a sparkplug to the bullish nature of rookie forward Yaxel Lendenborg.
Several minor roster jostlings are left to play out through the fall, too, before the start of the season on Oct. 21 in Los Angeles. Unless one of Dunleavy's trade propositions zombifies itself and crawls out of its casket, though, the baseline of Steve Kerr's possible rotation options has been set.

#deals #least #though #mike

Kentucky Derby and Belmont champion Golden Tempo headlines a stellar field in the Travers Stakes. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Kentucky Derby champion and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo will look to complete his own version of the Triple Crown when he competes in the Travers' Stakes at Saratoga. As it enters its 157th year of existence, the "Mid-Summer Derby" is the oldest Stakes race specifically for three-year-old horses in the United States. The prestige and $1.25 million in purse money usually brings out a star-studded field of entrants and 2026 is absolutely no different. Nine other accomplished runners will challenge Golden Tempo including Kentucky Derby runner-up and Jim Dandy Stakes winner Renegade. Let's take a look at the ten runners and provide a thought on each in what should be an excellent betting race for the speculating public. The runners will be listed by post position with trainer, jockey, and morning line provided. Carded as race 13, the Travers has an expected post time of 6:35 pm eastern time.
Son of Candy Ride won the Louisiana Derby in his second career start but was 10th in the Kentucky Derby and 5th in the Belmont Stakes. Inside draw will be a challenge and not sure how strong this Market is here. Invest elsewhere.
Unbeaten in two career starts and won the Indiana Derby in his last start. Will this son of Gun Runner be a bit too wet behind the ears for a race like this? Conditioner is top notch, but this is awfully big step up in competition. Not so sure this Change will be leading at the end.
LAUREL, MARYLAND - MAY 16: Napoleon Solo #10 ridden by jockey Paco Lopez celebrates after crossing the finish lne to win the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, 2026 in Laurel, Maryland. For the first and only time, Laurel Park is hosting the Preakness Stakes which is the second race of the Triple Crown jewel due to the traditional home of the race of the Pimlico Race Course undergoing complete renovations. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

#stakes #golden #runners

After four months in hospital, Saffron Cresswell was dreading coming home.
She knew the field would be empty.
Before she had the fall that would leave her paralysed at the age of 23, she had 25 horses that she trained and rode in a business she had been running since she was 15 and was a talented eventer on a pathway towards the Olympics.
Eight years earlier her parents had sold their house to buy a yard to support her career, with the family living in two tiny touring caravans for six years before they converted part of a barn into a home.
For years, Cresswell had been up at 5am, riding four ponies before school, then more afterwards - if she even went in. She puts her school attendance at "68% or something ridiculous" because she was "so busy riding".

#home #school #olympics #months

A former horse events rider is preparing to represent Great Britain at the para-canoe world championships, two years after a fall changed her life.
Saffron Cresswell, 25, from Malvern in Worcestershire, fell from her horse in 2024 and suffered a spinal cord injury which left her paralysed.
She is now set to represent her country in a completely different sport less than a year after discovering it, taking up para-canoeing at Leamington Spa Canoe Club on the River Leam.
"It's a beautiful sport to be involved in," she said ahead of the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint and Para-Canoe World Championships in Poznan, Poland, which will run from Wednesday to Sunday.
Equestrian was central to Cresswell's life before her accident. She was a full-time event rider, winning three European medals for Great Britain, running a business from home and riding between 12 and 15 horses a day.

