The odds are out for the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the mythic Triple Crown. Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown is the favorite at 1-2.

1. Macho Again (Julien Leparoux, 20-1)

2. Tres Borrachos (Tyler Baze, 30-1)

3. Icabad Crane (Jeremy Rose, 30-1)

4. Yankee Bravo (Alex Solis, 15-1)

5. Behindatthebar (David Flores, 10-1)

6. Racecar Rhapsody (Robby Albarado, 30-1)

7. Big Brown (Kent Desormeaux, 1-2)

8. Kentucky Bear (Jamie Theriot, 15-1)

9. Stevil (John Velazquez, 30-1)

10. Riley Tucker (Edgar Prado, 30-1)

11. Giant Moon (Ramon Dominguez, 30-1)

12. Gayego (Mike Smith, 8-1)

13. Hey Byrn (Charles Lopez, 20-1)

My favorite horse, Gayego, is 8-1 as we see. Hopefully this time there will be no unfortunate on-track euthanizings…what a buzzkill man.

Arguably the greatest women’s golfer of all-time, Annika Sorenstam, has announced that she will retire from the LPGA after the 2008 season.

Sorenstam said she wants to spend more time with her business ventures, and wishes to start a family with fiance Mike McGee, the son of former PGA tour player Jerry McGee.

Annika invoked the name of Brett Favre when explaining her decision.

“I was watching his news conference, and some of the things [Favre] said, he loves competition, he’s just tired of the daily grind, and I feel the same way,” she said.

Sorenstam has won 72 LPGA tournaments including 10 majors. She is also the only woman ever to shoot a 59 on the pro tour. And she is one of the few LPGA golfers ever to tee it up against men, at 2003’s Colonial, where she failed to make the cut.

The greatest male golfer of this era, Tiger Woods, spoke of his friend Annika’s decision.

“It’s sad to see the greatest female golfer of all time step away from the game,” Tiger said. “But it is nice to see Annika do this on her terms. It has been a pleasure watching Annika play for all these years, but even more of an honor to call her a friend.”

Annika will also be remembered for her bet with Fred Funk at the Skins Game, which ended with Funk having to wear a skirt for a hole after she outdrove him.

Paul Goydos game up short in his attempt at a third career PGA tour victory…literally.

Goydos, the leader most of the final day, had a 15-foot putt to seal the deal on the 18th hole, but missed it for bogey. This was good news for Sergio Garcia, who had previously sunk a 7-foot par putt on 18 to finish at 5-under on the tournament, the same score Goydos had at the end of regulation. This meant a sudden death playoff, beginning at Sawgrass’s famed 17th hole.

Goydos already had relatively fresh, bad memories of 17, having gone in the water on the tournament’s first day. Plus there was a swirling wind. Goydos would tee off first…and find the water just short of the island green.

Goydos’s misfortune left the door open for Sergio Garcia, and Sergio charged through, two-putting the playoff hole to claim his first Players Championship, his first PGA tour victory in three years and undoubtedly the biggest title of his career thus far.

One of these days Sergio Garcia is going to win a significant event within the boundaries of the United States.

It may even happen this year at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Sergio is off to a good start anyway…he shot a 6-under 66 on Thursday and leads the tournament by 2 strokes over Kenny Perry and Paul Goydos.

Sergio’s putter usually lets him down, but for one day at least, it didn’t.

“My main idea was to get back to the way I used to putt, like 10 or 12 years ago when I was a good putter,” Sergio said after his round.

Sergio, unfortunately, often leads early in tournaments only to fade. The last six times he’s paced a PGA event after round 1, Garcia has gone on to not finish first.

One guy Sergio won’t have to worry about is Masters champion Trevor Immelman, who had to pull out on Thursday after waking up with an upset stomach. Tiger Woods, of course, was already out of the event after knee surgery.

Here’s the ultimate diss of a team you just beat…standing on the steps of a building in their city and ripping all your clothes off.

Could you imagine? The red sox knocking off the yankees in the playoffs and all getting butt-naked in the middle of Times Square? How crazy would that be?

There are several things wrong with this video of a streaker striking a snooker tournament in England. One, snooker should not be on TV. Two, streakers should not be bothering with snooker tournaments. Three, what the fuck is snooker?

At least the guy didn’t sprawl out on the table in some kind of Michelle Pfeiffer Fabulous Baker Boys pose. That would’ve been disturbing.

The shit has hit the proverbial fan in the wake of filly Eight Belles’ tragic death after her second-place finish in Sunday’s Kentucky Derby.

Much of that shit is being flung by PETA, who have called upon Eight Belles’ jockey Gabriel Saez to be suspended. PETA says Saez did a bad job handling Eight Belles after the race and was responsible for her breaking both front ankles and having to be euthanized.

Eight Belles’ trainer Larry Jones has defended Saez, saying it was not the jockey’s fault the horse collapsed. Really Larry? So the horse just snapped both its legs in two and fell?

Sorry, but I don’t buy Larry Jones’ defense…clearly, Saez is incompetent, and should be held fully responsible for Eight Belles’ demise.

PETA is right to call upon Saez to be punished…but I actually don’t think they’ve gone far enough. Suspension? For killing a magnificent, heroic and inspirational horse like Eight Belles? No…Saez deserves more than this.

In my opinion, Saez deserves nothing less than to be euthanized himself.

If there were true justice in the world, Saez would’ve been put down right there on the track next to Eight Belles. And then his body would’ve been ground up and made into dog food.

I honestly can’t think of a worse crime in the history of humanity than what Saez perpetrated on Eight Belles, and by extension all her fans and well-wishers. That horse was the best horse in the history of the damn world. Even better than Hidalgo and Black Beauty and Mr. Ed. And Saez killed her!

I’m so mad, I can’t even see straight. If I could get my hands on Saez, I’d wring his little neck (I’d only need one hand to do it too. Jockeys you know…they’re just tiny fellas.).

I hope PETA keeps the pressure on the horse-racing world. Gabriel Saez has to get what’s coming to him. Also, there needs to be a permanent memorial erected to the valiant Eight Belles. A statue in New York harbor near the Statue of Liberty would be appropriate. Of course it would have to be bigger than the Statue of Liberty. And it would have to light up, and there would be rides and also cotton candy.

God bless you, Eight Belles.

Semi-wank-worthy Paula Creamer beat Juli Inkster in a playoff to claim the LPGA SemGroup Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Creamer had two putts to win it in regulation on the 18th but was unable to do so. It took her until the second playoff hole to finally put away Inkster, who was bidding to become the oldest winner in LPGA tour history at 46.

Creamer was unapologetic about knocking off the old broad, but did admit her respect for Inkster.

“That was such a clutch putt at 18,” Creamer said, referring to a 20-foot birdie Inkster sank to force the playoff. “That’s why I idolize her. I look so much up to her. We’re so competitive.”

It was Creamer’s second straight playoff. Last weekend she lost to Annika Sorenstam in extra holes at the Stanford Pro-Am, and admitted afterward that her nerves may have gotten the better of her.

Lorena Ochoa, meanwhile, was stymied in her effort to win her fifth straight LPGA title. She finished tied for 5th.

Kent Desormeaux ran undefeated colt Big Brown to a victory at the Kentucky Derby. Big Brown was the favorite going into the race. Filly Eight Belles finished second followed by Denis of Cork.

Eight Belles collapsed immediately after the finish, was found to have suffered broken front legs and was euthanized on the track.

Eight Belles’ jockey Gabriel Saez explained what happened to his horse.

“When we passed the wire I stood up. She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That’s when she went down.”

Eight Belles was a Cinderella story in the Kentucky Derby, a filly going up against 19 colts. The horse ran a great race, finishing second behind Big Brown. But there would be no happy ending for this Cinderella: she suffered compound fractures in both front ankles as her jockey Gabriel Saez was pulling her up, and had to be humanely euthanized on the track.

Eight Belles’ owner Rick Porter and trainer Larry Jones made the decision to scratch her from Friday’s Kentucky Oaks and run her in the Derby after a favorable draw. Neither was available for comment after the horrible end to the Derby.