Sports

Another football tragedy this week renews questions about the safety of the game that made many stars rich, but at some cost. Also, it may be closing time for one of the all-time greats. Over in hockey playoffs, are they going Hollywood? Host Scott Simon talks with Howard Bryant of ESPN.

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

If life is a ball game, Mike Pesca is our umpire, calling the shots as he sees them. Pesca is NPR's sports correspondent and WEEKEND EDITION's guide to the intersections between sports and life, and he joins us now. Hey, Mike.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Hello.

MARTIN: OK. So, this week baseball in the headlines and steroids - back in court again. Give us a rundown of what's happened.

Overtaking Bodemeister (at 6-1 odds) in a deep stretch, I'll Have Another, at 15-1 odds, pulled off an upset in the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Dullahan finished third.

I'll Have Another is owned by J. Paul Reddam and was trained by Doug O'Neill.

It was jockey Mario Gutierrez's first Derby race, according to the Associated Press. It was also trainer O'Neill's first Derby victory, having never finished better than 13th place with two previous horses.

Former Denver Bronco's tight end Nate Jackson posted an open letter on Buzzfeed.com this week to Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, the NFL's top two draft picks this year.

It begins, "You have been mentioned in the same breath for the last several months. But once you get drafted and shake hands with Darth Vader, your lives will diverge and you will be immersed fully in the identity of your new employers."

The story doesn't get much better, Jackson continues.

When the gates fly open at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday, all eyes will be on the 20 racehorses that launch themselves into the 138th Kentucky Derby. That's a lot of horses, and a special challenge for the men charged with getting them into the starting gate safely.

Caleb Hayes, 24, has been part of the 12-man start crew for the past six years. The 9-to-5 life isn't for him, he says — he loves his job and likes working the gate side by side with the older guys.