#rider #represent

Earlier today, word broke that Barcelona were emerging as dark horses to sign Goncalo Inacio from Portugal this summer.
The player, after all, has been linked with a move away from Sporting for a long time now and has a relatively affordable release clause priced at €60 million.
That sum, needless to say, is not out of Barcelona's reach and word spread that the Catalans are considering a surprise move for the centre-back.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano in a recent update, there is nothing agreed between Barcelona and Inacio as matters stand, and a transfer is not on the cards.
Not a priority for Barcelona. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

#Barcelona #earlier #catalans

When IndyCar drivers roar through the streets of Washington, DC, Aug. 22 and 23, racing within sight of the White House, they'll be adding another chapter to a story that stretches back to the founding of the republic.
Presidents have been going to the races since the nation began.
Long before modern motorsports, presidents spent weekends at horse tracks and bred champion thoroughbreds. They, like America, later also took to cheering on the country's fastest automobiles.
The love of racing goes back to the nation's first president.
George Washington bred racehorses at Mount Vernon, his Virginia home, and was, according to the third president, Thomas Jefferson, "the best horseman of his age." Washington was a regular at racetracks throughout Virginia and Maryland and filled his diaries with notes from more than 150 foxhunts.

#washington #presidents #bred #white

In fewer than 12 months, Inverness Caledonian Thistle have gone from being a Scottish League 1club in administration to potential dark horses for a return to the Premiership.
Scotland great James McFadden tipped them as one of the teams to watch this season during BBC Scotland's first live Championship match of the season.
Some managers baulk at the pressure such predictions can bring, but Caley Thistle boss Scott Kellacher is loving it before Friday's home match with Partick Thistle in front of the BBC Scotland cameras.
And Kellacher said: "I thought to myself, 'good on you, Faddy Boy!' I'll give him his due, he's always a man that's always positive and I love it.
"You want people to come to games and you want them to be excited. You want them to look forward to the game and it's not going to be boring this-and-that.

#always

ARDMORE, Pa. – While the term cathedral is used to describe golf's greatest venues, the East Course at Merion Golf Club is arguably its most revered chapel, set on approximately 120 acres packed with history and some of the best golf holes in the world.
A step into the converted farmhouse that now serves as Merion's intricate clubhouse signifies a step back in time, with the club's famed archive room as the main vehicle.
The small, windowless room, established by George Scudder and now chaired by historian and 19-time Merion club champ John Capers III, is the main repository of Merion's history. It includes over 4,000 books and artifacts, including the standard from Justin Rose's 2013 U.S. Open victory, the unwashed striped, Merion-logoed polo Edoardo Molinari wore in winning the 2005 U.S. Amateur final, aerial images from Bobby Jones' slam-completing triumph at the 1930 U.S. Amateur, even some old horseshoes dug out of this historic dirt.
Jack Whaley will now have to part with his beloved Yorkshire County team rain jacket.
After a run of warm and sunny days in northwest Philadelphia, English skies set over Merion for the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship final. Perfect for Whaley, a 22-year-old from Doncaster, England, who embraced the relentless rain and washed away a 2-up deficit after 19 holes to defeat Stanford's Jay Leng Jr., 4 and 3.

#golf #step

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is among the three newest advisors to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, officials announced Aug. 14.
As a member of HISA's Horsemen's Advisory Group, Baffert is expected provide feedback on the Racetrack Safety, and Anti-Doping and Medication Control programs, which cover rules and regulations in horse racing. The others named to the 18-member advisory group Aug. 14 are trainers Jena Antonucci and Tim Keefe.
"We are also pleased to welcome our new members to the Advisory Group and look forward to the perspectives they will bring as we continue working collaboratively with stakeholders to enhance the sport for horses and participants alike," HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said in a statement.
Baffert, Antonucci and Keefe succeed outgoing advisory group members Kelsey Danner, Gavin Murphy and Jonathan Sadler.
Baffert, 73, has trained six Kentucky Derby and two Triple Crown winners in a more than 40-year career. In 2021, Baffert received a two-year suspension from Churchill Downs after Medina Spirit, who had finished first in that year's Kentucky Derby, was found to have failed a postrace drug test. The suspension was later extended one year amid a lawsuit from Baffert, who had claimed Churchill was targeting him and trying to destroy his career.

#group #antonucci #churchill

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It's official: Sadie Sink is Jean Grey. After debuting her version of the Marvel superhero in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the actor made her first appearance representing the role with her new X-Men cast mates. And for the grand reveal—made at the D23 Disney fan event in Los Angeles—she wore an intricate archival gown from Alexander McQueen's theatrical Spring/Summer 2004 show.
Matt Winkelmeyer - Getty Images
The show in question was a high-fashion spin on Sydney Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, a 1969 psychological drama that, based on Horace McCoy's 1935 novel, followed contestants desperate to win a Depression-era dance marathon. The faux competition, held during Paris Fashion Week over two decades ago, saw silver sequins, feather skirts, silk minidresses, and, towards the end, a pastel patchwork gown. Now seen on the Stranger Things star, the piece featured a V neckline and ruffled drop-waist skirt—all with a stained glass-inspired print of flowers and dragon flies.
Sink, who was passed the telekinetic torch from Sophie Turner, worked with stylist Molly ****** son on the look. Together, they paired the gown with Anita Ko jewelry and high cap-toe pumps.

#gown #high #magazines #jean

NEEDHAM — An eighth-grade Chris Vargas watched Ohio State lose to Michigan in the horseshoe.
Now he calls the Wolverines "the team up North."
Massachusetts' first ever five-star quarterback and the nation's top-rated passer in the Class of 2028 committed to the Buckeyes on August 8.
"There were always one that I had in my mind, but something just changed; like flipped the entire thing where I wanted to be at Ohio State was that last visit that I had in June," Vargas said. "It was getting around the coaches, seeing how they coach their own players, getting in the meeting room with them and seeing how they coach on the board and stuff like that."
Vargas, an incoming junior at Saint John's Prep, had more than 20 offers from the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and yes, the team up North. He gravitated to the atmosphere in Columbus and the way coach Ryan Day and his staff develop quarterbacks. Ohio State reached the Big 10 championship game last season and qualified for the College Football Playoff.

#vargas #last

Following a bye week, next up for the Eagles is a home game against Pitt. Pitt enters 2026 as one of the ACC's real dark horses. They have the pieces in place to contend for 8+ wins, but facing some turnover, and a defensive-staff reset. The Panthers were projected ninth in the ACC media poll, but have about the fifth best odds to win the conference outright. After winning 8 games last season largely with a promising true freshman quarterback, they are primed to continue their ascent with an exceedingly manageable schedule.
Who: Boston College vs. Pitt
Head Coaches: Bill O'Brien, Boston College; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh
When: Saturday, Oct. 17 TBD
Where: Chestnut Hill, MA

#pitt #Eagles #panthers #head

Barack Obama will discuss a half-dozen of his favorite books on a new six-episode podcast coming exclusively to Audible in September.
A Great Book With Barack Obama will find the former president and yet-to-be-announced guests talking about six books that profoundly shaped his worldview and our society. Among the ****** les chosen by Obama are Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses, Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, and Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men.
More from Rolling Stone
Barack Obama Pokes Fun at Tan Suit Controversy on Larry David's HBO Show Finale
Barack Obama's Summer Song List: Glen Hansard, the Strokes, Noah Kahan Lead Annual Playlist

#obama #audible

Linda Blair once took a hiatus from acting to compete on the equestrian circuit under an alias
After the success of The Exorcist — and its sequel Exorcist II: The Heretic underperforming — the actress told PEOPLE that she was enjoying a break from Hollywood
"There's no falseness or garbage here in Connecticut. I've got my dogs, my good guy and a beautiful life—it's really me," she said to PEOPLE in July 1977
Following her star-making turn in 1974's The Exorcist, Linda Blair took a hiatus from acting to explore another of her passions — horseback riding.
Now 67, a young Blair spoke about her break from acting and her love of horses in a July 1977 story for PEOPLE, saying she was "really into acting" but didn't want "a plastic life."

#blair #exorcist #took

The SEC is home to 10 live mascots after welcoming Oklahoma and Texas to the conference in 2024. The conference has some of the most unique traditions and best mascots in all of sports.
Four dog mascots represent the most popular type of live mascot in the SEC. The SEC has three teams (Auburn, Missouri and LSU) with Tiger mascots, but LSU is the only one with a live Tiger mascot.
Across the conference, most programs established traditions with mascots long ago, but some mascots are more recent. The most memorable mascot moments in SEC history have to be when Texas mascot Bevo attempted to gore Uga at the Sugar Bowl and when Uga lunged and tried to bite Auburn receiver Robert Baker in 1996.
Someone had to be last. Sooner Schooner is a tongue-twister and started in 1964. The Sooner Schooner became Oklahoma's official mascot in 1980. We like the tradition of the Sooner Schooner and like the horses, but respect is earned in the SEC and we haven't quite warmed up to it yet. Oklahoma's mascot memorably tumbled over in 2019.
Sir Big Spur made his debut in 1999 and attends more than just home football games, which is a nice bonus. We are currently on Sir Big Spur VII, who is Old English Black Breasted Red Fighting Gamecock. Sir Big Spur will appear at events around South Carolina for $500 to $1,000 for 90 minutes.

#sooner #live #conference #tiger

Who knew there would be so much drama in horse racing months after this year's Triple Crown was etched in the history books?
But quite like how we're all talking about Boston College men's basketball in August for some reason, we've also spent much of this week following along to a series of major developments regarding the Triple Crown and the future of high-level horse racing.
It all started on Monday, when the New York Racing **** ociation (NYRA) and Churchill Downs Incorporated announced a new season-long horse racing series that will pit the best three-year-old Thoroughbreds against each other in a six-race circuit with a champion crowned at Churchill Downs in September. But curiously, when the series was announced, it included the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, but not the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, the Preakness.
A couple days later, Maryland Governor Wes Moore held a press conference to announce that the Preakness Stakes, which historically was run two weeks following the Kentucky Derby, would now be held three weeks and a day after the Derby. The shift was made with the hope that more Derby horses, including the Derby winner, would participate in the Preakness. In recent years, the vast majority of Derby horses have skipped the Preakness due to the quick turnaround time, instead eyeing the Belmont five weeks later.
At the press conference, Moore also announced that the Preakness would remain on NBC Sports through 2032. Various reports indicate that Fox, which owns rights for the Belmont and various other high-profile horse racing properties, had been an interested bidder in the Preakness, but NBC ultimately won out.

#crown #belmont #weeks

(Original Caption) Louisville, KY: The twin spires atop the stands at Churchill Downs Race Track remind all of the magic of Thoroughbred racing.
In an effort to help elevate Thoroughbred racing among the everyday sports fan, Churchill Downs and the New York Racing ****** ociation will launch a three-year-old championship series consisting of six races beginning in 2027. Starting on the first Saturday in May with the Kentucky Derby and culminating in September with a return to Churchill Downs, the idea is to promote a familiarity with fans as the top three-year-old horses are encouraged to compete and develop those rivalries that can add to the lore of the sport of kings. A prize of $5 million in bonus cash will be awarded to the runner that accumulates the most points throughout the series.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Racing is always good at the historic Saratoga Race Course. (Skip ****** stein/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)
The world's most famous race, and perhaps race track, will bat leadoff in this newly proposed racing series on May 1, 2027. The Kentucky Derby has been contested every year since 1875 on that dirt oval in Louisville, Kentucky known as Churchill Downs. Restricted to three-year-olds only, the consistency of this event and the ever-building notoriety surrounding it has made it the focal point for fans of all shapes and sizes. In an effort to continue to cultivate the massive interest generated by the Derby, the Belmont Stakes at the newly renovated Belmont Park will be the next race in the series on June 5. The Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs will follow in early July and then the series will shift to historic Saratoga for the Jim Dandy Stakes (late July, early August) and Travers Stakes (late August). A final Championship race will be run in September back beneath the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs.
The dates for both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes are set and the other dates are to be finalized. ****** ing of races will be important as encouragement for participation in the six-race series in a five-month span. Of course, another encouraging factor is a proposed $5 million prize pool that will be awarded based on points accrued during the series. Each individual race will still carry its own purse as well.

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