Mike North: This weekend showed some surprises in sports
If you were to tell me I would be writing about horse racing, mixed martial arts and golf, I'd say why not write about something more traditionally exciting?
But this weekend, that's where the top three sports performances came from.
• Triple Crown winner American Pharoah went 8-0 as he won the Haskell Invitational Stakes in New Jersey. Nowadays it takes courage to race a stud like American Pharoah after his successful run, but owner Ahmed Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert knew what they were doing.
Usually a Triple Crown winner - or even a horse who wins one leg of the Triple Crown - is better off not racing.
If Zayat were to lose American Pharoah to injury, he would lose a ton in the pocketbook, along with the long lineage of the horse to enhance his stable.
But since he owns more than 200 horses and has big bucks, he has a luxury most other owners don't have.
He let us see the horse again, and the horse didn't disappoint the nearly 61,000 spectators. A 200-pound jockey could have ridden him and still won the race.
• UFC's Ronda Rousey destroyed Brazilian Bethe Correia in 34 seconds at the Ultimate Fighting Championship Womens' Bantamweight Title Fight.
Mike Tyson said Rousey reminded him of, well, himself. Rousey is 12-0, and Dana White, the head honcho of the MMA, says a match between Rousey and Cris Cyborg, a World Champion MMA fighter in a heavier class, would be a huge hit and would garner more than 2.5 million buys.
Rousey is the most dominant athlete from LeBron James to Mike Trout to Tom Brady to Serena Williams.
• Rousey undoubtedly is a meal ticket, but is she the most dominant female athlete in the world - or does that title belong to LPGA golfer Inbee Park, who just won her seventh major and a career grand slam faster than even the great Jack Nicklaus?
Michelle Wie was supposed to be the future of the LPGA, but Park is starting to get her due. The 27-year-old South Korean got it done again at the Open and her numerous accomplishments are impressive.
So there you have it. These sports stories are out of the norm, but the athleticism is strong.
Program notes:
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• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.