SPORTS FOLDEROL

  The Salt Lake City Hockey Team, transplanted from Arizona beginning 2024-25, has asked fans for an appropriate name. Among the top 20 the leader is … Outlaws … with Yeti also favored my many … Outlaws we know. Yeti? Well, it could stand for a brand of water cooler products members of the National Rifle Association have taken to destroying (literally) of late because of the company’s stance against guns … and the Second Amendment … It also comes from a Tibetan word for “Abominable Snowman,” which probably is what the entrants had in mind … Either way it would be a headline writer’s delight.   ……  Worst Officiating (Not Close) Continues To Be Found in the  NHL: Another Chapter, Many More Verses … Examples have  been everywhere during the recent Stanley Cup playoffs … but  never have we witnessed two related unquestionably bad  decisions in back-to-back playoff games … much less go  against the same team … By now the Boston Bruins have  reason...

  By definition … someone who likes self-inflicted pain is called a … fan of Manchester United. The English Premier (futbol or, to the great unwashed, soccer) League team continues to underachieve … despite being one of the richest franchises … all sports … stocked with high-priced talent … Latest example was Monday’s 4-0 setback at perennial also-ran Chrystal Palace … giving ManU its club-record 13th EPL loss of the season … It could have been a lot worse even though the Red Devils had two goals disallowed – one for offsides, the other for goalkeeper interference. For most of the game they looked disorganized, seemingly disinterested in the outcome … which has been among many raps against coach … oops, manager …  ERIK TEN HAG  who, in the obligatory post-match interview for NBC’s USA Network, refused to take blame. Instead, he continued to point to injuries as being THE season-long thing that has kept them from being a contender … and, with new ownership taking over, ins...

  For some reason, NBC was reluctant to tell viewers about the jockeys during Saturday’s Kentucky Derby coverage from Churchill Downs. Who knows … maybe the network received complaints that panelist, former jock and hall of famer  JERRY BAILEY  was giving too much credit to the riders as opposed to those who prepared those being ridden? For sure, they couldn’t say enough about trainer  CHAD BROWN , or so it seemed … In the run up to the 150 th  Run for the Roses,  IRAD ORTIZ JR  was on fire, with four winners including three in a row through Race 7 … of 12 in all … You would think NBC’s talking heads (and there were lots of them) would concentrate on Ortiz Jr., winner of the Eclipse (best jockey) Award five of the last six years, but there were too many times when the casual viewer didn’t know who the winning jockey was until interviewed at the end … For example,  GRAHAM MOTION -trained Trickari, a 47-1 long, LONG shot led the field in a turf race...