Jason Chimera photo via PuckBuddys

My friend and hero Craig Brownstein tried to save horse racing, but horse racing didn't listen. He, with friends, tried to get justice for Robert Wone, but the system let everybody but the guilty down.

Now he's out to serve hockey. Brownstein and partner Doug Johnson have just unleashed PuckBuddys, a special kind of hockey blog: "For boys who like boys who like hockey," is its motto.

More of the same from the PuckBuddys' FAQ:

You ask, we tell.

We like everything about hockey.  The speed, the flash, the unpredictability of a bouncing puck. We like the coaches, the fights, the crowds. But mostly we like the players – their amazing athleticism and physical abilities.  And let’s face it: an extraordinary number of hockey players are simply hot – and that includes every single Cap."

All of 'em? Even when they're not wearing teeth?

Scout 1998-2008

Tis the season to adopt a greyhound. Though D.C. isn't near any dog tracks — the closest racing outposts can be found about five hours away in Wheeling, W..V. — the city is a hotbed of greyhound adoption. (My favorite adopted greyhound of all time, Craig Brownstein's Scout, is pictured here. Here's their story.)

Adoption's a real big deal right now, because the sport, or whatever you want to call greyhound racing, is dying fast. As 2009 ends, a lot of these 40-mile-an-hour couch potatoes will need new homes.

Several greyhound tracks are shuttering within days. Raynham Park in Raynham, Mass., is closing Dec. 26. Phoenix Greyhound Park in Phoenix, Ariz., and Dairyland Racetrack in Kenosha, Wisc., will end live racing by Dec. 31.

That means hundreds of dogs are being put up for adoption.

Voters in Massachusetts, where racing thrived for decades, banned dog tracks as of  2010, joining Vermont and Maine among states that have put prohibitions on the books. Two New Hampshire tracks went out of business earlier this year. That leaves Twin River in Rhode Island as the  only dog track in New England, and its owner is in bankruptcy and has asked to shut down its live racing operation.

Contact greyrescue.org for information on how to help.

***

The demise of greyhound racing has caught some two-legged victims around here, too: Andrew Beyer, who in his years with the Washington Post became arguably the most important horse racing writer of all time, lost a lot of money when Hinsdale, a New Hampshire tack, went under this year.

From a report in early 2009 in the Daily Racing Form, an equine publication:

Andrew Beyer, the popular handicapping expert, book author, and columnist, had $20,441 in his Hinsdale account at the time of the bankruptcy. Beyer, who frequently has columns published in Daily Racing Form, said on Thursday that he had never considered that the account could be wiped out by a bankruptcy filing.

For anybody still wondering what Beyer's been up to since he took his buyout from the Washington Post, let me try to explain something: HE HAD MORE THAN TWENTY GRAND IN A BETTING ACCOUNT AT AN OBSCURE NEW HAMPSHIRE DOG TRACK!

Good God.

(AFTER THE JUMP: Tommy Amaker bails on Falls Church High, loses to Georgetown? Can anybody explain why the Desiree Jennings crippled-by-a-flu-shot story died so fast? Can anybody explain why the D.C. Armor died so fast? Want to collect debts for Dan Snyder?)

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A long time ago, Tommy Amaker, a Falls Church guy, was supposed to attend my alma mater, Falls Church High. But Amaker somehow weaseled his way out of attending FCHS and got himself enrolled at W.T. Woodson, an outside-the-beltway school with a better basketball program (and a better everything else, truth be told) than Falls Church had. He had a great run at Woodson, then went off to Duke and had a fabulous college playing career. Falls Church continued losing 16-20 games a year.

Amaker came back to town yesterday as coach of Harvard. He got whupped by Georgetown in a rare weekday day game at Verizon Center. I'm not sure how his coaching failures at Seton Hall and Michigan and yesterday's blowout are related to his bailing on FCHS all those years ago, but I'm sure they are.

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I only got into this stuff this week, but I'm stunned at how fast the story of Desiree Jennings went away. Jennings became world famous overnight this fall as the Redskins cheerleader who was crippled by a flu shot. She set up a web site, desireejennings.com, just as her story went viral and it was used by leaders of the anti-vaccination movement (including Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy) to promote their cause.

But mere months after it went live, Jennings' site is dead. Visitors are now redirected to godaddy.com. The anti-vaccination crowd doesn't mention her anymore. Jennings quietly put a video on youtube indicating that the incurable disease brought on by the flu shot has been cured.

This is weird stuff.

