Florida. Tennessee trailed 21-0 early and 21-3 at Florida. Tennessee trailed 21-0 early and 21-3 at | Forum

Earlier this week, Churchill Downs announced two tweaks in its Road to the Kentucky Derby. Rajon Rondo Lakers Jersey . Thats the series of prep races offering a graduated scale of points to the first four finishers, points that will determine which horses start in the Kentucky Derby should the first leg of the Triple Crown attract more entrants than its 20-starter limit.One of these changes is perfectly sensible, if somewhat innocuous. The other, in the opinion of this corner, is not.The alteration I think almost all of us will agree with and quickly forget about is Churchills replacing the Grey Stakes with the Sam F. Davis Stakes.The Davis is run at Tampa Bay Downs in mid-February at 11/?? miles on dirt. Even though the Davis was won this year by Destin, who later missed by a nose in the Belmont Stakes, the list of winners of the Davis Stakes does not exactly read like a whos who of Triple Crown lore.However, the Davis is the local springboard to the Tampa Bay Derby, which with time is incrementally becoming a higher-profile Kentucky Derby prep. And the Davis fits the profile of a Road to the Derby race far better than the Grey Stakes. The Grey, run in early October, four months before the Davis and seven months before the Derby, has, as Churchill took the effort to point out in its announcement, attracted fields of just six or fewer in three of its past four runnings.Moreover, unlike the Davis, the Grey is run on Woodbines synthetic main track, which resembles the kind of dirt surface on which the Kentucky Derby is run only in the sense that both are shades of brown.So replacing the Grey with the Davis makes sense because it puts the emphasis on 3-year-old dirt form. But in this case, its a slight emphasis. The Davis is a 17-point prep with 10 points to the winner. For purposes of comparison, the final major Kentucky Derby preps offer 10 times the points.The other, far less agreeable change Churchill made in its Derby prep schedule was the introduction of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Apparently taken by the ninth-place finish in this years Derby by the Japanese colt Lani, Churchill has designated two 1-mile dirt races at Tokyo Racecourse (yours truly visited that track many moons ago; if you ever get the chance, go!) as Derby points preps.The first of these will be the Cattleya Sho on Nov. 26, and the second will be the Hyacinth Stakes, to be run on an as yet undetermined date early next year. The typical sliding points scale applies to both races, but the Cattleya Sho is worth a total of 68 points with 40 going to the winner, and the Hyacinth is an 85-point race with 50 going to the winner.Churchill has made the Japan road to the Derby different from the traditional road in the sense that only one spot in the gate will be open to a Japanese contestant, and that would be the one who accumulates the most points over these two designated races.Among the issues I have with this concept is, the Cattleya Sho is by far the most valuable 2-year-old race in terms of Derby points this year. It offers twice as many points to the winner as the Breeders Cup Juvenile and four times as many points to the winner as every other 2-year-old race in the schedule, races that include the Champagne, Breeders Futurity, Remsen and Los Alamitos Futurity.The point value of the Cattleya Sho completely contradicts the proper emphasis placed on 3-year-old form in the traditional Derby points preps. It also guarantees that the winner of the Cattleya Sho will have a spot in the Derby gate if his connections want, and if the first two finishers of the Hyacinth decline. Not even the Breeders Cup Juvenile winner will be able to claim that.As for the Hyacinth, sure, its points must be blended with the Cattleya Sho. But while its not as egregious as assigning 170 Derby points to the UAE Derby, which has yet to produce an even marginally competitive Kentucky Derby starter, Churchill still valued the Hyacinth on the same level as the Risen Star, Fountain of Youth, Gotham, Tampa Bay Derby, San Felipe and Rebel. And I find that astonishing.The only reasonable conclusion to reach here is Churchill really, really wants Japanese participation in the Kentucky Derby.What I fear here is the Japan road to the Derby will actually produce a horse game enough to come, which might very well deny a much better horse a spot in the Derby gate. This scenario already existed with the UAE Derby, but it now increases exponentially with this new concept.Call me na?ve or provincial if you want, but I want the very best horses possible in the gate for the Derby, and there is little reason to think shippers from Japan