having him around will boost Irish spirits. He is here today, training, Porterfield said, his tone notably lighter than when he was dissecting Irelands last few performances. He has got 2

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. -- Yours truly will be here at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Whitney and the four undercard stakes, and I will be happy and grateful to be here. Still, a not so small part of me wishes I could be 204 miles to the east, in East Boston, Mass., at Suffolk Downs.Saturdays card at Suffolk, a mixed bag of 10 races topped by the relatively rich for the circumstances $75,000 Drumtop Stakes, is not the lure for me. The attraction for me is this card will be one of only six this year at Suffolk, and it could be one of the last. Ever. Suffolk has been at deaths door since it lost out on a bid for a critical casino license a couple of years ago, and no one really knows how much longer it can go on, even with a very limited racing schedule. And this is very painful for those who well remember how wild the Massachusetts and New England racing scene was years ago, a racing environment that I cut my eyeteeth on.I first went to Suffolk in the late 1960s, and I have Bill Veeck (yes, baseballs Bill Veeck) to thank for it. Veeck headed a group that purchased Suffolk in that period, and one of the first things he did was get legislation passed allowing minors accompanied by an adult into the track. At that time, you had to be 21 to get into a track in New England. Now free to attend, I tagged along to Suffolk with my dad, a regular who bet on anything and everything day and night, and was bitten by the bug immediately.Soon after, by 1970 or 1971, I often cut my last class in high school, took the trolley to Suffolk with the tallest kid I knew because he looked old enough to get a bet in, and hid in the deepest, darkest bowels of the grandstand so that my dad wouldnt see me. My dad, who apparently wanted a different life for me, had a box in the clubhouse. And if he caught me at the track on my own, Id be in for it big time.New England in the 1970s was an amazing place for a kid to become immersed in this game. More recent converts might be surprised, and a bit envious, to know that there was day/night Thoroughbred racing all year long, not to mention tons of Greyhound and harness racing, too. But it was all about Thoroughbred racing for me, and for me there was Suffolk or Rockingham Park in New Hampshire in the afternoon, Lincoln Downs or Narragansett Park in Rhode Island at night, and Scarborough Downs at night in the summer in Maine, where the mosquitoes were as big as what passes these days for dogs.There was also Green Mountain in Vermont, the track that was the first east of the Mississippi to offer Sunday racing.And of course, there were the infamous Massachusetts Fairs. The fairs, bullring tracks at actual week-long town fairs, was a circuit of the cheapest racing imaginable that redefined the term larceny, and where the most infirm horses in the world would somehow manage two or three starts a week. At its peak, the fair circuit consisted of Brockton, Marshfield, Weymouth, Northhampton, Great Barrington, and Berkshire Downs.I wouldnt trade the education I received at these tracks for anything. Or the fun I had. Suffolk and Lincoln or Gansett doubleheaders were commonplace, as were Rockingham and Scarborough doubleheaders. Heck, on some Labor Days, tripleheaders were made. Rockingham always ran a five-race morning card on Labor Day followed by an afternoon card, but you could (and I did) catch Rocks morning card, take in the afternoon card at Suffolk (which foolishly went head to head with Rockingham some years), and then shoot down to Lincoln or Gansett, whichever track was racing.There were also plenty of Saratoga and Green Mountain doubleheaders made. I always found it disconcerting that the jocks at Green Mountain would often play volleyball in the infield in front of the tote board before the races, as friendly as can be, like a family, and then would go out and ride, presumably against each other, for their small cut of a $900 purse.Suffolk was referred to as the Oceanside Oval, which I guess it technically is, but it was never to be confused with Del Mar. The old Rockingham was called the Saratoga of New England. The Rockingham Park prior to the 1980 blaze that took it down was really very nice, but it wasnt Saratoga. And I never had a vivid enough of an imagination to picture Narragansett as host of the famous match race between Alsab and Whirlaway, but it was. Nevertheless, these were great old places.The very first day I received my drivers license, I commandeered by dads car and drove to the Brockton Fair to play the card. And I was there with my dad the last day Berkshire Downs, which at one time claimed Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as part owners, ever raced. It had to be the last day. There was a giant sinkhole on the track apron that appeared to be expanding so quickly that, given another day, it might have claimed the actual grandstand.With the exception of Suffolk, all of these Thoroughbred tracks have gone the way of Berkshire Downs. They are all gone.I could go on, but I now realize that maybe its a good thing I wont be at Suffolk Saturday. It might be a bit too tough to take for one who knew what New England Thoroughbred racing used to be, and what it is -- barely -- now. Morgan Rielly Jersey . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. Frederik Gauthier Maple Leafs Jersey . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. http://www.officialmapleleafsfanstore.com/authentic-frederik-andersen-maple-leafs-jersey/ . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. John Tavares Jersey . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. Johnny Bower Jersey . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. There is losing, and then there is being completely and totally outplayed. For the last three times that Ireland have played ODIs against Full Members, it has been the latter. They were beaten by 255 runs by Pakistan, and before that, by 136 runs and 76 runs by Sri Lanka, making for grim reading. However, William Porterfield, their captain, managed to find the positives.Weve done a lot of things well for 80 to 85 overs in a lot of those games, Porterfield said. Against Pakistan, we pretty much had an off day, and Sharjeel (Khan) had a very good day. He was the big difference in the game. If we kept him out of it, it would have been a decent enough contest. We probably lost the Sri Lanka game in seven or eight overs on the field. Those things can happen if youre not right on it.Realistically, that is a generous analysis. Sharjeels 152 off 86 balls accounted for almost half of Pakistans total of 337, but even if he had been kept quiet, Ireland only managed 82 in response. Similarly, they were unable to muster strong replies against Sri Lanka after conceding heavily in both the matches they played in June.The real reason for Irelands recent struggles may lie a little deeper, and Porterfield was willing to acknowledge that. The biggest thing for ourselves was that we had quite a few debutants in those games, especially with our bowling attack, and the experience they have taken from that is going to be key.Against Sri Lanka, Barry McCarthy earned his first cap to join a young pace pack that included Andy McBrine, who has played 16 ODIs, and Max Sorensen, who has 13 ODIs to his name. Add that to new faces in the batting line-up such as Stuart Poynter and Sean Terry, and you have a team in a transition of sorts, which makes the dip in consistency understandaable.ddddddddddddThat makes it particularly important for Irelands stalwarts like Porterfield and the OBrien brothers to perform well in the two matches in South Africa, but even more important that Tim Murtagh provides influence and inspiration through his presence. Murtagh joined the squad early on Saturday morning after winning the county championship with Middlesex, and Ireland will see the value of having someone with that success.Whether Murtagh plays the first game remains to be seen, especially as he would only have had little more than 24 hours of recovery time, but simply having him around will boost Irish spirits. He is here today, training, Porterfield said, his tone notably lighter than when he was dissecting Irelands last few performances. He has got 20 years of experience behind him, so he knows what he needs to do and how his body is going to feel, and he will be pretty open and honest himself, how he is feeling.How Ireland are feeling is also transparent. They are both nervous and excited at the possibilities that lie ahead in the next four days, and they are determined to make the most of them, so that they can be asked back to these shores in future. Having the opportunity to come to South Africa and play them in their own backyard, and to play the world champions - Ireland play Australia in a one-off ODI after the South Africa match - in different conditions is what we have been building towards, Porterfield said. Weve got to keep improving and keep putting in performances to merit the games that we get. Were not here to just make up numbers for a couple of games, but we are here to win games of cricket. ' ' '