McCollum averaged 20.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the p

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. Hydro Flask Sale . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Hydro Flask Clearance . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. http://www.discounthydroflaskcheap.com/ . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Cheap Hydro Flask For Sale . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). Discount Hydro Flask Cheap . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. PORTLAND, Ore. -- CJ McCollum agreed to a four-year, $106 million contract extension with the Portland Trail Blazers, a person familiar with the deal said.The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal hadnt been announced. It was first reported by Yahoo Sports.McCollum was voted the NBAs Most Improved Player after averaging 20.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the regular season. He raised his scoring average by more than 14 points over the previous season.As the 10th overall draft pick in 2013, McCollum bided his time on the bench his first two seasons. The 24-year-old guard became a starter in the backcourt with Damian Lillard last season after four of the teams starters left in the offseason.With one of the youngest rosters in the league (24.6 years), the Blazers were considered a team that was rebuilding. But they overachieved to earn the fifth seed in the West and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. McCollum averaged 20.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the postseason.His 14-point improvement was the moost since Tony Campbell improved from an average of 6.dddddddddddd2 points to 23.2 points with Minnesota from the 1988-89 to 1989-90 seasons.McCollum also finished the regular season with 197 3-pointers to rank ninth in the league and fourth most for the Blazers in one season. He scored in double figures in 79 games.McCollums extension comes in a busy offseason for the Blazers. This month they re-signed restricted free agents Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard.Portland also signed free-agent forward Festus Ezeli and acquired guard Shabazz Napier in a trade with the Orlando Magic for cash. Portland also signed forward Jake Layman, acquired in a draft-day trade, as well as free-agent wing Evan Turner.In another move Monday, Portland signed free-agent guard Tim Quarterman. Undrafted out of LSU, Quarterman averaged 11.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists as a junior for the Tigers last season.---AP Basketball Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report. ' ' '