or the UAE will help achieve that end.Ironically, the introduction of the Japanese road to the Derby would make sense if Churchill were attempting to maximize Japanese simulcast wagering on the Derby. But as colleague Matt Hegarty reported a couple of days ago, Japan, which boasts one of the largest betting markets in the world, does not allow simulcast wagering on the Derby.Perhaps the introduction of the Japan road to the Derby is Phase 1 in an attempt on the part of Churchill to move a step closer toward Japanese wagering on the Kentucky Derby. But it could be years before Japan softens its stance on international wagering. It might never soften its stance at all. And in the meantime, horses that are simply better than others might be denied a shot at competing in the Kentucky Derby. Derek Fisher Lakers Jersey . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. Nick Van Exel Jersey . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Byron-Scott-Jersey/ . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs says because Georgia overlooked him in the recruiting process doesnt provide an extra chip on his shoulder as he prepares to face his home-state school.Who youre playing shouldnt really affect your intensity level and the chip you play with, Dobbs said. You should play hard each and every week. Thats how I approach it every single time I step on the field.Dobbs, the reigning Southeastern Conference offensive player of the week, will try to help the 11th-ranked Volunteers (4-0, 1-0 SEC) take command of the Eastern Division race Saturday when they visit No. 25 Georgia (3-1, 1-1). Tennessee already is the only SEC East team unbeaten in conference play.Dobbs graduated from Alpharetta High School -- about 60 miles from Georgias campus -- and should see plenty of familiar faces this weekend. That includes his high school coach, Jason Dukes, a former Georgia Tech player who said he is forgoing the Yellow Jackets home game with No. 14 Miami to watch Dobbs instead.I think over half my high school graduation class goes to Georgia, Dobbs said.The quarterback acknowledged he wasnt seriously recruited by Georgia.In my class, they had a QB commit like my sophomore year in high school, so they were kind of off the QB radar early, Dobbs said. I hadnt even played varsity by that point.The quarterback from the 2013 class who committed to Georgia after his sophomore year was Brice Ramsey of Camden County High in Kingsland, Georgia. Ramsey was rated the nations No. 100 overall prospect in his class and Dobbs was 164th according to composite rankings of recruiting websites compiled by 247Sports.Ramsey is currently third on the Bulldogs depth chart and has 74 career pass attempts with no starts. Dobbs has made 26 starts for Tennessee and had one of the finest moments of his career last week.Dobbs threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth score -- all in the secoond half -- to help Tennessee erase a 21-point deficit in a 38-28 victory over Florida that ended the Vols 11-game losing streak in this annual series. James Worthy Jersey. his was probably the grittiest game Joshua Dobbs has played in his career, Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. On most of the touchdown passes, I thought he stood in the pocket, he took a hit and a lot of times he didnt even see the conclusion of the play. All he could hear is the roar of the crowd.Dobbs has benefited from the emergence of 6-foot-3 receivers Josh Malone and Jauan Jennings. Malone ranks second in the SEC in touchdown receptions (five) and yards per catch (22.1). Jennings caught three passes for 111 yards against Florida, including a 67-yard touchdown that put Tennessee ahead for good.Theyll be facing a Georgia team that ranks 13th out of 14 SEC teams in pass efficiency defense, ahead of only Kentucky.They have big, big receivers, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. Its another challenge for us to go up and make some plays and get some guys in the game that can compete and fight to make the plays down the field.Georgia also must find a way to stop Dobbs. Even if the Bulldogs slow him down early, Dobbs has shown a knack for playing his best in the second half.Dobbs rallied Tennessee from a 24-3 deficit last season in a 38-31 victory over Georgia and produced a similar comeback against Florida. Tennessee trailed 21-0 early and 21-3 at halftime.You can look at it where were down 21-3 and feel sorry for yourself and feel like youre down and out and not go out and compete, Dobbs said. Or you can just think about all the extra reps you put in (during) the summer, all the extra time you put in for moments like that on Saturday to go out and make history.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '