just needed to find their bearings.Hiccups like this arent unusual during the course of a season, even for a team as good as Minnesota. The Lynx have been through things like this before. The

It wasnt hard for Art Sherman to recall the time the shoe was on the other foot.We ran that gray horse, Carthage, in a race they put on at Golden Gate for Lost in the Fog coming back as a 4-year-old, Sherman said recently. I didnt think I could beat him, but my horse was doing real good, and we were getting some weight. So, why not run?It was April 2006. Lost in the Fog was the reigning Eclipse Award sprint champion, with 10 wins in 11 lifetime starts and an ambitious campaign ahead. Management created the Golden Gate Fields Sprint to give his hometown fans a thrill, and trainer Greg Gilchrist and owner Harry Aleo were glad to oblige. Then Sherman stole the show, as Carthage and Dennis Carr went after Lost in the Fog and Russell Baze from the start and drew off to win by three.Would you believe they booed my horse coming back? Sherman said. Thats how popular Lost in the Fog was.California Chrome is held in similar esteem. Each of his races provides an invitation to celebrate not only his singular career but also the nature of this chestnut beast -- his dedicated work ethic, his feisty charm, his occasional flashes of studly temper. There have been other Thoroughbreds as popular -- Secretariat, John Henry, Zenyatta, Cigar -- but California Chrome has written a story all his own, from his modest origins, to his international adventures, to the creative ownership that has kept him running long after his contemporaries have been retired.Above all, theres been the Shermans -- Art and his son Alan -- now familiar in every corner of the racing world, their nasally California twangs identifiable in a darkened room. Art relies on Alan, Alan defers to Art, and they both stand in wonder at the miracle of a horse like California Chrome lavishing upon their blue-collar stable a notoriety historically reserved for people named Baffert, Lukas, Pletcher, or Whittingham.On Saturday afternoon, true to their horse, the Shermans will lead California Chrome over from his double-wide Los Alamitos stall for a holiday surprise appearance in a race being called the Winter Challenge. The date falls in perfect relationship to the pie-in-the-sky Pegasus World Cup in Florida on Jan. 28, which is destined to be California Chromes last hurrah. At an advertised $12 million, a windfall like the Pegasus encourages every screw to be tightened, which is why the Shermans were looking for a race.You want your horse to be fresh, but you cant just keep training on them or they might get a little sour, Art Sherman noted. Thats why we were so glad Doc came up with the idea for this race. Its great to finally run Chrome where hes trained all this time. And its also great we dont have to ship.Doc is Dr. Ed Allred, the Quarter Horse titan and owner of Los Alamitos who has been the finger in the dike of the Southern California stabling crisis since the closure of Hollywood Park. Art Sherman, a Hollywood regular, set up shop at Los Alamitos in the winter of 2014, when California Chrome was the budding star of the barn, a California-bred colt who would go on to victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Pacific Classic, and Dubai World Cup and earn more than $14 million in prize money.In offering the Winter Challenge, Allred is treading in the footsteps of dice-rolling track owners like Richard Duchossois, who lured Cigar to Arlington Park in 1996 by inventing the Citation Challenge. That race, won by Cigar under 130 pounds against an all-star field, was of considerably more heft than the Los Alamitos event. But as Art Sherman will tell you, anything can happen in a horse race, and usually does.Even Swaps got beat when he was supposed to win, Sherman said.Hed know. As a teen, Sherman worked for Rex Ellsworth, the owner of 1956 Horse of the Year Swaps, and regularly exercised the chestnut flash for trainer Mesh Tenney. Swaps ran nine times on the dirt in 1956 (plus one flop on grass), won eight, and set or equaled seven track records. His one shocking loss came in the Californian Stakes at Hollywood Park, where Bill Shoemaker got a little cocky and let Milo Valenzuela and Porterhouse nail Swaps on the wire. The brief comment in the past performance line of Swaps reads that he was eased by mistake. Oops.Count on Victor Espinoza to be anything but cocky with California Chrome on Saturday. And count on California Chrome to deliver a satisfying benediction to three remarkable years as the lord of the Los Alamitos manor. Whatever happens to the track in the future, it will always be known as the Home of Chrome. Cheap Johnny Townsend Jersey . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Cheap Nick Nelson Jersey . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. http://www.cheapraidersjerseyselite.com/ . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Raiders Jerseys Free Shipping . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Raiders Jerseys For Sale . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Minnesota and Chicago both had games this past weekend they needed to win to get back on track, and both were victorious. The difference is how far off the track they were.For the Lynx, in a three-game losing skid after starting the season 13-0, it was like having an unexpected flat tire by the side of the road that needed to be fixed. Theyre now 14-3 and trail only 16-1 Los Angeles in the standings.For the Sky, though, it was the continuing search to make sure theyre even on the right road to the playoffs. They are 7-9 and part of the logjam of teams battling for the postseason.When the Lynx and Sky meet Tuesday in Minnesota (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET), those storylines remain in focus, along with the background that lingers between them in regard to center Sylvia Fowles.You could see some parallel between what Fowles did in 2015 -- sitting out and forcing a trade from Chicago to Minnesota -- to what Kevin Durant did Monday in leaving Oklahoma City to sign as a free agent with Golden State.In both cases, these are players in the primes of their careers who didnt win a title with the organization that drafted them (Durant moved with the franchise from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008), opting to go to a team that recently had won a championship.Obviously, the WNBA and NBA are completely different worlds in regard to salaries and exposure, but another way its different is that Durant really was free to go wherever he chose. Fowles was not, despite having been in the league for seven years at the point she wanted out of Chicago.She had the core-player designation, which meant she wasnt free to leave, but she could veto any trade she didnt want. Everyone knew she wanted to go to the Lynx and was willing to sit out all last season if that didnt happen. So, actually, neither Fowles nor the Sky were in great bargaining position, which is why the situation lingered into late July 2015.Then a three-team deal involving Atlanta got done, and Fowles joined Minnesota. Though it did take a little work, she was successfully incorporated into the Lynx and helped them win the league championship, being named WNBA Finals MVP.The Sky, who went to the WNBA Finals in Fowles last year there, 2014, still havent overcome her absence. Elena Delle Donne was league MVP last year, will be on the U.S. Olympic squadd this year, and is having another strong season (20.dddddddddddd PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.1 APG).Veteran guards Cappie Pondexter (13.0 PPG), Allie Quigley (9.0 PPG) and Courtney Vandersloot (8.2 PPG, 4.8 APG) continue to power the perimeter for the Sky. But their interior game is made up of players who are capable and serviceable, but not stars who consistently put up big numbers.Rookie center Imani Boyette, 21, is the youngest of that crew and also the tallest at 6-foot-7. She has averaged 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds, which is decent production for a first-year post acclimating herself to the league.But it all means a lot once again is riding on the shoulders of Delle Donne, who is one of the premier players in the world. But she is still just one player.Its very difficult -- theyre a championship team, Delle Donne said of facing the Lynx, who beat the Sky 97-80 on May 18 in the second game of the season for both squads.Obviously, the season hasnt started off exactly as wed want it to. Weve had defensive lapses, and weve been working on it all season. But its one of those things: You cant talk about it, youve got to do it. Its something were trying to figure out.Delle Donne had her first double-double of the season Friday with 28 points and 11 rebounds as Chicago edged Washington 86-84 in overtime, with Vandersloot hitting the game-winning shot with 4.6 seconds left.Saturday, the Lynx got back to their winning ways by taking out their frustrations on San Antonio, winning 91-68 behind 21 points off the bench from Natasha Howard.Minnesota had lost at home to Los Angeles, at Washington, and back home to New York going into the game with San Antonio. The Lynx just needed to find their bearings.Hiccups like this arent unusual during the course of a season, even for a team as good as Minnesota. The Lynx have been through things like this before. The important thing for them is maintaining one of the top two spots in the standings in order to get the early bye in the playoffs.I think we focus on coming together even more, guard Lindsay Whalen said of the mindset of the three-time champions. We have to hone in on the little things on court as far as communicating. Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Hoodies Cheap Jerseys Throwback Cheap Jerseys Throwback ' ' '