CURRY TO CELTICS? OR THE END OF THE TRIPLE CROWN? ONE OR BOTH COULD HAPPEN

 Catching Up Is Hard To Do (… but we keep on trying). Part Trois.



CLOSE YOUR EYES … now picture STEPHEN CURRY in 

a Boston Celtics’ uniform. After all those years with the Golden 

State Warriors? You can’t be serious.


Well, don’t be surprised if the Celtics pull it off. Now that LEBRON JAMES has taken his age-related dwindling talent to Philadelphia, where he’s scheduled to be the 76ers’ point guard (of all things), Boston has got to do SOMETHING … so, why not shoot high, and who knows, the Celtics might land the game’s best, all-time three-point marksman?


IS NOTHING SACRED in sports any more?

Horse racing’s Triple Crown is over … done … finished … kaput … thanks to Churchill Downs and Saratoga Race Track, which have decided to replace the storied three-race championship … with a six-race Thoroughbred Championship Series to be held annually at five tracks including Churchill and New York’s Belmont Park but not Maryland’s Pimlico Race Track, home of the Triple Crown’s second stop, the Preakness Stakes.


Oops! Now, it develops NBC apparently saved the Preakness which will continue to be held two weeks after the Derby … which was among the reasons given for ending the Triple Crown … since trainers have proven reluctant to risk the health of their four-legged, millionaire meal tickets on a 14-day turnaround.


Three of the last four winners of the Kentucky Derby … including Golden Tempo this year and Sovereignty in 2025 … skipped the Preakness then, three weeks later, both finished first in the Belmont Stakes. There hasn’t been a Triple Crown winner since Justify in 2018.t


Ahh … double oops. On Wednesday (Aug. 5), it was announced the Preakness WOULD BE HELD next year on a Sunday for the first time… and NBC would televise the 152nd running May 23 as part of new, multi-year arrangement through 2032.


In other words, thanks to Maryland, the state of ...which exercised a right of first refusal to match Churchill Downs’ offer of $85 million to purchase intellectual property rights to the Preakness … the race not only lives but also has been moved to three-weeks-plus after the Kentucky Derby’s traditional first Saturday in May.

‘.

Until further notice, we have all sorts of questions, such as:


-- What will Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association do in response, if anything?


The Thoroughbred Racing Series is scheduled to get under way with the Kentucky Derby followed by the Belmont , Stakes. Included will be the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill in July; the Gr. II Jim Dandy at Saratoga in late July or early August; followed by the Gr. I Travers Stakes at Saratoga in late August. The series will end with a championship race at Churchill Downs in September.


-- Does this mean the Triple Crown will continue, without interruption?


Maryland Governor WES MOORE was quoted as saying, “Let’s be clear … not only IS the Triple Crown going to continue, there is NO Triple Crown without the Preakness. If you want to win the Triple Crown, we’ll see you next year in Baltimore.”


On ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” co-host TONY KORNHEISERtried to explain the whole thing and, in conclusion, said, “If you are confused … join the crowd.”


BY THE WAY … the 2026 Preakness was held at Laurel Park while the $400 million-plus renovation of Pimlico got under way. It is scheduled to return to Pimlico next year ... before going back to Laurel in 2028 when the massive over-hall of Pimlico is completed.


YOUR WASHINGTON COMMANDERS have signed WR STEFON DIGGS to a one-year contract (said to be worth as much as $12 million) … and give QB JAYDEN DANIELS another target on a par with TERRY McLAUGHLIN.


From Gaithersburg, Md., Diggs, 32, caught 85 passes

for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns in 2025 for New England 

… which was his fourth stop since signing with Minnesota 12 

years ago. He also played for Buffalo (4 years) and Houston 

(2024) prior to joining the Super Bowl-bound Patriots.


Everywhere Diggs has been he was guaranteed to create 

headlines other than his ability to catch the football. This past 

year, for example, when he wasn’t complaining about not 

getting the ball enough … Diggs was (a) arrested for allegedly 

trying to strangle his personal chef after she demanded to be 

paid what she said was owed her … and (b) was dumped by 

rapper girl friend CARDI B, with whom he had one child.


Said to be worth $60 million, Diggs signed with Washington as 

a free agent. 


Until next time ...






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