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The body hasn't yet been recovered, but there a few more clear signs that the D.C. Armor really is lifeless:

1)The official website of the city's first and only arena team has been shut down. As recently as last week, the front page of the site begged readers to keep showing up for news about the city's first and only arena football team.

2)The American Indoor Football Association no longer shows the D.C. Armor in the Eastern Division on its league standings, or anywhere on the AIFA website.

Why won't Armor owner Corey Barnette just come out and say the game's over? If he's even whispered it, I haven't heard such a thing.

There's no longer any shame in an arena team folding. If the Armor are indeed muerte, they'll have tons of company: One report has the AIFA killing off six of the 14 teams that played in 2009, and the DC franchise is listed among the fatalities.

But more suckers prospective franchise owners stepped over the bodies, so the league will add five new teams for 2010: New Jersey Revolution, Richmond Raiders, Wenatchee Valley Venom, Yakima Valley Warriors, San Jose Wolves.

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Via Mister Irrelevant: Dan Snyder is looking to take somebody off the unemployment line just in time for the holidays.

Lest you think our town's Mr. Potter has changed his stripes, however, the job Snyder is looking to fill is a start-up position in... collections!

And not collections in the curator sense of the word, like somebody to work with art collections. No, this is collections in the pay-for-your-premium-tickets-now-or-we'll-sue-your-ass-like-we-sued-that-broke-grandmother's-ass sense.

We at Cheap Seats Daily are not usually in the business of giving Snyder free advertising space. But, he's filled so many thousand digital column inches for us in 2009, and, what the hell, it's Christmas, so:

Collections Coordinator – Washington Redskins (Landover, MD)

The Washington Redskins are seeking a highly motivated, energetic professional to join the organization on a Full Time basis as a Collections Coordinator.

Job Responsibilities:

• Oversee the collections process
• Coordinate with Legal and Finance departments
• Make calls to customers
• Process payments
• Set up payment plans
• Assist with customer related needs
• Transfer contracts
• Assist on game day
• Assist in preparation of legal correspondence
• Prepare reports for management

Requirements:

• Knowledge of FDCPA guidelines
• At least 2 years of collection experience
• Basic computer knowledge
• Strong communication and negotiation skills
• Must be able to work a flexible schedule
• Experience with Archtics database a plus

The Washington Redskins offer a competitive salary and an excellent benefits package. If you wish to become a part of this exciting, fast paced organization AND you meet the requirements listed above, please reply with a resume, cover letter and salary requirements or fax your information to (703) 726-7172. Apply Now NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

You can keep the referral fee, Dan.

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Story tips? Wanna Play the Feud? Tube amps for sale? Send to: cheapseats@washingtoncitypaper.com

Sunday's event wasn't really a vigil. Brownstein and his co-editors at the blog whomurderedrobertwone.com – Michael Kremin, David Greer, and Doug Johnson – didn't make a big deal about getting together, or telling others that they were, though there was a live shot for Sunday's 11 o'clock news.

They just placed some Black-Eyed Susans, and other summer flowers picked from Brownstein's yard, by the front door, and then they stood around and talked about the case.

Wone's death was ruled a homicide – police say he was drugged, sexually assaulted, then repeatedly stabbed – but no one has been charged with murder. Three men living in the residence at the time – Victor Zaborsky, Dylan Ward and Joe Price – have been indicted on charges of obstruction of justice and are to stand trail in May. They deny involvement in his death.

It always comes back to the same point, Brownstein says: "We throw our hands up. We look at the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and we can't make them fit."

Brownstein's blog is doing some anniversary coverage this week, pondering various theories, reprinting old news stories, and still asking: Who killed Robert Wone? He and the site's co-founders, together, spend as many as eight hours working on it most days; they have no direct connection to the case other than wanting to see it solved.

In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Brownstein and Greer chronicled a series of missteps and mistakes in the investigation. Some of the evidence has been lost, some was tainted from the start. Some has yet to be tested, they say, all this time later:

Many want to see justice in the scores of unsolved cases, but this one example has revealed a chilling fact: Being a homicide victim in the District may be a great equalizer; position guarantees you nothing. If the slain former colleague of the U.S. attorney general gets lethargic and sloppy treatment from authorities, then what hope do the rest of us have? The District may be a great place to live, but it's a bad place to die.

After about 45 minutes standing around outside the old crime scene Sunday, the small group went home. It had seemed the right thing to do.

"We've taken a certain responsibility," Brownstein says.