INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Call it the Sorenstam Syndrome. Blame it on Annika.

The sudden appetite for cross-gender sports pollination is gnawing in all directions, fueled primarily by sporting-event sponsors and their publicists, cleverly disguised as media. In the wake of Sorenstam's swing at the men in Texas, can others be far behind? How about Mia Hamm suiting up with the American lads against Manchester United? Or Paula Radcliffe switching sides in the Athens Olympic marathon? Or Serena Williams taking on Lleyton Hewitt this summer at Flushing Meadows?

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - During the latter part of March and well into April, Mike Howard, his fellow Marines, and a whole bunch of highly motivated U.S. Navy Seabees worked their way northward from Kuwait through an eastern Iraq corridor quaintly nicknamed "Ambush Alley" in order to lay all manner of instant bridges across the Tigris River to facilitate the attack on Baghdad.

ELMONT, N.Y. - One race did it.

Belmont Park opened for the first time on Thursday, May 4, 1905, and the crowd, estimated at 35,000, was treated to a dazzling feature. Sysonby, a 3-year-old making his first start of the season, battled older horses in the Metropolitan Handicap at one mile, and when he held on to earn a dead heat with the 5-year-old Race King, to whom he conceded 10 pounds, the cheering could be heard in Manhattan. Or so they said.

NEW YORK - What's the best thing about Funny Cide - that he's going for the Triple Crown or that he's a gelding? There's a strong case that while the former will make the next two weeks an exciting time for the racing industry, the latter could prove far more rewarding to the sport for years to come.

Pretend for a moment that Funny Cide had not been gelded. His owners, the Sackatoga Stable partners, would be fielding eight-digit stallion-syndication offers right now.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The Triple Crown is racing's most valuable icon, and increasingly so, despite - or more probably because of - the rarity of a sweep. In the 25 years since the last Triple Crown, attendance for the classics has increased at Churchill Downs, Pimlico, and Belmont Park, and there are prospects for a record on Belmont Day if the weather is good and the tentative field holds together.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It turns out that the appearance of Azeri in the Milady Handicap on Saturday at Hollywood Park has a significance beyond the mere thrill of an encounter with the reigning Horse of the Year. Apparently, it doesn't happen very often, especially at Hollywood Park.

That is surprising, since Hollywood Park has welcomed a carload of great champions through the years, including Seabiscuit, who won the first Hollywood Gold Cup in 1938, and Citation, who became the game's first millionaire at Hollywood in 1950.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It's time to give Funny Cide a week off. Let him tear down the barn and pull Raunie and Zacarias around the shed row, while Barclay and Robin and Jose take their well-deserved bows all over town. Belmont week will arrive soon enough, and the Triple Crown simmer will go to full boil. For now, it is enough to know that there is a Funny Cide, healthy and in good hands, leading the game like no blue-collar hero since the days of John Henry and his bicycle salesman owner.

WASHINGTON - When Annika Sorenstam makes history by teeing off in the PGA's Colonial tournament Thursday, the entire golf world's assumption is that she can't be competitive against the best men in her sport. Even Sorenstam merely hopes to play respectably. In any sport in which power is an important factor, women cannot beat top males athletes.

TUCSON, Ariz. - For racing, last weekend was about Funny Cide, fratricide, and time to decide.

WASHINGTON - When a horse wins a race after benefiting from good fortune, he deserves to be viewed with some skepticism. But when he does it for a second time, he merits respect for having the talent to make his own breaks.