Tough to Bet on Horse Named Minority Rules

The presidential election has made an impact on thoroughbred racing. Here are some of the names race horses have been given since the election, according to the Associated Press:

Count The Chads, Tooclosetocall, Florida Recount, Palm Beach Ballot and Win For Chad.

Some of the horses will be able to race this year as 2-year-olds.

“Any time you have something new or trendy or well covered in the mass media, you’ll see names based on that,” said Janice Towles, manager of registration services for the Jockey Club.

Asked how many foals have been given election-related names, Towles said, “We’re still counting them.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Laker record for season scoring average?

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“Babe” Culpepper: Minnesota Viking quarterback Dante Culpepper passed up a promising baseball career, in the opinion of New York Yankee scout Paul Turco.

“When you watched him take batting practice, it was like watching Bo Jackson,” said Turco, who scouted Culpepper when he was a Florida high school senior. “He hit the ball so hard, it looked like a golf ball.”

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Legs were prettier: Cris Carter, the Vikings’ 35-year-old wide receiver, pampers his hands by dipping them in a natural oil-laced paraffin wax bath heated to 126 degrees.

Said Viking wide receiver coach Hubbard Alexander: “He takes care of his hands like Marlene Dietrich took care of her legs.”

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The rout of routs: Memorial Day School in Georgia beat Frederica Academy, 89-1, in basketball last Tuesday.

Frederica Coach David Cutia put a positive spin on the shellacking--if that’s possible: “We started to get some good looks in the second half, but the shots just didn’t fall.”

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Go for it: CBS President Leslie Moonves to the Baltimore Sun, on how much the network would use the Super Bowl to promote “Survivor II”:

“Do you think Richard Hatch kicking off would be too much?”

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Looking back: On this day in 1973, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Washington Redskins, 14-7, in Super Bowl VII at the Coliseum before a crowd of 90,182.

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Trivia answer: Elgin Baylor, 38.3 points in 1961-62.

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And finally: In an interview with Brian Grant of the Miami Heat, Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard asked, “What is it going to say on your tombstone?”

Said Grant: “That I’m not buried there. I’m getting cremated. I’ve got to talk to my pastor about this, but I think I’m going to have my remains shot into outer space.

“You can do it for $5,000. I saw it on TV. A San Diego woman was cremated and her family shot her ashes up in some fireworks.”