(Photo of Derby contender Pyro via yahoo.com)

If you're going to a Kentucky Derby party this weekend and you want to sound more like Jimmy the Greek than Derek the Schmuck, here's all you need to know: Forget the favorites. Big Brown -- at 3-1 the shortest price in the field -- breaks from the far, far outside pole. He's more likely to see the Churchill parking lot than the winner's circle. After all, no one has cashed a ticket on a horse coming out of that post since your great grandpappy bet on Clyde van Dusen in 1929. The trendy filly pick, Eight Belles, may earn you some feminism points from the julep-swilling ladies at your fete, but this gal will leave your wallet lighter. Three-year-old fillies just don't run well against a herd of tough colts. My pick is Pyro, the horse with the baddest-ass name in the field. He ran like a mule in his last race, but it was at Keeneland on the funky new Polyturf surface, a mixture of recycled rubber that many horses don't take to. Back on real dirt, he'll be back to his old self, passing tired horses in the stretch. And at odds of around 10-1, he'll have you humming "My Old Kentucky Home" to yourself long after the party's over. If you want to really impress folks, play two longshots with him in exactas -- Denis of Cork and Z Humor, both of which have been training beautifully and are sitting on monster performances. --ERIC BANKS

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(Cy Young Single Signed Baseball; Est. $8/12,000)

All baseballs may look the same, but that doesn't mean they're equal. Take a ball signed by Jackie Robinson (estimate $15,000-20,000) or signed by the pitcher with the most wins in history, Cy Young, ($8,000-12,000), both of which are available at the Sports Memorabilia and Cards Auction at Sotheby's on April 24. New York Yankees fans -- perhaps the least suffering but most insufferable fans in sports -- always seem to get the breaks, and they're in luck again here. There's a bat Joe DiMaggio used in the 1947 World Series, which the Yankees won against the Brooklyn Dodgers when Robinson was a rookie ($60,000-80,000). There's also Mickey Mantle's own 1953 Yankee team panoramic photograph ($15,000-25,000), signed by every player, even the batboy.

(Circa 1933 Lou Gehrig New York Yankees Road Jersey; Est. $150/200,000)

There's a road jersey that belonged to Lou Gehrig (estimate $150,000-200,000) from around 1933, when jerseys were still flannel. And perhaps best of all, there's Joe DiMaggio's rookie pinstripe jersey from 1936. Joltin' Joe, Number 9, centerfield. Nothing needs to be added ($250,000 and up).

(Joe Frazier's robe from "The Fight Of The Century," Frazier vs. Ali, March 8, 1971; Est. $10/15,000)

Finally, if you prefer a sport with a little more contact, consider the robe that boxer Joe Frazier wore into the ring at Madison Square Garden in 1971, when he handed Muhammad Ali the first defeat of his career. Those were the days when boxing was boxing -- all you need to know about the fight are a few of the people sitting ringside: Hefner, Sinatra, Streisand. --DAVID COGGINS

(Joe DiMaggio's 1936 New York Yankees Rookie Home Uniform; Estimate in excess of $250,000)

(Mickey Mantle's own 1953 Yankee Team Signed Panoramic Photograph; Est. $15/25,000)

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The first thing you realize when you sit down to race at Grand Prix NY, opening today in Mount Kisko, is how little vehicle there is between you and the road. Three inches off the ground in a Sodi RX7 Kart at 40 mph gives a rush of speed and acceleration that is as close to Formula 1 racing as many of us are ever likely to get.

GPNY is an indoor, all-season all-weather facility. The courses were designed by the owners, kart racers themselves, to capture the experience of open wheel driving in Europe. Unlike the oval tracks used in NASCAR, the courses at GPNY feature S curves, changes in elevation, and even replicas of famous turns, like The Carousel from Germany's Nueburgring.

Gearing up at GPNY was straightforward. I signed away life and limb at the desk, got a laminated license and entered a locker room beside the track. After a quick safety talk I was given a tracksuit and black balaclava. A foam brace went under my helmet. After the first race I realized why. As soon as we finished and I took my helmet off my neck felt like a used rubber band, a result of the G force generated in the turns.

The SODI Karts at GPNY are an embryonic version of their F1 brothers. Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1's current wunderkind, got his start racing karts at age eight, taking world champ in 2000. Driving a kart, powered by a Honda GX 200 4-stroke engine, requires quick reflexes and strong nerves. It took me the whole first race to coordinate the wheel, gas and brakes, the last piece of which I learned not to use except in emergencies.

One of the best features of the GPNY is that all the karts come with built in sensors that measure your performance during each lap. At the end of a race you get a diagnostic of all your times, where you placed against other racers and a chart comparing performance in each individual lap.

GPNY is open to the public and also offers catered corporate events. GPNY has plans to add a number of amenities: a club lounge where you can shower and relax and an elevated restaurant, where your co-workers can watch the races as the wash away the bitter taste of your victory. --BEN POPPER

(Photos: Ben Duchac)

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MV STAT: Formula 1 hasn't held a race on Germany's Nurburgring since 1976, although the public can drive on it for a small fee. It is still dangerous, however, with an average of one serious accident per week...

If you're like me, you've spent 51 weeks trying to think of ways to top last year's Super Bowl party. Thankfully, Miller Lite and The V Foundation are offering a chance to one-up.

You have until tomorrow (Jan. 31, 9 pm EST) to place an eBay bid to host Hall of Famer Barry Sanders and Super Bowl XXXII MVP Terrell Davis -- along with whatever friends you can convince to hang out with some living legends -- at your home for this Sunday's big game. The auction is open to anyone of drinking age and all proceeds benefit The V Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. The highest bidder (currently sitting just over $12K) will also receive complimentary food and beverages, so be ready to fire up the "tastes great, less filling" argument between Mr. Sanders and Mr. Davis.

The rules also specify that the winner have a television and that the players reserve the right to leave if they feel that anyone is acting improperly. May I suggest not asking Barry why he's not wearing a Super Bowl ring? --BARRETT BAFFERT

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MVSTAT: Tom Brady was a 14-point underdog in his first Super Bowl, which made the Patriots' victory in 2002 the biggest title upset since 1969...

For many fans, America's favorite sporting events can provide a beer-and-peanut soaked escape from everyday life. That was certainly true in 1970, a year when the U.S. expanded its involvement in Southeast Asia amid mass protests like Kent State and mounting racial and sexual tensions. In this setting photographer Tod Papageorge turned his lens on the sports arena. His unsettling black-and-white photographs are published together for the first time in American Sports, 1970, or, How We Spent the War in Vietnam  (Aperture, $50).

There is an oppressive weight to these images, at times eased by an ironic sense of humor: well-coiffed cheerleaders practicing under the watchful eye of policemen; kids crowding around a concession stand, one wearing a shirt with the words "fly the friendly skies of Viet Nam"; and bleachers full with both bored Naval officers and fans writhing in despair and jubilation. With a country at war, Papageorge's portrayal of spectator sports reveals a maddening crowd, both helpless and somehow to blame. --TASHA GREEN

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MVSTAT: Slazenger has provided tennis balls for Wimbledon for 105 years, making it the longest partnership in sporting goods history. The British equipment maker will provide 52,000 balls for this year's tournament...