m told those are good for the next time, Mooney added. I just hope the

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. -- There is a lot going on for the racing fan and bettor this weekend. California Chrome, Horse of the Year in 2014, makes his first U.S. start since his powerful victory in the Dubai World Cup last March in Saturdays San Diego Handicap at Del Mar. This is also the first weekend of racing of the year at Saratoga, the biggest annual race meet in North America, and where the brilliant and undefeated Songbird, the leader of a terrific crop of 3-year-old fillies, makes her first East coast start in Sundays Coaching Club American Oaks.And thats just for starters.Yes, there is a lot of big racing stuff going on this weekend. But no matter how busy the game might make you over the next few days, it would be only right if you carved out a moment at some point and said a quiet thank you in appreciation for Steve Crist.Heres why: Crist, who retired Wednesday as an executive and columnist for Daily Racing Form, did much during a 35-year career in racing to improve various aspects of the game. But where Crist really left an indelible mark was in matters concerning the horseplayer, enriching our experiences in ways you might not be aware of, or have imagined. And this holds true no matter which way you engage in racing this weekend, whether it be at the track, or at a simulcast facility, or betting in your underwear from your living room.Consider the DRF past performances you use to handicap. Significant aspects of the pps everyone is now so familiar with were fashioned by a small group of people led by Crist in an office on Hudson St. in Manhattan in early 1991, weeks before these remade past performances were to debut in The Racing Times, for which Crist was founding editor-in-chief.The Beyer Speed Figures, which have become such an indispensible handicapping tool, were first made available to the public in the past performances in Crists Racing Times.You know that career box in the upper right hand corner of the past performance cut, the little area that packs a wealth of extremely useful information? The foundation of the career box was born under Crists supervision at The Racing Times.We now almost take for granted the italicized horse name in the past performance company line denoting a next out winner, which might suggest a given race was unusually productive. That innovation came after Crist took over stewardship of Daily Racing Form in 1998.Are you a user of Formulator, DRFs criminally underappreciated and incredibly rich past performance program? Formulator came to life (under a different name) way back in 1992 under the nurturing of Crist, the late Dave Ward, and one other character currently typing this, and was introduced for public consumption after Crists group took control of DRF.Do you like to buy your DRF past performances, Formulator or the classic version, online? Do you recognize the tremendous convenience that option offers? Steve Crist also made that happen for you.How about that simulcast signal you watch? Nothing resembling it existed until Crist, in his stint as Vice President of the New York Racing Association in the mid 1990s, introduced full card simulcasting, in-home race feed, and all day, race-to-race handicapping analysis. Really. Its hard to remember because the video presentation of racing that now feels like it has been around forever did not exist B. C. (before Crist). And his template has since been copied by every other racetrack on the continent.Steve Crist retired this week, and while those of us lucky enough to know him are happy hes happy, we also know this game we love now has a large void that cannot be replaced. It is astonishing how much better thoroughbred racing is for Steve Crists contributions, and the fear is it will take a long time for racing to unearth a forward thinker anywhere near his league.So that is why it is only right to say, Thank you, Steve. For everything.Air Max 90 Pas Cher Chine . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Air Max 720 Noir Pas Cher . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. http://www.basketnikedestockage.fr/ . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Air Max 270 Pas Cher Homme . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. Basket Nike Free Pas Cher . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style.The Bill Mooney Award for courage in the face of adversity will be presented by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association when the members gather during Breeders Cup week. This years honoree is Rene Douglas, the Belmont Stakes-winning jockey who was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident at Arlington Park in 2009.Last years winner was Bill Mooney.Even Mooney thought that was a little odd, receiving an award that already bore his name. The veteran journalist didnt complain, however. As he stood before his colleagues a year ago in Lexington, Ky., Mooney knew it was a longshot hed be around to find out if there would be a second Bill Mooney Award.Saturday will be the two-year anniversary of being diagnosed, Mooney said from his home in Lexington. I was given six months.In his ongoing battle with an aggressively metastasizing cancer that has hopscotched through his vital organs, Mooney most recently entered the hospital Aug. 18 with a tumor in his lower back that was pushing against his spine. While Mooney was there, it was discovered that a bacterial infection had gone to his heart. As a result, he spent two months hospitalized before returning home this week.I didnt do much but read e-mails and regular mail from friends, and that helped, Mooney said. But for the large part of the time, I was just knocked out. Your mind kind of goes dead.Mooneys illness has put the brakes on one of the most prolific turf-writing careers the game has known. He has won two Eclipse Awards, the Tony Ryan Book Award, and the Walter Haight Award for career excellence from his colleagues at the NTWBA.Mooney, 69, is from the school of writers who go to the story, bear witness, and bring back the tale. If they tell it well, their readers are transported, convinced they were right there shooting the rapids, fighting the fire, or standing at the side of the grave, as Mooney did in his 2007 Eclipse Award-winning feature.He died on a beautiful early-autumn day -- sunny, breezy, warm, Mooney wrote. The leaves on the pair of oak trees that flanked his grave site were just beginning to change their colors. Nine people were present, including Michael Blowen, the founder and president of Old Friends, and Dr. Holly S. Aldinger, a veterinarian with the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington.Mooney was one of the nine present at the death of Precisionist, the Hall of Famer and Eclipse Award champion, in September 2007. The gallant old horse was suffering horribly from the effects of inoperable malignant tumors impairing his nasal passages and soft palate. Euthanasia was the only merciful option.Within sseconds, Precisionist let out a heavy gasp, slowly knelt down, and rolled over on his left side, Mooney wrote.dddddddddddd Already, he was brain dead, although he continued to reflexively breathe, and there was also some reflex action in his legs. As Blowen cradled Precisionists head in his arms, Aldinger administered a second barbiturate-laden syringe to the horses neck. Three minutes later, all reflexive movement had ceased. Precisionist was gone.In a career spanning more than four decades, Mooney has recorded every high and low the racing game could provide. It is strange, though, when the writer becomes his own subject.If you do believe in miracles, what has happened with me is a miracle, Mooney said. Of course, its bad luck to get cancer, especially cancer of this kind. But not once have I ever said anything like, Why is this happening to me? Its a waste of time.So, forget about the award being named for me, he said. This is an award for courage, and Rene Douglas absolutely deserves it.Douglas has forged a life after his injury that includes a bloodstock business and appearances on behalf of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.I would love to be there to present him the award, Mooney said. Unfortunately, right now Im not well enough to take a bus ride to Cincinnati. But I would like to write something for him.So, he did.I think Renes situation and the one Im dealing with are somewhat analogous in this regard, Mooneys tribute began. In a brief period, our worlds got turned upside down, inside out, every direction you could imagine.People -- assuredly, well-intended people -- kept wanting to give me hope. But hope doesnt do it. You have to seize the thing and battle it with all the strength you have in you, from a physical standpoint and an emotional standpoint.Thats what Rene has done, and thats why hes such an extraordinary person. One needs to reach that turning point where you no longer focus on the affliction -- in my case, the disease, in his case, the paralysis -- but to continue on living as productive a life as you can. It took me about seven months. Some people never can reach that turning point, but Rene has.When Mooney entered the hospital in August, he thought his time had come.Im a tough old bird and obviously hard to kill, but I thought at least on two occasions I was dying, he said. And they did give me last rites of the church.Im told those are good for the next time, Mooney added. I just hope the next time doesnt come around for a while.Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys [url=http://www.jerseysnhlfrsrl] ' ' '