s are scheduled to fly to West Point, New York, on Friday,?but if winds close

On the afternoon of May 5, 1955, R.H. Red McDaniel saddled a horse named Aptos in the sixth race at Golden Gate Fields, climbed into his cream-colored Cadillac and made a hasty retreat to the nearby San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. When he reached the high point of the span, he pulled his car to a stop, walked without hesitation to the vertiginous rail, and promptly jumped to his death.McDaniel was 44 at the time and well on his way to a sixth straight national championship. He left no suicide note behind, only riddles whose interpretations ranged from gangsters to gastrointestinal ulcers.Many of McDaniels colleagues believed that an excess of extremely hard work may have exacted a terrible toll, wrote John McEvoy in Great Horse Racing Mysteries: True Tales From the Track. Others suspected cancer, depression, or the final, successful gesture in a series of attempts to do himself fatal harm.McDaniels body was recovered from San Francisco Bay not long after he jumped with a stopwatch and parimutuel tickets in his pockets. Aptos had won his race. The trainer was relatively young, and the game was his oyster, bending to his genius with the condition book and his regular use of the preternaturally talented jockey Willie Lee Shoemaker. McDaniel had everything to live for, as the wisdom goes, but it wasnt enough.There are few things more private than suicide. Maybe nothing. Albert Camus wrote, There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.The lobby for the right to end ones own life in certain circumstances is strong, with compelling philosophical support. On the other hand, Ive always leaned toward the reaction of the Tom Hanks title character in Joe vs. the Volcano, when a mysterious girl asks Why not? to the idea of suicide.Because some things take care of themselves, Joe says. Theyre not your job; maybe theyre not even your business.Then again, Ive never had my heart ripped apart by the death of a 2-year-old colt making only the second start of his career after a maiden win that had the business buzzing from coast to coast. The Chilli Man, a son of the Tapit stallion Trappe Shot and trained by Monique Snowden, was heavily favored to win the Emerald Express last Sunday at Emerald Downs. He was then to be sold by owner Heidi Nelson to Dean Reeves of Mucho Macho Man fame. Reevess trainer, Kathy Ritvo, was on hand at Emerald to receive her exciting new shooter.But then, barely a quarter of a mile into the 5-1/2-furlong race under jockey Joe Steiner, The Chilli Mans left foreleg gave way at the ankle. With both sesamoids fractured and the supporting tissue ruptured, The Chilli Man could not be saved.He was just a really good-looking horse, and so very impressive in his first race, Ritvo said Tuesday on her way to Saratoga. It was a terrible tragedy what happened to him. But then, what happened afterwards, there are no words.Ritvo had trouble saying it out loud. A few hours after The Chilli Man was euthanized, his trainer apparently drove to the rugged Green River Gorge north of the town of Enumclaw, Wash., walked to the middle of the bridge spanning the chasm, and jumped to her death. Monique Snowden was 37.Red McDaniel was from Enumclaw.By all accounts, Snowden and her horses were inseparable. She had been training her own stable for only a few years, but the results had been promising.We all know this is a game of incredible highs and lows, said Vince Bruun, Emerald Downs director of media relations. Monique seemed to take the highs higher and the lows lower. You can understand that. What you cant understand is why she did what she did and how much pain she must have been in.When it comes to the subject of suicide, Ritvo demurred.Its probably unfair of me to speak about it, she said. I spent six months or longer fighting every day for my life, to get healthy.Ritvo battled through most of 2008 while suffering from a deterioration of the heart muscle and awaiting a transplant operation required to save her life. Five years after the successful heart transplant, she saddled the 5-year-old Mucho Macho Man to win the Breeders Cup Classic at Santa Anita.For me, every day is a good one, Ritvo said. When something like that happens with a horse, any horse, its a tragedy, but you have to pick up the pieces and keep going. I wish there was something that could have intervened between the time that everything went down with the horse and what happened later. When things go wrong, I try to find a lesson out of it and move forward. But its hard to find a lesson out of any of this.The dots of Red McDaniels suicide were tough to connect. He had it all and jumped anyway. Still, it is probably a mistake to be content with the idea that the death of The Chilli Man caused the death of Monique Snowden. He might have driven her to the bridge, but as for what came next, who knows? Steiner, a veteran who has seen it all, is among many in the Washington racing family hurting for answers.The night of the race, I put my arms around her and said, Just breathe, Monique, said Steiner. Youll get through this. Well get through this.All I can take away from what happened is to be grateful for every day, for my wife and my little boy, Steiner added. And how important it is to pay attention to each other and recognize the signs when someone close to us might need our help. Whether they ask for it or not.Wholesale NFL Jerseys . 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Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front.Miami and Florida are still set to host football games on Saturday as Hurricane Matthew marched toward Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas late Wednesday.The 10th-ranked?Hurricanes?have not made a decision to cancel or postpone Saturday nights home game against No. 23?Florida State?on ABC.Matthew was a dangerous and life-threatening Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph as it passed through the Bahamas on Wednesday, and it was expected to be very near Floridas Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. It is expected to make its way up the East Coast.?At least 16 deaths in the Caribbean have been blamed on the storm, with heavy damage reported in Haiti.I dont know what well do, to be honest with you, Miami coach Mark Richt said. Just keep everybody safe first. Well do the best we can.Florida State is scheduled to fly in Thursday night for the Miami game, though forecasters say Thursday could be the day when the Miami area absorbs the worst of Matthews wind.Weve looked through every scenario known to man and well figure it out here when it gets there, and well fly down when they tell us to fly down and play when they tell us to play, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said.As of Wednesday afternoon, the game is still on. Miamis athletic director Blake James said in a statement, We are monitoring Hurricane Matthew, and are in constant contact with stadium personnel. We are hopeful that the impact of Hurricane Matthew will be minimal and the game between the Hurricanes and Seminoles will be played as planned.University of Florida officials said Saturdays Southeastern Conference game between the?Gators?and?LSU?will not be moved?from?Gainesville.A final decision on the start time of the game will be made by 1 p.m. on Thursday as we continue to monitor the storm, the school said in a statement Wednesday. The games scheduled start time is noon at?Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.UF officials said they are working closely with local and state officials, as well as the SEC office, to monitor the hurricanes progress and its potential impact on campus and the safety of the fans.South Carolina officials said the?Gamecocks game against?Georgia?this weekend will be played in Columbia, although?they?acknowledged the date and time could change because of impending impact of the hurricane.The school said in a statement the USC vs. UGA game will be played in Columbia.Officials said they are monitoring Matthews track and will most likely make a decision on any changes Thursday. The school said it was communicating with the National Weather Service, the SEC and state and local authorities.Gov. Nikki Haley said the school was told Wednesday the state would not be able to spare personnel to help with a football game. Dozens of state troopers routinely help with traffic at Williams-Brice Stadium, which seats about 80,000.South Carolina senior associate athletic director Charles Bloom told Columbia radio station 107.5 WNKT-FM its possible the game could be played Sunday or Monday if necessary, with safety being the primary concern at this point.Were not going to risk peoples lives, and take emergency people away from people who really needd them, in order to host a football game, Bloom said.ddddddddddddMeanwhile, football games elsewhere in Florida were postponed, other events were canceled and contingency plans were being made. On Wednesday, the UCF Knights?decided to postpone their game against Tulane?until Nov. 5. The contest was scheduled to be played Friday night in Orlando.Taking into account all the latest projections for Hurricane Matthew, we have to keep the safety of everyone involved in these events at the forefront of our decision-making, UCF athletic director Danny White said in a statement. We appreciate our friends at Tulane and Houston understanding and working with us through this situation.Saturdays game between Florida Atlantic and Charlotte in Boca Raton will not be played Saturday and has tentatively been moved to Sunday, pending further assessments.Schools in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have either postponed or canceled some soccer, volleyball and other college contests scheduled for the next few days.Two other college football games -- Albany State at Charleston Southern and Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State -- have already been postponed.The Miami Heat, who arrived home Tuesday night after a 106-95 victory over the Washington Wizards in their preseason opener, decided to fly to Houston on Wednesday night to resume preseason workouts, according to a team spokesman.The Heat will use the Houston Rockets practice facilities before Saturdays preseason game against the?Minnesota Timberwolves in Kansas City. The Rockets are traveling to China for two preseason games.The?Tampa Bay Lightnings preseason game against the?Florida Panthers, which was scheduled for Thursday, has been canceled at?BB&T Center. The arena, which is outside of Miami, is under hurricane watch. The Panthers are scheduled to fly to West Point, New York, on Friday,?but if winds close airports in the Miami area, those plans would be affected.The Miami Dolphins are scheduled to host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and officials are keeping a close watch. The Dolphins, who already had planned not to practice Thursday, will close their team offices to give players and coaches extra time to prepare for the storm.Were watching the weather with the hurricane thats going on down there, Titans coach Mike Mularkey said Tuesday on his radio show. There may be some weather issues. Theres a very slight chance that game could be moved up here. Theres been some discussion because of it.The ACC, which could have at least five Saturday football games directly affected by the storm, said it was monitoring Matthew closely and hoped games would be played as scheduled.Other Saturday ACC games that figure to be affected include Army at Duke, Virginia Tech at North Carolina, Syracuse at Wake Forest?and Notre Dame at NC State.Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said pushing his teams game back to Sunday was possible if events warranted.Everything is on the table right now, Kelly said.The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '