Sports Archive

The biggest shock of the 2010 World Cup is that Chile has a starting defender named Gary. Beyond that (and the odious vuvuzelas, the second biggest shock has been the massively underperforming referees. Missed goals (Lampard), phantom fouls (Edu), offside both called and not called (Tevez), and egregious distribution of both yellow and red cards that have turned the course of the games around (Nigeria v. Greece and Germnay v. Slovakia come to mind). Clearly something needs to be done there.

Beyond that, there's still this massive problem with players play acting injuries. Kaka was given a second yellow card when a player from Ivory Coast pretended to be hit in the face. A few, like Portugal's Tiago, have been cards for "diving", but not nearly enough. The players are absurd, but you can't really blame them. As long as they can continue to fool the refs, they are going to keep rolling around on the pitch like they've been fatally injured.

FIFA needs to do something. Another ref on field. Another ref watching on video. Some retroactive and harsh penalization after the game. Summary execution. Something.

I'm predicting 10-0. Brasil is ranked#1 in the FIFA Rankings. No surprise there. You have to go all the way down to page three before you run across Korea DPR tucked in at 105 between Jordan and Syria. The North Koreans are behind such football powerhourses as Qatar, Haiti and Benin. Maybe not 10 goals, but it's lambs to the slaughter. No doubt about it.

The World Cup is underway, again. It seems like yesterday I was watching the 2006 matches while traveling around Europe: Zurich, Basel London, Barcelona, Paris & Amsterdam. Can't believe it's been four years.

Coverage in the us on ESPN and ABC should be improved. They've actually got some decent announcers who will actually be in the stadiums and not calling the games from Bristol, CT. The time difference makes things a little tricky. I was up at 6:30 this morning for the opening game. Tomorrow, there's a start between South Korea and Greece at 4:30. Yikes. I'm not going to catch all the games like in years past, but I'll try to watch the good ones.

Tomorrow is also USA v. England. It's the first match they've played in the World Cup since 1950. Amazingly, we won that match 1-nil. That win was a miracle. The USA has a far superior team now. It will be a shock in England if they lose, but won't be such a shock here if the US wins. I will be cycling in Sonoma, so I'll catch the game later on the DVR.

As for my picks, of course, Brasil, for the all the obvious reasons. But I really want Holland to win. They're overdue for a win. They play very exciting, positive football. And it would be great for the football world. If I had to pick the team I think will win, I'd have to go with Spain. I'd love to see Holland v. Spain in the final. It would make a fantastic game regardless who wins. I just don't want to see Germany or Italy win. Anyone but them.

These are some very heady days for Australian cycling.

They've got Tasmanian Richie Porte in the Maglia Rosa leading the Giro d'Italia. They've got Mick Rogers, who seems to have completely recovered from the injuries that have plagued him in recent years in the lead of the Tour of California. Matthew Lloyd is leading the King of the Mountains race in the Giro. Lloyd along with Cadel Evans and Matt Goss have won stages at the Giro. While Bret Lancaster picked up a win in a soggy stage 2 in the TOC. And, of course, Cadel Evans is the reigning World Champion. It really doesn't get much better than this.

Hopefully Porte can hang on for vistory in the Giro. The last week is going to be rough and he's sort of an unknown quantity. He does have a little lead to wrk though. On the other hand, Rogers' competition is right on his heels. It's nice to be in the lead With three days to go including a time trial in LA (he's a former TT World Champ). However, Dave Zabriskie has the same time and several riders incluing Levi Leipheimer are well within striking distance. Should be an exciting few days of racing.

Killer ad for Nike. Not quite the awesomeness of this one tough. (Poor, poor Ronaldinho. Didn't even make the Brazil squad for the World Cup.)

This is the first year in a long time that I've not been glued to the TV during March. I hardly watched a game during the season. UCLA was horrible. They finished under .500 for the first time in recent memory. It was painful to watch, so I didn't.

The NCAA tourney arrived as a surprise to me. I didn't pay attention to the selection show. I didn't see any of the first round games. I did hear about all the upsets though. Kansas going down to Northern Illinois. Cornell, Butler, and St. Mary's advancing to the Sweet 16. Who couldn't love that? Cinderella stories are always fascinating. Everyone wants to see another George Mason in the Final Four, right?

Cornell was elimated by Kentucky last night. No surprise there. Northern Illinois is still alive. Butler is only one game away now, but they've been good for so long, it's not going to shock anyone to see them there.

St. Mary's is another story altogether. It's a tiny college playing in a minor conference which has been dominated by Gonzaga for years. They have student body around 2500. Really, they have no business in the tourney.

But I want to see them continue to win. The college is in Moraga which is less than 15 miles east of where I live and I pass it all the time on rides out to Contra Costa County. The campus is small but beautiful, centered around a cathedral in a large square (it's a Catholic school).

I don't know how much of a chance they, or the other mid-majors, have to make the Final Four. I don't even know if St. Mary's can get past Baylor tonight (is Baylor any good?).Long ago are the days where I watched SportsCenter with a religious fervor and prided myself on keeping up with all things sports.

It would be exciting as hell if one of the upstart teams to make it to Indianapolis and hopefully it will be St. Mary's.

Go Gaels Go!!!!!

You just have to love Ski Cross (aka skiercross or Skier-X). It's crazy. It's insane. It's wicked and wild and wooly and just so much fun to watch. I really don't know how these guys do it. It's the sport of tube-fed, genetically-modified (oft alcohol fueled) adrenalin junkies.

If you're not familiar with it, this is how it goes. Four skiers race simultaneously down a winding snake of a course filled with bumps, jumps, and steeply banked turns. Competitors are not supposed to push, shove, or elbow each other, but in a sport that's like roller derby down the bobsled run, you won't get penalized if you don't get caught.

Naturally, the risk is high and the crashes can be severe, but these guys are tough and probably little mental. American Daron Rahlves, previously an Olympian in the Apline events, crashed horribly just three weeks ago at the X-Games and dislocated his hip. But that didn't stop him from competing in Vancouver.

Skicross has long been a part of the Winter X Games but was added as a full-medal sport in the Olympic lineup for 2010 after it received recognition from the IOC. I highly recommend checking out the vids on the NBC website, if you didn't catch the broadcast.

*If you don't get this reference it probably mean you're weren't a male teen in the mid-80s. sorry

It's really beyond the pale how bad NBC is at covering Alpine Skiing at the Vancouver Olympics. The latest joke the Men's Giant Slalom. NBC only bothered to show 4 of the runs in the first round (each skier gets two runs): Carlo Janko, who finished in first, Aksel Lund Svindal, third, American Ted Ligety, in eigth place, and Bode Miller, who caught a tip and didn't finish. They failed to show Romeo Baumann, second, Massimiliano Blardone, fourth, Marcel Hirsher, fifth, Benjamin Raish, sixth, Cyprien Richard, seveth or any other skiers.

They showed all of three skiers on the second run. Three? Three is all we get? Bode crashed out so they didn't have to show him again, but why not show Ligety? Why not show the first run of the eventual silver medalist, Kjetil Jansrud of Norway? Other Americans? Anyone? Bueller? It's on tape delay, so they can program it anyway they want. They show qualifying for freestyle skiing, yet they won't show the meat and potatoes Alpine events. What gives?

They must really, really suck or not care.

Since NBC won't bother to explain, I took to the interwebs to find the answers:

Salchow A salchow jump is done from the back inside edge of one foot to the back outside edge of the other foot. A half revolution is done in the air.

The salchow jump was invented by Ulrich Salchow in 1909.

The salchow is usually done from a forward outside three turn. After the three turn, the skater stops momentarily with the free foot extended behind, then swings the free leg forward and around with a wide scooping motion. Then, the skater jumps in the air and lands backwards on the foot and leg that did the scooping motion.

Sometimes, the salchow is entered from a forward inside mohawk instead of a three turn.

Toe Loop
A toe loop is done with a toe assist. While skating backward on an outside edge, the figure skater picks with the other toe, then jumps a half revolution in the air like a waltz jump, and lands on the foot that did not pick. The skater should be gliding backward on an outside edge when he or she lands.

This jump was invented during the 1920's by Bruce Mapes who was an American professional show skater. In fact, in artistic roller figure skating, the toe loop is called a Mapes Jump.

Most of the time, the toe loop is entered from a forward inside three turn.

Loop
In a loop jump, an ice skater takes off from a back outside edge, jumps a full revolution in the air, and lands backward on the same back outside edge from which he or she took off.

This jump is easy for non-skaters to recognize since there is no toe assist. It is considered an "edge jump" since no toe assist is used on the take off. Loop jumps are often done as the second jump in figure skating jump combinations.

Flip
A flip jump is a move where the skater glides backward on a back inside edge, picks with the other skate, jumps a full revolution in the air, and lands on the back outside edge of the foot that picked.

Most figure skaters enter the flip jump with an outside three turn and then "pick" with the free toe. The three turn done before the flip jump must be done in a straight line. The toe pick assist looks a bit like a pole vault. Some skaters enter the flip with alternative entries, such as a forward inside mohawk.

Lutz
A lutz jump is done just like the flip, but the takeoff is from a back outside edge instead of a back inside edge.

The lutz jump was invented by a Austrian man named Alois Lutz who first performed the jump in competition in 1913.

The lutz jump must be taken off from the back outside edge and is considered a counter-rotated jump. It is very difficult to stay on a back outside edge as the skater takes off; if the skater does allow the blade of the take off edge to roll over to an inside edge, the jump does not receive full credit and is consided a flip jump. This mistake on a lutz has been nicknamed a "flutz."

Axel
The takeoff of an axel jump is on a forward outside edge. After jumping forward from that forward edge, the skater makes one and one-half revolutions in the air and lands on the other foot on a back outside edge.

This jump was invented by a skater named Axel Paulsen who first performed this jump in 1882.

It takes time to master an axel jump. It may take years for some skaters to master an axel. Once a skater "gets an axel," double jumps usually come quite easily.

Makes it much nicer to watch when you know what the fuck Scott Hamilton is talking about.

Every two years, I get psyched for the Olympics and every two years, I come away severely bothered by the television coverage. The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is no exception.

I've written about this before, and in some ways it gets tired to complain about the coverage, but what else can I do?

First off, not much of anything is live on NBC. There is some programming on CNBC like hockey that will be carried in real time, but all the major events will be tape delay, at least on the west coast. In the days of the DVR, this doesn't matter as much as it used to. However, watching on delay not only takes away much of the drama inherent in sports competition where you will never know what will happen and replaces it with a paradigm where one has to avoid any possible coverage that is in real time from online services to the ESPN crawl lest the results are revealed before the event is broadcast.

For both the Men's and Women's Downhill, I was unable to keep from seeing the results before I saw the event on TV, which is just fucking horrible. The Alpine events are the centerpiece of the Olympics and downhill skiing is the crown jewel of the event. Yet the coverage on NBC is simply a joke. And knowing the results beforehand just makes it a sad joke.

For the men's event, NBC deigned to show 6 runs. America's Steven Nyman and Bode Miller, Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, Switzerland's Diider Cuche and Didier Defago and Canada's Rob Dixon. Count 'em. That's six runs. They probably wouldn't even have shown Defago except that he happened to win the event. And Dixon probably only made an appearance because of a spectacular crash. That's six competitors out of a field of 64. It's just unacceptable.

The women's event was only slightly better. NBC showed the runs of America's Lindsay Vonn, Julia Mancuso and Stacey Cook, Austria's Elisabeth Goergl, Germany's Maria Reisch, Sweden's Ana Paerson, Switerzland's Dominique Gisen, Italy's Daniela Merighetti, and France's Marion Rolland. The final four on that list all crashed out including Rolland who somehow caught an edge out of the starter's house and keeled over before she even got started.

The men's and women's course were totally different but equally exciting. The men skied the famous Dave Murray Downhill while the women were on a special course created on Franz's Run (I've skied both and they are incredibly fun). The women's run on Franz, a whippy labyrinth of a piste, subjects the skiers to several massive jumps including the infamous "Hot Air" at the bottom where many competitors, including Paerson, Gisen and Merighetti, crashed spectacularly.

The entire competition is available online sans commentary, which makes it quite boring. And you can see the full results for the men's and women's downhill on nbcolympics.com.

There's no good reason why more of this incredible competition should not be shown on TV. It's just inexcusable, especially when you consider the wall-to-wall coverage of curling on CNBC. Curling? It's like watching the ice melt. (Any event where the inclusion of pizza and beer does not dramatically impact the results is not a sport and certainly should not be in the Olympics.)

With the exception of the parade of nations, which I always get a kick out of, and maybe the cauldron lighting, I can really do without the Olympic opening ceremonies. But this moment, k.d. lang singing Hallelujah, just gave me chills:

The official video is on the NBC Olympics site.

Been feeling very nostalgic lately and two events on Sunday have really fueled my retrospective fire. the first was a documentary about the USFL and the second was the Eagles/Bears game on Sunday Night Football.

When the USFL in 1983, I was in my formative years and hoovering everything sports related. ESPN has just come into existence and I was a hard core junkie. In the early years, which I'll get to eventually, ESPN was bereft or mainstream programming and the USFL might have been the first "major" sporting events that the network covered.

The games were exciting. The teams had stars. They signed three Heisman Trophy winners in a row: Herschel Walker from Georgia, Mike Rozier from Nebraska and Doug Flutie from Boston College. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Jim Kelly played for the Outlaws. Steve Young signed a 40 million dollar contract to play for the LA Express. There was Reggie White, Doug Williams, Anthony Carter, Rick Neuheisel, Billy Sims and many, many more great players that eventually went on to play in the NFL. Jim Mora coached the Stars, Marv Levy the Blitz and Stever Spurrier the Bandits. Walt Michaels coached the Generals. Lee Corso coached the Renegades. Even George Allen coached two teams.

Yesterday I got my second look at Graham Harrell, the starting QB for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and I'm impressed. The guy is simply awesome. Texas Tech is not a team that gets much national exposure. So while he was putting up huge numbers the last two years, they were never on television. I'd see the highlights or the stats in the bottom line (e.g. Harrrell 540 yards passing and 6 TDs) In the last few years, but until last week against Kansas and this week against Texas, I had never seen him play a game.

I'm a huge UCLA fan, but they suck and they are going to suck for a years while Neuheisel rights the ship. While I wait for that to happen, I'm supporting the underdogs. Hawaii last year. BYU this year (before they crashed down to earth. Boise State always. And now Texas Tech. They are undefeated after their last second victory over heavily favored and number one ranked Texas. Who knows how far they can go. They are very exciting team with Harrell at the helm. If they can keep it up, win the Big 12 and somehow make it to the BCS title game, Harrell will be a shoe in for Heisman.

Whatever happens, you can bet that Harrell will be a top draft pick and will be playing on Sundays in the very near future. He reminds me of Brady. He doesn't have the strongest arm, but it's strong enough. He's very accurate. He's not fast and won't scramble like a Michael Vick, but he's just elusive enough to avoid the rush and give his receivers a few extra seconds to get open. He's incredibly poised. He's certainly the most polished quarterback on the college level. His corps of the receivers (including Michael Crabtree, probably the best in country) and the offense put in place by his head coach Mike Leach make Texas Tech very fun to watch.

If Texas Tech, now ranked #2, can somehow beat Oklahoma St at home next week and Oklahoma in Norman the following week, they'll make it to the Big 12 championship game with no losses (sorry Baylor fans, but Tech will destroy you in the last week of the regular season). A win in the Big 12 championship game will put them in the BCS finals. It's unlikely. Alabama which is currently ranked number #1 is just as unlikely to finish the remainder of their games undefeated, opening the door for Penn State and USC. But I hope Tech can do it, because unlike upstart Hawaii last year who was just as fun to watch, they can actually beat top teams. Go Red Raiders!

I've never been much of an athlete. I enjoy sports: skiing, surfing, cycling, what have you, but my athletic aspirations have been of the vicarious sort. I'm ok with that. But as someone who's ok with that, I want my coverage to be excellent. Nowhere is this more true that with the Olympics.

My feeling is that Olympic coverage has gone in the tank since NBC took over from ABC. ABC just seemed to do everything just right. Their commentators were not only experts in the sports they covered, but incredibly well spoken and interesting. NBC, well, not so much. ABC had a nice balance between coverage of the events themselves and dramatic athlete profiles that would engage the viewer and build that all important empathy between audience and performer. NBC, not so much. In the beginning, NBC had way too many of these things, probably in a vain effort to appeal to female viewers. There was serious backlash. Now they have too few.

Then you need a personality who can frame the games in a larger context. Someone like Dick Schapp. This year NBC has got Mary Carillo. Sure, I like Mary. She's okay. Serviceable, but not really that interesting But why Mary Carillo? Why not Jimmy Roberts? Where the fuck is Jimmy Roberts? Jimmy Roberts is a poet. We need more commentator's like Jimmy Roberts.

Then there's the coverage itself, which, to be honest, has gotten better over the years. For this Olympics there's almost too much. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am. But it's too much of stuff that's not interesting. Synchronized Diving was on for hours yesterday. Does anyone really care about that "sport"? Blessedly, there's a DVR to take care of that problem, which is huge improvement for me personally this time around.

NBC also has a wealth of coverage online, both archived and live, which is fantastic. However a lot of the events I have seen online has had no commentary. I like really like cycling—more than the average cycling fan even, but I can't watch 6 and half hours of a racing online with no commentary. It's like watching paint dry. Then NBC has this terrible habit of including the result in the title of the video, such as "Kristen Armstrong takes gold in Women's Time Trial", which sort of sucks the drama out of watching. Note to NBC, please name the events with the name of the event and not the result. Pretty please.

Of course, in my fantasy world, I would have so much more control. I might not like the announcers that NBC puts up, so I'd want to listen to the commentators from Australia or the UK or Canada. Sometimes I want more information than NBC provides, so I want detailed history of a world record progression. Or maybe I want to see the event in the past Olympics or at the Olympic Trials or the European Championships. And It would be nice to control the replays, although I really can with my DVR, so this isn't such a big deal any more. What would be cool is to control the camera angles. There might be a dozen cameras (or more) at a particular venue. Why should director control the one camera that we see at any given time. Maybe I'd prefer a different angle.

There's my quadrennial gripe about the coverage in a nutshell. It seems to be getting better at every Olympiad, which is positive, and maybe in a decade or so, some of the Olympic dreams I have will come to fruition.

Congratulations to Carlos Sastre for taking the 2008 Tour title. Congrats to all the riders really. It was a fantastic Tour—the best in recent memory. Over 3 weeks of racing and almost every day was exciting. From the first stage in Brittany with Alejandro Valverde winning in an uphill sprint through the Massif Central, the Pyrenees, the Alps and all the way the Champs Elysees in Paris. The race did not disappoint.

Up until Sastre blew everyone away on Alp d'Huez, 6 riders were within a minute of the lead (Evans, F. Schleck, Kohl, Menchov & Vandevelde). The racing and attacking was fierce. And here in the States, the coverage by Versus was unprecedented in terms of the length, often going on air before the start of the start so we were actual able to see for the first time how breakaways are formed, established and nurtured. (My only complaint about Versus was Craig Hummer. Nice guy, but not a great commentator. What happened to Al Trautwig?)

In all, there were seven men in Yellow, including 2 from Luxembourg and even a Frenchman for day. The 4 Americans and the two American teams in the race acquitted themselves well. Christian Vandevelde exceeded all expectations finishing 5th and announcing himself as one of the top contenders in the peloton. Team Columbia took 5 stage victories—4 alone to British sprinter Mark Cavenidish and held at times early in the race, the Yellow, Green and Polka-Dot Jerseys. I would have liked to see George Hincapie do better. He almost won a stage in the Alps, but lost some time on the last climb and couldn't quite make it up on the descent.

The Beijing Olympics are only 2 weeks away. Who's excited?

I haven't read any of the pre-Olympic stories (Sports Illustrated, etc.) but I have kept my eyes on the Olympics trials for Swimming and Track & Field and I've been watching the Golden Gala meets in Europe. I know there's going to be problems with this events—pollution, censorship, drugs, terrorism?—but I don't care. I'm excited to see it as I've been for any games.

This will be the first Olympics where I've had a DVR. Between that and the blanket coverage that NBC is planning, I will finally be able to see everything I want and not have to stay up crazy hours to do it.

There's going to be a huge battle at the top of the medal table between the US and China. China has had a plan called Project 119 or something like that to win 119 gold medals including many in events like rowing where they are not exactly traditional powers. I know it will be close, but I hope we crush them. Athletes of free will should always be victorious over athletes driven by state-sponsored programs al la the former Soviet Union and East Germany. It's really only sports that gets my nationalistic fervor. I can't really explain it, but I always want the USA to win. If not the USA, then Australia. If not Australia, then Holland. I'd support Samoa, but they'll never win anything.

One of big complaints about my Comcast DVR is that if you set a recording, the DVR will stop at the scheduled time, not when the broadcast of the event actually stops. At first I would record programs after the event. Then I realized that I could modify the settings so that the DVR would continue to record for up to two hours after the event, which is usually more than you could need. It pisses me off that I still have to do this and I think Comcast needs to figure out a way to continue recording until the event ends. Period end of story. The DVR will be an inferior product until they can figure that out.

So. Wimbledon. I wasn't about to wake up at 5am like I used to do, and I was going to be out all day, so I scheduled a recording and I set it to finish an hour after the scheduled end. I thought that would be more than enough. Shit, the event was scheduled for 6 hours. How could that not be enough?

The first of the Euro 2008 semifinals will be kicking off later today, Germany v. Turkey. You have to believe that this is the end of the line for the Turks. They've had a great run with two scintillating comeback wins against the Czech Republic and Croatia, but half the team is sidelined due to injury or suspension and, well, they are playing Germany. Expect a resounding Teutonic victory.

The other semi is rematch of a group play game between Spain and Russia which the Spaniards took handily 4-1. I don't think it will be so easy this time, but the result should be the same. I do expect the game to be very exciting as both teams play a positive brand of football.

Thankfully the Spanish dispatched the Italians in the quarters. I just can't stand watching Italian football. Sure, they have talented players, but they simply play the most regressive football in the world. They play not to lose, pack in the defense so there's no hope for the other team to score and try to get lucky on the few half-chances they are able to generate. If they don't manage to score, they're happy to take their chances in penalty shootout with Buffon.

Sure, they've won a few games playing that style, but they certainly haven't won many fans. And it's backfired on them a few times, most notably in the 94 World Cup final against Brazil (most boring game ever—thankfully Baggio missed his penalty and the Brazilians won) and again here in Euro 2008 (probably many more times). The Italians are the exact reason why so many Americans think soccer/football is boring.

My predictions have been horrible, but I hope to see Spain and Germany in the final with Spain finally breaking through with a major tournament win behind the strength of David Villa and Fernando Torres. However, German air power and height advantage could be the Spaniards undoing. However, let's see if they can get by Russia and Turkey first.

I've been catching a few of the Euro 2008 games here and there (whenever I can remember to record them), and I have to say that I can't remember a series of more interesting games in a major competition. World Cup, while it's fun to watch, often pits two sides that are playing not to lose. The classic example is the 2004 final between Italy and Brazil. Only a handful of games are really interesting. The rest are marred by negative football.

On the other hand, Euro 2008 had been nothing but end to end, action-packed positive football. Tackling is fierce. Goals, while not plentiful, have been exciting. Goal keeping has been great. Teams are well matched.

Could it be because poor England didn't qualify? It's easy to blame the English (what say you, Phil?)

We're one game into the quarters. Yesterday Germany dispatched Portugal 3-2 in a game that would have been much more exciting (for me) had not the BBC divulged the results before I had a chance to watch. Germany looked really good, although Ballack did push the defender in the back before heading in the goal that turned out to be the game winner.

I have high hopes for the remaining games. We've got Croatia v. Turkey today. Netherlands v. Russia on Saturday and Spain v. Italy on Sunday. I'm hoping that the Dutch finally pull through and win a major tournament. They have a fantastic team and are really fun to watch. Of course, they'll have to get by Russia and the magician Guus Hiddink and then eventually (probably) their nemesis, Germany, to win it all, but if they ever had the team to do it, this is the one.

Today, the Olympic Torch Relay for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics has come to San Francisco. Right now, a few hundred yards from where I'm writing this, the torch is traveling down the Embarcadero.

During lunch I went down to justin Herman plaza which is where the relay iss scheduled to end and there's a sea of people, media trucks and protestors.

Look, I understand that many people in the world have problems with the way the Chinese operate. I do. I want Tibet to be free as much as anyone (outside of the Tibetans and Richard Gere, I suppose) and I think the Chinese human rights record and its treatment of the environment is abysmal.

However, this is the Olympics and the Olympic ideal is that the participants put aside their problems with each other to compete. It's about athletics and the spirit of competition, not politics. Certainly if the ancient Greeks could lay down their arms (see below) and have a cease fire so that athletes could travel to and from Olympia in safety, we can put aside our differencse so that the athletes who have worked so hard, dreaming of competing in the Olympics can go to Beijing.

In one of the most entertaining NCAA tournament games I can remember, upstart, tiny Davidson took monster Kansas to the wire and almost won the game with a last second shot. This is Davidson, a tiny school without much a basketball pedigree against one of the legendary schools of college hoops-Kansas-the university of Wilt Chamberlain and Danny Manning.

You got the sense watching the game that Davidson was overmatched. Kansas looked like they were going to tear the Wildcats limb from limb. Every time Kansas looked like they were going to pull away, Davidson would get a loose ball, play tight D and hold the Jayhawks to one shot, or hit a big three.

...or was someone in town for surgery?

Is this worse than the Dennis Miller era? You bet. Is ESPN going to do anything about it? Don't count on it. Will I continue to watch Monday Night Football? Most likely...

The trio of announcers that ESPN has calling MNF, the corner stone of broadcasting our national sport (sorry, baseball, time to wake up and smell reality), is a nothing but a pure joke. The show is really in shambles. I like Mike Tirico. What's not to like? But he screams golf. Tony Kornheiser is a buffoon. Joe Theismann? He was a couragous, undersized, overachieving quarterback, but as a broadcaster, he needs to be euthanized. Sad to say, but this group worse than ESPN's previous crew for Sunday Night Football of Mike Patrick, the aforementioned QB and the waste of space Paul MacGuire.These guys make the NFL Network crew of Bryant Gumble and Chris Collingworth look like Jackson and Fouts.

Now why am I even bothering with this tirade? Because I care about football and I care about broadcasting. ABC, the former home of MNF, the home of the classiest most intelligent announcers (with some notable exceptions), should be the home of all major sporting events.They never should have given up MNF to ESPN. Never.

Ironically last year's MNF team, Al Michaels and John Madden, probably the best in the history of football, were lured away from ABC and now rule Sunday Night Football. ABC's loss of Al Michaels is really a loss for America. Even if Michaels ends up back in the NBC monopolized Olympics where he belongs, the Oympics belongs on ABC which takes sport seriously and not on that touchy bullshit tape delay crap that NBC spoon feeds us every other year.

*Da-Da-Da-Da! Duh-nuh-Nuh-nuh-Nuh-nuh!

We'll see how long this lasts now that UCLA has an even larger target on it's back, but with Florida and North Carolina losing over the weekend, UCLA leaped from 5 to 1 in the AP poll. Not bad for a team with nary a senior. It's going to a fun, fun season for Bruin hoop fans.

UCLA football might be going in reverse, but Ben Howland has the hoops program headed in the right direction. The Bruins made it to the NCAA championship game last year and are ranked number 5 and off to a 4-0 start this season despite losing team leader Jordan Farmar to the Lakers (where he's ridding the pine).

Darren Collison is more than filling his shoes. He's quicker, a much better shooter and a truer point guard. He's only a sophmore and is going to get better as the season goes on. That goes for the entire team. Aaron Afflalo is back for his junior season after testing the NBA waters - he didn't have agent. He's one of the smoothest players in the country and is a shut down defender. Josh Ship, a sophmore, is back from a missing a season due to a hip injury. He's the most solid player to come to Westwood in a long time. The crazy Camerooonians, Mbah a Moute and Aboya, just sophomores as well, are back. Lorenzo Mata, a bit of a spaz on the offensive side of the court and a brick at the foul line, is an imposing figure in the middle of the lane and makes the most of his offensive rebounds and in close shots. He's also a sophmore. Michael Roll, another sophmore, comes off the bench and bombs threes. There's not a senior on the roster, so this team, which is pretty damn good now, should be awesome next year with a stellar recruiting class on the way.

Just looking at this team, it's hard to believe they are so good. They have no real stars. They have no real height. They have limited experience (other than the amazing run in the tourney last year), but they win. And they win despite often dismal 3 point shooting and embarassing results from the line. Against Kentucky in the semis of the Maui Invitational, for instance, they won going away despite hitting 10% of their 3s (3 for 30) and were, at one point 3 for 12 from the line. Imagine if they could shoot. They led the Wildcats by 17 in the first half, lost the lead in the second with the pathetic shooting but pulled away in the end.

How are they doing this? Two reasons. Defense and turnovers. They soffocate opposing teams and do not give the ball away on offense. This is a recipe for many, many wins. Looking at their schedule, they shouldn't have too much trouble earning a number seed in the NCAA provided everyone stays healthy. They have a very soft opening schedule and should cruise in the PAC-10 for the second year in a row.

It's really good to see UCLA back on top of the college game where tradition dictates they belong and with Ben Howland at the helm, they should stay there for years to come.

Rutger and I were walking home from dinner at Sing Sing, a very trendy Asian fusion restaurant/bar in his neighborhood last night. I was taking pictures of some of the interesting cafes with their tables spilling out into the sidewalks that you see all over Amsterdam.

When I was taking a shot of the Ristorante Bellavista, on Johannes Verhulstraat, the most desirable address in Amsterdam, right around the corner from Rutger's place, there was Ruud Gullit carrying a football that one of his kids who was playing in the street had kicked into the restaurant. If you don't know who he is, check his bio on Wikipedia.

Rutger's neighborhood, south of the Rijksmuseum and just east of the Vondelpark is one of the most popular in Amsterdam, filled with local Dutch celebrities, TV presenters, games show hosts, footballers like Gullit and Marco van Basten. The lead singer from Golden Earring lives around the corner. No one bothers them. It's not like at home. There are no paparazzi, it seems, and they can live what look like normal lives with only the occasional overzealous tourist and football fan pulling out a camera at an inopportune moment.

England is in grips of an insane football madness in the lead up to the World Cup which starts this Friday over in Germany. Just as every tourney, England think they have a chance to win. More than a chance, really. That they are going to win it. No doubt about it. No questions asked. This is the team. This is the year. I'm afraid it's all part of a national optimistic delusion that takes hold of this country every 4 years.

The country is obsessed. Flags are everywhere. In windows. On pub doorways. On cars. Ubiquitous Merchandise exhorts the faithful to cheer on "their boys". The newspaper is rampant speculating on everyhing from the state of striker Wayne Rooney's broken foot (the headline in the paper today was "Metatarsal Miracle") to the strange and sordid sex life of soon to be departed Swedish coach Sven Goran Eriksson.

The problem is, while England invented the sport and are quite good at it, they are not the best. Not even by a long shot. That honor, without doubt, goes to Brazil. If Brazil occupy the top tier alone, England falls somewhere in the second grouping along Holland, Spain, Germany, Argentina and the Czech Republic. On top of that England perpertually underacheive, find some way to lose close games or games they should win, and disappoint the populace.

With hopes running so high, I fear that if England put on their typical performance and fall short of expecations, the entire country will fall into a desparate malaise, for which the only answer is, as my buddy John says, to pass out the anti-depressants now. At least it would be proactive.

Anyone else psyched about the World Cup? I am. I always am. Love the sport. Love the event even better. This time all my favorite teams are in. The USA, of course. Australia, natuallly (it's about time!). The Dutch, as expected, are in. It should be a great event.

I will be in Europe for most of the start of the competetion. I don't know if I will be able to make it over to Germany, but I will be in England for the Trinidad & Tobago match on the 15th of June. I will be in Switzerland for the June 13th match against France. I will be in Spain for the June 19th match against Tunisia. And I will be in Holland for the quarterfinals. Hopefully Clockwork Orange will still be playing.

The official team bus to be used by the United States during the World Cup will not bear a flag for security reasons.

The 32 official buses were presented Thursday in Frankfurt and the other 31 buses have large national flags of the their teams painted on rear sides.

German and U.S. security officials came to the conclusion to leave the flag off the U.S. team bus, an official of the German organizing committee said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the topic.

Get that? Of all 32 teams that made it to the World Cup Finals in Germany this year, only the United States has to move its players around in stealth and not proudly show off the American flag because of fear of a terrorist attack. This is what happens when you sqaunder the good will of world and everyone hates you. It's pathetic.

Most Americans couldn't give a shit about this. Only a tiny fraction even carry passports and have little or no interest on what goes on outside our borders. But as some ne who travels, who has traveled extensively in muslim countries around the world, I find this profoundly disturbing.

The whole stoy is below the fold.

The game. Well? The game sucked. It was one of the most painful things to have to sit through. The team that I have been saying all along didn't really belong and was playing way above their heads, finally showed up and at the worst possible time. UCLA was thoroughly dominated. Hats off to Florida for outplaying the Bruins at every phase of the game. I never really thought UCLA should have made it this far. They should have beaten by Gonzaga at the very least. Amazingly, they scored the last 11 points of the game and pulled it out. There was a point in the second half when they canned 2 straight 3 that there was a glimmer of hope for another stellar comeback but it just wasn't to be. Every time UCLA got it within 10 points, Florida slammed the door by breaking the press and slamming it home or outhustling UCLA to the loose ball.

The real diffence in the game was inside. UCLA "big" men were clearly intimidated by Florida's shot blockers. It seemed refs were too, not calling what seemed to me to be some obvious fouls and clear traveling violations, not that it would have made difference. It hurts to lose. It hurts even more to lose to godforsaken Florida. The only silver lining for me is that I'm a huge Billy Donovan fan. I have been since he was a player alongside Delray Brooks under Rick Pitino for the Providence team that made an improbable and incredibly exciting run to the Final Four back in 87 when I was in high school. He's a class guy and well deserving of this national title.

UCLA will be back. They are very young team. We'll lose Hollins, but he was no great shakes despite being the MOP of the regional. He was too timid and too weak to go up against quality competition. Bozeman will be gone, but his career was beset by injuries and all he did was disappoint. So much promise. So little delivery. However, the core of the team, the guards Farmar and Afflalo are only sophomores. Most of the rest of the players are freshmen. And Ben Howland who has brought UCLA back from the brink of oblivion after intolerable losing seasons seems locked in, bringing east coast toughness and solid defense to a program that desparately needed it. Hopefully he will be around for 20 years or more.

Again, congratulations to Billy Donovan and Florida on a well deserved win.

After watching the Bruins wipe the RCA Dome floor with the heavily overmatched (and favored) LSU Tigers, it's hard for me not to be optimisitic about tonight's game. They are playing so well in all aspects of the game, despite being a very young team. It's hard for me to believe that they are doing so well, but I'll take it.

Howver, Florida is a far tougher opponent than LSU. Their big men are better. They have 3 point threats which was something totally missing from the LSU arsenal. And they have a deeper bench. So if UCLA does manage to win, it won't be a blow out. It should be a close game, a defensive struggle. The winner will likely we lucky to get 60 points. UCLA should win, but only if they can hit their free throws. I'd bet that if UCLA hits more than 70% from the charity stripe, they will win. Alright, time to go home and watch the game.

GO BRUINS!!!!!!

What do these numbers have in common?

I'm still in shock--that was one of the ugliest games I have ever seen--but UCLA has done it, they have shut down heavily favored number one seed Memphis and have squeaked by into the Final Four. Let me say that again. UCLA is in the Final Four!

How the hell did this happen? I still don't know. I mean, UCLA had a decent season. They won the PAC-10 regular season title. They won the conference tourney. They only lost a handful of games (including one earlier in the season to Memphis) due to their stiffling D, very uncharacterstic of past UCLA teams, but a highly welcome development. But this is the same team that couldn't score a field goal in the first 9 minutes against Gonzaga and somehow managed to score the last 11 points of the game.

I don't think this team deserves it, but there it is. They are in. They are two solid games away from a National Title. Could it happen?

Is there any other kind these days? No sooner has Sports Illustrated posted an excerpt from a book that has damming evidence (like we needed it) that Barry Bonds was on the juice than the slugger came out and denied it. Just wait for the tests, he says. As if tests that can so easily be beaten by professional cheaters like Bonds mean anything.

Personally I didn't need proof that Bonds was using steroids. I saw it with my own eyes. The whole time this was going down in the late 90s, I was living in Burlingame where Bonds was working out in with trainer and drug pusher Greg Anderson. I once saw him during lunch at Le Boulangerie in San Carlos. The guy was massive. This was not the skinny kid that I had seen playing centerfield for Arizona State way back when. You can't get that big without some kind of chemical assistance. No way.

But there is (allegedly) proof not only that Bonds did steroids but that he perjured himself in front of the grand jury during the Balco investigation. It's sad. It really is. Bonds is one of the greatest players in the game. He didn't need to use steroids. He was on his way to the Hall of Fame. But he supersized ego couldn't or wouldn't let him play clean. He needed HGH and the cream and clear and god knows what other stimulants to recover quicker, get jacked up for games and launch home runs at a rate faster than anyone else in the history of the game to feel good about himself.

I was listening on the radio this morning to two San Francisco apologists, comedian Will Durst and Mayor Willie Brown. Both acted as if this was no big deal. The Mayor said that Bonds is not a role model, that professional athletes are not role models and shouldn't be? Was he serious? No matter how great you are as parent, kids are going to develop heroes on their own. The media presents overpaid, juiced athletes as heroes and then politicos like Brown say they aren't. There's a disconnect there. Then Durst started talking about how it wasn't fair to Bonds because all the players in the league are juiced up. The everybody's doing it so no one's at fault rule. He pointed to the pitchers that Bonds faces. He pointed to Marvin Benard. Marvin Benard? Marvin Benard is a lifetime .270 hitter with fewer career home runs (54) than Bonds hit in the 2001 season. No one is interested in Marvin Benard.

Unlike Bonds, Marvin Benard has never perjured himself in front of Grand Jury. Never. Not once. Barry Bonds, if the allegations are true, is a felon. What is baseball going to do about it? We'll see. They are usually slow to act in these matters. Personally I think there needs to be a massive investigation. I know the Giants knew what was going on. But they did nothing. Why? Because Bonds was carrying water for a shitty team that needed to draw fans to its new downtown ballpark. They got some truly great years out of Bonds. The stands were packed. They made it to the World Series. They got everything they wanted but a championship.

And then there's Bonds. Perpetually angry. For what? For growing up the privileged son of a major league player? For having all the god given talent anyone could ever want? For nothing really. The guy's got a life most people on the planet would sell their soul for. But Bonds in angry. He's spiteful. He's bitter. He should be a great ambassador and, yes, Mayor Brown, a role model, but instead he's a juiced-up, ass hole who's about the become the center of a media shit storm that's going to ruin his world.

Then we'll see how long he lives. We all know that steroids take a massive toll on the body. Five years from now when Bonds has massive renal failure and is on a kidney transplant list, is anyone going to shed a tear for him? No. It will just be the final sentence in the indictment that his pathetic life.

I'm not a huge fan of figure skating, but I'm getting a huge kick out of listening to the commentary of Dick Button. Dude is just brutal. He's the Bill Walton of the ice rink - got almost nothing nice to say about anything or anybody. It's hillarious. Just a minute ago (delayed here on the west coast god knows how many hours) Tracy Wilson was commenting on a Ukranian skater who was performing in her 4th Olympic games and saying that you have to love to practice everyday to be that committed. Button chimes in saying he's seen her skate for all those years and she hasn't changed at all. You'd think with all that practice she'd learn something. Then he punctuated it by saying I hope I'm not being unkind. Unkind? Unkind? You're not unkind. You're a Dick!

It's funny how the Olympics snuck up me. I was right about to blame NBC for not promoting the games enough then I realized that I have no reason to watch network television... ever.

Super Bowl is here again. I'm going to Brennan's in Berkeley to watch the game which I expect to be great -storied franchise against first time upstart. Not that my predictions are worth shit, but I think it's going to be a close game, not high scoring, not low scoring, something like 24-21 and the Steelers will take it. Honestly, I don't care (other than the fact that for some inexplicable reason, my brother who has never lived in Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania, is a dyed in the wool terrible towel spinner) and I just want a great game.

I haven't written much about College Football this year (or this past year) even though I watched more games than usual. I had to planned to write more, but like with so many things, I just let it slide. But now that the season is over I just want to jot down a few notes.

First let me say that I’m a huge UCLA fan. I didn't go there, but my mom is an alumnus. the campus was also less than a mile away from where I spent the first 18 years of my life. I wasted a lot of time biking around, paying videos games in the Cooperage and basically doing things that I probably shouldn't have been doing. All that and the fact that I went to a pacifist university with no football program has kept me a livelong UCLA fan.

That said, I could not get enough of watching USC this year. I know, I know. I should hate everything cardinal and gold. My favorite team is UCLA and whoever is playing SC and all that. But I just could not help. One look at Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and company against Arkansas in the early part of the season and I was hooked. I would make sure I was home or at some place where I could watch every game that was on, and I caught most of them with the exception of the some the late season games when I was in Costa Rica.

I've never seen an offense like that. I don't know that anyone has. It was mesmerizing. I don't want to say too much about it, because it's late and I want to get to bed and I need to finish this post before I crash (I'm running on my 2 Thai iced tea lunch right now).

Anyway, I was really looking forward to the National Championship Game. It was going to be great. Two unbeaten 12-0 teams. Two storied universities. Loads of incredible players including the last two Heisman Trophy winners. 34 game winning streak versus 20 game winning streak. The Rose Bowl. It was going to be great. How could it not be. But I couldn't have imagined that the game would live up to and even far surpass the hype.

Though I'm not happy about the result for many reasons (Texas beating California at anything is never good. A red state getting over on a blue state is never good. The PAC-10 losing to the BIG-12 or the old SWC blows too), I was thrilled with the game. It was a battle for the ages, and instant classic, a back and forth struggle, neither team able to get too far out ahead, a game filled with amazing performances, brilliant runs, staggering interceptions.

Personally I wouldn't have gone for it on 4th down. I was yelling at the screen for SC to punt and make Vince Young and Texas go at least 80 yards. But Pete Carroll has been going for it on 4th down all season long, in tougher situations than that, with more yards to go than that, and LenDale White had been an unstoppable freight train all game long. The Texas D just stuffed him and then Young ran all the way down the field and punched it in. They deserved to win. Ironically it was just like last year when Young led Texas from behind in the Rose Bowl, that time against Michigan and not for the title, but clearly it was a dress rehearsal that prepared them perfectly for this year's tilt.

Was it the greatest game ever? I don't know. I haven't seen all the games. Some people will probably argue that it was. It not, it's definitely up there among the best. It was the most fun to watch with the best ending of any game that I have seen since the Doug Flutie Boston College - Miami game, way back when.

USC had a great run. 34 wins in a row and two titles. Pretty unbelievable. They are going to lose some top talent and their defense wasn't all that spectacular so they might slip a little, but they have come back from oblivion to the top of the game. You have to respect that.

Meanwhile crosstown in my hood, UCLA quietly put together a decent 11-2 season of their own (with loses only to hated USC and Arizona, whom they could not stop on the ground, well, let's face it, they couldn't stop Youngstown State on the ground). They won a bowl game for the first time in years, the Sun Bowl against a tough and talented Northwestern team. It's good to have them back in the upper echelon of the NCAA again.

Congrats to the Socceroos who have finally made it to the World Cup after all these years. They beat Uruguay on penalty kicks after the home and home series was tied 1-1.

Uruguay, you say? Why is Australia playing Uruguay, a team from South America? Good question. Australia has long been the class of the Oceania group. It's hard not to be when you face the likes of the Solomon islands and Tahiti in group play. However FIFA has not seen clear to grant the Oceania champions an automatic bid to the World Cup. So Australia, who always win, have to face another opponent in a grueling home and home series just to qualify and until today, had never managed it. Sort of unfair, but that's the deal.

So a brief bit of history. Back when I was living in Oz in 1993, Australia were the Oceania champions but lost out to, you guessed it, Uruguay, in the home and home, by one goal if memory serves. It was devastating since, at least at the time, I was planning on returning to the US to watch the World Cup on home soil and wanted to see my Aussied there. Instead, as it turned it out, I got "stuck" in South East Asia for nine months and ended watching the matches in random places across the Indonesia archipelago from the first game (Germany v. Bolivia?) on a small black and white hooked up to a car battery in Java all the way to the finals in Labuhanbajo, Flores. But I digress.

Australia were all set to make the last World Cup in Japan/South Kores. Again, the were the victors in the Oceania group. Again, they had to face an opponent in a home and home. This time, they didn't have to overcome a South American powerhouse. This time they only had to beat Iran. Well, they couldn't do it. The home and home was tied. I could look up the details, but it's late and I want to go home. I beleive that the first leg was in Tehran and was tied either 0-0 or 1-1. The return leg was in my beloved Melbourne and again was tied, but this time the score was either 1-1 or 2-2. Devastatingly, Iran went through to the World Cup on away goals (Khodad Azzizi, you brilliant bastard) and Australia were once again sent home packing.

But this year, it's a different story. The Aussies are in and will bring their excting brand of football to the pitches of Germany. It's about time.

It's been a rough couple of days in sports for me and I'm getting razzed from my friends on all sides. It was bad enough when the Rams (yes, I still love the Rams even though that bitch Georgia Frontiere absconded to St. Louis with my team years ago) lost to the hated San Francisco 49ers in their NFL opener.

But the Rams will have a chance to avenge their loss late in the season. Australia, who turned over the Ashes to England for the first time in almost two decades, will have to wait a year and a half for revenge. While it's a sad day for Australian cricket, it's a joyous one for the long frustrated English fans and I congratulate them, especailly my good buddy Phil, a transplanted Yorkshireman living in London. It's about time the Ashes were competitive.

It's funny. I don't feel that bad about the loss. It's just sports and as much fun as it is for my teams to win, it's not such a big deal when they take one on the chin. I've got bigger fish to fry I suppose. Or it could be that I didn't see a single over on TV and could only follow it online here in the States, a cricket wasteland. Take your pick.

Australia have some soul searching to do. The aging team that includes a handful of players including Shane Warne, Damien Martyn, Matthew Hayden and Glenn Mcgrath who were playing Test cricket for the Aussies when I lived in Melbourne back in 1993. Most likely it's time for these boys to retire and make some places for up and coming talent that Australia, depsite its relatively small population, continues to develop at an astonishing pace.

It's all over in Paris. Armstrong has won his 7th straight Tour de France. An amazing sporting feat which won't be equaled, well, for at least another 7 years and probably much longer than that. Armstrong now cycles into the sunset, retiring after his scintillating comeback career which will inspire people all over the world forever. Congratulations, Lance. Best of luck. You will be missed.

It was brilliant TdF. I hope everyone who watched it enjoyed it as I did. I don't know what impact Armstrong's run has had here. Certainly cycling will never be a mainstream sport in America, but he clearly raised the sport to a new level in the eyes of world.

Only 49 weeks to start of the 2006 Tour!

After 16 days including two grueling mountain 2 stages in the Pyrenees over the weekend, the Tour de France is taking a rest day and not a moment too soon, for me. I'm exhausted. I've been waking up every day for the past two weeks at 5:30am, sometimes as early as 3:30am to watch the TdF live on OLN while trying to maintain my normal schedule. I'm exhausted. The cyclists are tired, for sure, and they need rest, but even on their day off, they will be in the saddle for 2 - 2 1/2 hours just to keep their muscles from freaking out. Me? I don't train for this stuff. I need some sleep. Blessedly the end of the Tour is only a week away.

Why do I do this? I've been a fan of the TdF from way back before ESPN2 and OLN existed, back when ESPN, if we were lucky, would put on a half hour highlight show some time in the evening, no specific time, just wherever it fit into the schedule. Of course, there was no Internet back then so you couldn't track the race online or even find the TV schedule. You just had to stay glued to ESPN or get lucky.

So now when OLN is covering most of the TdF live, I can't resist it. I must watch. Almost to make up for years and years of deprivation. Added to that, this is Lance Armstrong's last ride and his performance so far has done nothing to make me question the insanity of waking up in the middle of the night to see cruise around France in yellow one last time.

So this morning, the rest day, I slept in til 7am and it was fucking glorious, but I'm still pretty zonked, looking forward to nights of a solid eight hours.

I played tennis for the first time in years this afternoon. I fished my racket out of the mothballs and knocked a few around on the courts in Alameda with my buddy Anita. I was seriously rusty, as you'd expect, and somewhere along the line, my racket frame started to crack (storage? movers? no clue, really), but it was great to get out on the court again and hit some balls in anger.

I need to pick up a new racket. Anita just bought a Wilson something or other and she let me play with it a while. I couldn't believe how light it was. Clearly I need something like it. I went to a few sporting goods stores to see what they had on the shelves, but clearly technology has changed greatly since the last time I bought a racket, maybe ten years ago, but probably longer. (A curious non-sequitor, I bought my current racket down the street from Mezzaluna where Ron Goldman worked and around the corner from where he and Nicole Simpson were slaughtered by O.J.)

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Not only did Tiger breeze to his 10th major championship in winning the The British Open. Not only did George Hinapie win the hardest stage of this year's Tour de France (his first TdF stage win ever). But Lance Armstrong increased his lead in the overall classification which is almost insurmoutable now. Barring some major catastrophe, Lance will win his 7th consecutive TdF.

38 seconds. That's all. That's the entirety of Lance Armstrong's lead ahead of Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen in the Tour de France. But what does that mean? Exactly how big of a lead is that? Let's go to the slide rule.

This year's Tour has so far been one of the fastest in history, averaging over 45 kilometers an hour. At that rate a 38 second lead amounts to 475 meters or almost 1500 feet. Pretty big, right? Not so fast. When racing in anger, the peloton can crank up to 60 KPH which converts a 38 second advantage to a lead of more than 630 meters and on a decent where racers routinely fly down the mountain at more than 100 KPH Lance would have a huge lead of more than a kilometer.

Those are nice figures, but they don't tell any of the story, because the Tour de France is not won or lost on the flats or on the descents. It is won and lost in the mountains. In the mountains, the pace varies but let's for arguments sake, say that the average is 20 kilometers an hour. At that pace Armstrong leads Rasmussen by a mere 200 meters. It's nothing. Rasmussen in the current King of the Mountains leader, so we know he can climb. So for Lance to win he needs to keep Rasmussen at bay in the next few stages until the TdF flattens out on the way to Paris. If Armstrong can put some time between him and the Dane, all the much better.

Today is a huge day for American sports Fans. Tiger is about to tee off in the British Open, which he's almost certain to win, the Yankees are playing the Sox in Fenway, and Lance has the lead the TdF and if he can hold off his rivals for the next two mountain stages, he will surely win for the 7th consecutive time, breaking his own record. Wow.

As per usual, while the OLN coverage of the Tour started at 4:30 with the race well underway. There's large breakaway of 14 riders that doesn't contain any contenders, but does includes Armstrong's long time sidekick George Hincapie. The peloton which contains all the usual suspects is more than 15 minutes back. Can they pull the breakaway back over the torturous hills to come? Should be a fascinating day on the hardest stage of this year's Tour.

On top of that, the stage today will go over the infamous Col de Portet d'Aspet where Armstrong's Motorola teammate Fabio Casartelli crashed to his death in the 95 Tour. The TdF doesn't always go this route through the Pyrenees, but when it does, it's always very emotional. Often the entire peloton stops at the monument erected to Casertelli's memory for a moment of silence. Interestingly, Hincapie, who was on the Motorola team back them, was dropped for the Tour in favor of Hincapie and I wonder if he harbors some serious survivor guilt over that.

Armstrong has the lead as the Tour moves out of the high Alps into the rolling hills, which is a good sign. But today's stage spells trouble to me. I'm going to guess that Michael Rasmussen, the man in the second place, a mere 38 seconds back, is going to attack. The reason I think that is today's rolling stage of category 2 and 3 hills is much like Stage 9 from Gerardmer to Mulhouse which Rasmussen won and launched himself into a huge lead in the King of the Mountains competition.

Interestingly, Rasmussen who rides for the second tier Rabobank team, came into this race with an eye only on the polka dot jersey. But one by one Armstong's main rivals have fallen away, leaving the Dane the only rider within a minute of the lead. As he stands now in clear second place and within spitting distance of Lance, I'd be shocked if his goals have not changed to go for the win. He's looked strong all through the mountains. He's showed the ability to break clear of Armstrong and Team Discovery when cresting mountains to accumulate points and he is someone whom everyone who is pulling for Lance to go out with win number 7 should be worried about. Just what Team Discovery needs, one more guy in the peloton to be worried about.

That said, it's Bastille Day so we're probably going to see the French, who have done little year and haven't fielded a Tour winner in 20 years (this race is fast becoming their Wimbledon), attacking on the road today. Best of luck to them and to everybody and a happy Bastille Day to all my French colleagues and racing fans.

Armstrong just blew away the field on the Courchevel, finished second in the stage , just outsprinted at the line by Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde, way ahead of his main rivals who are still back on the road. Voigt in the yellow jersey is probably going to finish a half hour down. Lance has stamped his mark on the tour and if this effort didn't take too much out him, he should go on to win in Paris.

The Tour de France is reaching a climax today as riders pound their way (right now) up the Courchevel. There's a small breakaway with most of the top contenders a little more than 3 minutes back. Team Discovery is putting the hammer down leading the peloton towards the bottom of the climb which should break the field and separate the contenders from the pretenders. We'll know for sure how Lance stacks up against his rivals. Jens Voigt who's in the yellow jersey today has stayed with the peloton, but was nearly dropped off the back at the top of the previous climb and most likely fall back. Cristophe Moreau, who's in the second place about 20 seconds ahead of Lance could take over the race lead if he stays with Lance, but I somehow doubt it and as Lance can push the front of the race all the way up to the mountain top finish of the Courchevel, he should be back in the lead. And if not today, then definitely tomorrow when the Tour hits this year's highest point at the Col du Galibier. Whatever happens we'll know for sure after tomorrow whether Lance will compete for his seventh straight win or someone else will emerge to take the take.

It didn't take long. Four days into the the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong has the lead and the yellow jersey that goes with it. What an great day. The 4th stage was the notorious team time trial, where Lance's Discovery Team (same old team, new sponsor) dominates. Behind the engine that is Armstrong, Discovery won in the fastest time trial in history of the event.

What was really amazing about the race is that while Discovery put some serious time between Lance and his nearest rivals, they finished a mere 2 seconds ahead of the Danish squad CSC Tiscali. That's the team of previous race leader, American Dave Zabriskie. The two would have shared first place had Zabriskie not wiped out with 1.5 kilometers to go. Right as CSC headed down the home stretch probably headed for a win, je took a nasty spill, tore up his yellow jersey and left himself with some hearty road rash, but managed to finished. He's licking his wounds back in ninth place. Had Zabriskie fallen within one kilometer of the finish he would have been awarded the same time as his teammates and dropped into a virtual tie with Armstrong.

It's really early in the race to start defending the yellow jersery, so there's a good chance Armstrong will let it go, and take it back in the mountains. Then again, he has such a sizeable lead over Ullrich, Basso, Kloeden et al that he may never relinquish the lead.

It's hard to say what will happen. The mountains lie ahead and we'll know more about Armstrong's chances after seeing how he does in the Alps. But for now, he and Discovery are looking golden.

It's the best time of year. Summer is here. The Tour is here. And OLN is covering the Tour live. And I have OLN. Could it get any better than that?

After the opening prologue, there's an American in the maillot jaune. No big surprise. Except it's not Lance Armstrong, who should win his 7th straight tour. It's San Francisco's Dave Zabriskie, who nipped Armstrong by 2 seconds in the time trial. Americans are 1-2. Nice.

Dave Zabriskie. He's young. He's wiry. He's an amazing time trialer. Could he be Armstrong's heir apparent?

I went to the A's game last night but it was really more like going to the Sox game. I took the BART to game and more than half of the riders were wearing Sox hats sweaters or t-shirts. I walked around the stadium before the game and some of the fans milling around were attired in green and yellow, but most were in navy blue and red. Inside the stadium, it was a sea of red. Any Sox rally was greeted with a loud cheer of "Let's Go Red Sox." I've seen opposing fans in large numbers like this, but never for a meaningless middle of the season game. It was crazy.

The A's are having a rough season. Before last night they had lost 8 in a row and 9 of 10. They average less than 20,000 fans a night on average and have a tiny season ticket base of on only 11,000 or so, but last night there were over 30,000 screaming, crazy fans on hand. I was sitting in the 2nd row right behind the Sox dugout courtesy of my good buddy Kristen who's dad is the pitching coach for the Sox.

Because of these crazy fans, this was one of the most fun games I've been to in a long time. The Sox scored first, putting up two runs in the second inning, but the A's came back strong putting up a 4 spot in the fifth with the aid of a Mark Kotsay bases loaded triple. David Ortiz tied the game up with a monster two-run double in the 7th. Matt Watson who just called up for the minors broke the tie and provided the game winning RBIs with a tiebreaking two-run single in the 8th. The Sox threatened in the 9th with a single by Manny Ramirez (pictured) and an error by closer Octavio Dotel that brought the winning run to the plate. But with all the fans in the coliseum on their feet, Dotel induced Bill Mueller to fly and the minority home fans went home happy.

I want to give a shoutout to my long suffering friend and ardent Chelsea supporter, John B. Chelsea finally won the English title, now called the Premiership and after a 50 year drought can now proudly claim to be the best team in the land, even if that land is a little rain pelted piece of rock in the north Atlantic called England. John has finally been put out of his misery and can now die a happy man.

For those of you who don't follow English Football, this won't mean much, but for football fans and Chelsea supporters around the globe, this is a big deal. Congrats to all who support the Blues through thick and mostly thin. Sorry to all those who can't stand the stuck-up international-infested Northsiders. There's always next year.

The poor, poor, sad-ass Dodgers, once possessors of the best record in baseball have lost 6 of 7 games including being swept in the last three by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Over that span their run production has fallen in half, their era has doubled and they not only have relinquished the best record in the MLB but no longer even have the lead in the National League West. The start that looked so promising was merely a mirage meant to give stalward fans a false sense of hope, much in the way the Dodgers have been doing for most of their history with notable exceptions (55,58,63,81,88). The season is still young and the Dodgers' dismal last week might yet prove an aberration.

One of the great ones bowed out tonight. Reggie Miller played his last regular season game for the Indiana Pacers after 18 stellar Hall of Fame seasons. Reggie was one of the greatest clutch shooter the games ever saw and probably the biggest underdog overachiever in the history of the game.

I love Reggie. Reggie played for UCLA when I was in High School, back in the days when I used to go to Pauley Pavilion every chance I could to see my Bruins. He was barely given a scholarship when he came out of Riverside, a 6'7" stick figure playing second fiddle to his older sister Cheryl who was winning championships across town at USC.

Those years were not great for the Bruins, but Reggie did led the team to the NIT Championship in his sophomore season. I can remember looking up at the banner, which seemed rather pathetic alongside so many NCAA championship banners, but it was something. Reggie averaged over 15 points a game that year, but he really turned it as a junior pumping in almost 26 a contest. He finished his career as the second leading scorer in school history behind only Kareem, and he would have scored much more if the NCAA instituted the 3 point line before his senior season.

Reggie was more than just points. He was about enthusiasm. He played defense like a possessed demon. He rarely missed free throws. He could shoot from anywhere in the building and would pour in rainbow jumpers that would bring down the house. Those were exciting, fun times for a young basketball fan.

When Reggie was drafted in the 1st round by the Indiana Pacers, I was crushed. I knew I wouldn't be seeing much of him, and I haven't except in the playoffs. Reggie played his whole career with the same team, such a rarity in today's game where free agency lures players from one team to the next. He never did lead the Pacers the promised land, but they were in the playoffs almost every year. And almost every year they would meet the Knicks.

In the Garden, Reggie would almost single handedly take on the Knicks and the crazies in the crowd. Who could ever forget Miller's most memorable moment, when he scored eight points in the final 8.9 seconds in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals and led the Pacers to an amazing come-from-behind 107-105 victory against New York at Madison Square Garden. Suck on that Spike Lee.

He's one of the most accurate free-throw shooters in league history at roughly 88.8 percent. He has played the sixth-most games in league history, with close to 1,400. He's 14th on the all-time scoring list with more than 25,000 points. He's drained the more 3's than anyone to play the game, ever.

He's nothing but ears and pencil legs and heart. He's an all around class act and he will be really, really missed. So Long, 31.

With the caveat that it's still April and the season is barely underway, I have to wonder what is going on with this Dodger team and where they are headed. Let's look at the record.

After tonight's come from behind extra inning game (the second in three games, I might add), the Dodgers are 12-2 having won 8 straight. That's still the best record in the MLB. That's not the whole story. I know no one cares, but that doesn't bother me at all.

The Dodgers have won every one of their series so far. They took 2 of 3 from the Giants, 2 of 3 from the Diamondbacks (both on the road) and have won every game since, including sweeps of the Padres, the Giants, and the Brewers, and now have won the first two games of the three game set in San Diego.

They are 4.5 games up on the Diamondbacks who won't be anywhere close to the top of the division when the season ends. They 5.5 up on San Diego and 6 big games ahead of the preseason favorite Giants, who were shutout by the Diamondbacks. The National League West, which looked so tight before the season is turning into a laugher.

J.D. Drew is coming around. Jose Valentin has stayed hot, driving in the winning runs with a 10th inning triple. The pitching is solid. Derek Lowe came away with a no decision tonight, but he only gave up one run on five hits to lower his ERA to 1.27. The staff is solid and is only going to get better in the next few weeks when Gagne returns to action.

In 1955 the Brooklyn Dodgers also started the season 12-2. That team won 22 of it first 24 games, won the pennant by 13 1/2 games and went on to finally break through in the series against the hated Yankees. Again, it's early, but these 2005 Dodgers are starting to show some of the same magic.

I know that no one who comes to this site cares one wit about the Los Angeles Dodgers, and that's fine, but I care, and for a good reason, so I'm going to write about them. If you have a problem with that, go away.

I grew up in LA, and I'm a sports fan, so naturally, I follow the Dodgers. But it goes deeper than that. It's in my blood. Literally.

My dad was born in Brooklyn in 1936. Like most kids in that era, he was a huge baseball fan. He loved the Dodgers. He used to sneak in to Ebbets Field with his buddies as a kid. Then the Dodgers up and moved from Brooklyn and relocated in Los Angeles in 1958. My dad was 22. He followed the Dodgers west to Southern California soon after.

My dad grew up in the age of radio. He didn't see ballplayers on TV all the time. There was no Superstation. There was no ESPN. The players were like gods. I used to imagine what it was like for my dad to go to Ebbets Field on the day of the game. Tons of people streaming into the stadium, he and his friends with no money desperate to get just a glance at the players, sneaking peaks through the outfield fence. It must have been amazing.

I got some of the sense of what it must have been like last week when I went to see the Dodgers playing the Giants at SBC Park a few weeks back. I left for the game early. I took BART across the bay and walked from downtown to the stadium. Out in right field, there's a section outside the park where fans without a ticket can look on and see the action. I had heard about it. I had seen it from inside the stadium, but I had never been there myself.

As I was walking around the stadium, I could look in through the right field fence and see the Dodgers taking batting practice. I stopped by the fence and watched Eric Gange and Derek Lowe shagging fly balls and talking to fans. They looked like giants to me. I looked down at the grass which looked so perfect and so green. The chalk was perfect. Even the dirt on the warning track was perfect. Fans were hanging out in the right field stands begging the players for a ball or an autograph. I thought immediately of my dad and his friends back at Ebbets Field in the late 40s.

Ok. On to current matters at hand. When I wrote about the Dodgers last Friday, they were 6-2 with the best record in the National League. Over the weekend they swept the Padres including two shutouts by Lowe and Weaver and at 9-2, now have the best record in baseball and are off to their best start since 1955. Now I'm not saying they are going to win the World Series or anything. They haven't won a playoff series since I was a freshman in college in 1988, but things are looking good for a decent season.

I was watching Sportscenter last night, and I was shocked that there was no coverage of the Dodgers. None. They didn't even make the show. Yankess. Yes. Red Sox. Yes. Nationals and Marlins and Phillies and Mets, but no Dodgers. No reporting on the best team in the game. Talk about your East Coast bias.

Ok, I know it's early, but the Dodgers are kicking ass. In fact, they have the best record in the National League, not bad for a sutured Frankenstein of team. They are 6-2. They are not going to win 75% of their remaining games, but if they can win somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4s, they will shock the hell out of me and finish over .500.

The Dodgers have played 3 series so far and won them all. The bested the Giants in SF 2 out of three (I went to game 2 of that series and saw the boys in blue pummel the Giants 10-4). They went to take 2 of 3 from the Diamondbacks. Then the Dodgers came home and swept the Giants in a modest 2 game home opening stand. Still. The Dodgers have taken 4 out 5 from the hated Giants who are expected to win the division. We'll see about that.

Even better these wins have come with the Dodgers' best player, Eric Gagne on the shelf with a bum elbow, and top acquisition J.D. Drew has only 4 hits in 32 ABs, a paltry .125 clip. That certainly will not continue. Jeff Kent is also not going to hit over .400 for the season, but he's hot and so are Jose Valentín and Cesar Izturis. These three along with some solid pitching from Jeff Weaver and Odalis Perez have propelled the Dodgers to this start. Will it continue? Who knows, but it's better to start slow and fade then never to start at all.

I'm heading across the bay tonight to catch the Dodgers/Giants game. I haven't been to the ballpark in years and I'm really looking forward to it. Kristen, one of my housemates in the Tahoe house, who's dad is Dave Wallace, the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox. Before he joined the Sox he was a long time employee of the Dodger organization. So Kristen grew up a Dodger fan and her blood runs as blue as mine. And the tickets, not incidentally, are gratis. It's definitely not what you know.

Back when I lived in Burlingame, south of the city, I used to take the CalTrain up to PacBell (now SBC) park whenever the Dodgers were in town. One of the last games I caught, way back in April of 2001, Barry Bonds crushed his 500th home run deep into McCovey Cove off Dodger reliever Terry Adams. The Dodgers lost that game, as they've lost almost every game I've seen them play in San Francisco. At least tonight they won't have to face Bonds, who's on the DL nursing a bad knee.

I'd rather Bonds were in the lineup. As much as he is maligned my the media and treated ambivalently by the fans, Bonds is still the most exciting player in the game. There is no one I would rather watch at the plate, against my Dodgers or anyone else. Hopefully he'll heal up, get back in the game and give us baseball fans the thrills we deserve.

Maybe not, but it's a damn good game. There's 2:32 to go. Illinios just tied North Carolina for the second time after being down 15 early in the second half. If Illinois pulls it will be the biggest choke/best comeback ever. Damn. Here we go.

UPDATE: 1:04 left to play. Time out. Illinios has the ball and is down by one. They continue to live by the three. If they can sinking shots from behind the arc, they are going to win. If not, the Tar Heels will hang on.

UPDATE*: 50 seconds left. Time out again. Illinois ball down by three. The Illini keep setting monster screens and getting its sharpshhoters open for 3. They just can't hit.

UPDATE**: 25 seconds left. NC up 2. Felton on the line with the double bonus. Illinois have been stingy with the bal,but just gave up a steal. Felton hit one of two. UNC up by three. Time out. Illinois will be coming out of the TO gunning for a trey.

UPDATE***: Trouble for Illinois. They can't make a three despite good looks. UNC back at the line. It's now a two possession game with less than ten seconds to play. Roy Williams has had to sweat this one big time, but looks like he's finally going to win the big one. Time out. UNC up by 5, 75-70.

UPDATE****: It's all over. What a game. Incredible heart from the Illini just to make it close. They never did take the lead in the second half, but what an effort. What an awesome performance by Sean May. He's a man among boys. Williams, such a class act, finally has his championship. Congrats to all those folks who support the Heels.

It's a great time of year to be a sports fan in America. The NCAA finals are tonight. The two top teams in the land, Illinois and North Carolina are going to face off in what should be an epic clash. Then there's baseball. The season officially got underway yesterday with the Boston Red Sox visiting Yankee stadium, but today is officially Opening Day. Fans all over the country are coming out of hibernation and getting geared up for the long haul.

I think it's going to be a strange season. For one thing we have this shroud of steroids that has befallen our national past time. This scourge, and the coverage of it is going to color everything that happens this season. This season. This fucking season. This season when Barry Bonds was supposed to pass Babe Ruth and maybe even Hank Aaron to become the game's home run king. Instead Bonds is recovering from knee surgery and appears to be in self-imposed exile hiding from the ever increasing media coverage that threatens to expose his past steroid use while celebrating him a possibly the greatest player ever to put on the uniform.

Then there's the new Washington Nationals. While I'm sure the residents of DC, including my brother, are thrilled to have baseball back in the nation's capital (where it belongs), it was done at the expense of the Montreal Expos. The Expos are really of no major significance. They never did much. The only season where they were clearly the best team was strike shortened and the World Series, which they likely would have won, was cancelled. They were hardly supported by local fans in Montreal and played their homes games in the nearly empty Olympic Stadium. Clearly, the city could not support a major league team. But moving the Expos to DC leaves only one team outside the US, the Toronto Blue Jays. In a game increasing played by people from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, amongst other places, it seems ironic to contract the number of international teams in half.

As always, my focus will be on the Dodgers. From where I sit in Northern California, it looks like it's going to be a long season for the boys in blue. There were too many changes in the offseason. The heart of soul of the team, Paul LoDuca, Shawn Green and Adrian Beltre have been shipped out in favor of head cases like J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent. The pitching looks a little thin to me as well and the team's best player, Eric Gagne starts the team on the DL with nagging injuries. I want them to win, but I'll be happy if I can take in a game or two and listen to the classic dulcet tones of Vin Scully describe the action.

The Yankees have a payroll over 200 million and a all-star starting at every position. With all respect to the World Champion Red Sox, the Yanks are going to roll up the AL East and probably the Series as well. Who out there can challenge them? The Angels (The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim %$#&!)? The Giants? The Cardinals? The Sox? The Braves? I'm not seeing it. If Randy Johnson stays healthy he could win 25 games. He anchors a staff that includes Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano Jaret Wright and oft-injured but awesome Kevin Brown. They are backed up, as ever by Mariano Rivera. He had a rough go against the Sox in the ALCS, especially in game 4 when he was unable to shut the door, but he'll be back and with something to prove.

I'll won't watch too many games. I can't handle the day to day minutiae the way I could as a kid. But I will follow the greater trends of the season and it should, as always, be very interesting.

Super Bowl XXXIX just started a few minutes ago. I'm watching it up at the house with about 8 other die hards who've stuck around. I don't really care who wins. I'd be surprised if New England didn't win, but I just want to see a close, exciting game with some big plays.

I skied the morning at Heavenly. It was actually really good even though the snow is skied out because the mountain was relatively empty. I guess everyone was gearing up for the big game. I charged hard for 3 hours and then hit the wall. My legs just couldn't take it anymore. So I cruised home, made a massive batch of guacamole and got ready to settle in.

Days Skied This Season: 7

It was always pretty, but the Rams managed, for the third time this season, to beat the Seahawks and move on in the NFL Playoffs. They are now the only team in NFL history to get into the playoffs without a winning a record (they finished 8-8) and actually win a game. But these Rams, just getting into the playoffs in the first place made them a very dangerous opponent.

Next up are the Atlanta Falcons, perennial doormat of the former NFC West Division, beaten up regularly by the Rams in year's past, now the champs of the NFC South. Granted they're much better now, especially with Michael Vick running crazy all over the field. But the game is in the Georgia Dome and the Rams kick ass on turf. Also in 3 out of the first four games, the road team won. Lets see if the Rams can continue the string and make it to the NFC Championship Game.

The Rams may have been in St. Louis for ten years now, but they will always be the Los Angeles Rams of my youth. The team that went to Super Bowl XIV in 1980 led by Pat Haden, Wendell Tyler, Nolan Cromwell and Jack Youngblood. That bitch Georgia Frontiere maybe be able to move my team out of Los Angeles, but she can't move them out my heart.

So I still follow the Rams when I can. This season has been a rough on. Injuries to QB Marc Bulger left ancient, interception-prone Chris Chandler at the helm. Despite a great start, the Rams were 6-8 with two games to play and facing an off season of doubt with Mike Martz's head likely on a plate.

But the Rams finished strong, beating an undermanned Eagles team on Monday Night Football two weeks back and sneaking past the Jets in OT last Sunday on a Jeff Wilkins field goal. 8-8 is nothing to be proud of, but now that they've made the playoffs in the weak NFC, anything can happen. The first task is get past Seattle who won the division despite two losses to my Rams. If the Rams can beat the Seahawks again, they might make it all the way to Jacksonville with nothing but sup-par teams in the way of their 4th Super Bowl appearance. It's a long shot, but you never know.

Anyone who follows college football even in the slightest should be aware of the fiasco that is the BCS or Bowl Championship Series. The idea behind the "series" was noble, to put an end to these competing polls that so often divided the national championship. The plan was to take all these polls, throw in some computerized data and come up with a scoring system that would pit the top two teams in a one of the top tier bowl games. It was last ditch attempt to prove that NCAA Division 1-A football did not need a playoff and it has failed miserably.

Every year there is some sort of a problem. Last season there was a clear number one team, LSU. But there were several teams with one loss, Oklahoma and USC included. Oklahoma would up in the BCS championship game even though they were beaten soundly by Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship game. Oklahoma got the bid and USC was left out in the cold.

This year USC can get some measure of revenge as they will face Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to see who's number one. Both teams are undefeated. So it should be a true measure of the top team in the land, right? Wrong.

Auburn is also undefeated. So is Utah. And, well, Boise State. The latter two will never be considered for the title because they play in inferior conferences. But what about Auburn? They've been stacking up wins in the SEC, arguably the toughest conference in America. How did they get left out? Well, USC was ranked number one in the preseason poll. Oklahoma was ranked right behind them. Auburn? Auburn was 17th. They spent the entire season battling up the rankings because the pundits, coaches and writers in this case, didn't think they were that good.

Therein lies one of the many flaws of the BCS system and Tiger fans, just like Trojan fans last year, have a good reason to be upset. The only way this controversy is ever going to end is to have a playoff system.

There's no reason why Div 1-A can't do it. Every other division on college football has a playoff. Who wouldn't like see to USC, Oklahoma, Utah, Boise State, Cal, Texas and few other top teams battle it out on the field to see who really was the best team? Finally we would get to see if these mid-major teams were series contenders and we would finally lay to rest this fallacy of national championship that has gone on in college football for so long.

The games could be played in the bowl stadiums. They could even have the bowl names. They final game could rotate like it does now. It would take three weeks, but we'd really have a champion and it would be great to watch.

I saw something yesterday that I was amazing. I was assigned to shoot the Silicon Valley Marathon at the half way point on the track at Los Gatos High School. There was also a half-marathon as part of this event, so the first runners to emerge onto to the track would only be going 13.1 miles and the first runner on the track, and the winner was ... a woman. How cool is that?

How much would you pay for a Costa Rican-made piece of rawhide and thread?

It's hard to watch Red Sox games these days. It really is. I want them to win as badly as any non-Sox fan, but it's tough to sit through a game against the Yanks, especially one at Fenway, and see all the long faces in the stands saying, "oh, here we go again", in concert. Last night's extra-inning victory was outstanding and a great moment for the team and its fans, but it only delayed the inevitable, another loss to the Yankee machine.

The next thing Red Sox fans have to look forward to is the end of the 2017 season when they can get together and celebrate 100 years of ineptitude.

If they can't beat the Yankees this year with Schilling and Matrinez on the mound, they are never going to beat them. The worst thing for the Sox is that every Yankee win gives them more money and further entrenches them as the best team ever, fair or not.

I definitely feel for. My team (Dodgers) hasn't won shpilkas since 1988 and it's killing me, but at least it was in my lifetime. I would like nothing more than to see a Cubs-Red Sox series some time in the next few years to at least give one of these sorry cities something to celebrate.

It was really more than good for Dodger and Angel fans. It was amazing. Not only did both teams clinch division titles together in the same year for the first time, but in the process they closed the curtain on the season for their dreaded Northern California rivals, the Giants and the Athletics.

It was particularly sweet for me, a lifelong Dodger fanatic. I don't bleed Dodger Blue, it's ingrained in my DNA. My dad grew up in Brooklyn. Like so many others, he moved west following his team. I grew up in Los Angeles. I haven't lived there in many years, but I will be a Dodger fan to the end of my days (or at least while Vin Scully walks the earth).

The USA Women's soccer team keeps rolling on with a 2-1 overtime in the gold medal match against a younger, faster Brazil team. It was rough game. Tons of fouls and tightly contested on both sides. Brazil had more chances, but the USA made the most of theirs winning on an Abby Wambaugh header with only minutes left in the final overtime period.

The game marks the end of the road for some soccer legends including Mia Hamm who has said she would retire after these games. Here at the pinnacle of competition US women have really shown that they are made of steel.

The sailing venue at Athens rang with the sounds of the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, for the first time in Olympic history as Gal Fridman took home the gold in the Mistral class. It's a landmark achievment for Israel, their first gold medal ever in the country's 50+ year history. Israel had won only one silver and four bronze medals in 12 previous Olympics dating to 1952.

This might not be the last time we hear Hatikvah in the games. Pole vaulter Alex Averbach is one of the top favorites to win.

Velodrome is cycling is always one of the most exciting events at the Olympics. Unless you live in Trexlertown, PA, it's also one of the events that you're not likely to see but once every four years. I don't think the Americans are faring very well on the Athens track. The reason I don't know is that NBC has hardly covered it at all.

NBC did such a good job announcing the Athens swim meet that I wonder how they could have so bungled the track and field. It's a simple thing really. These events are not happening in a vacuum. This event, these Olympics, are part of a continuum of sporting history. Therefore, in order to appreciate and understand what we are watching, we need perspective. It could come in the form of a featurette, as it so often does. It could come in the form of historical performance including archival footage of past games, which we so rarely see, or it come simply with just presenting the World and Olympic record holders and their respective times and distances, which for some ungodly reason, NBC has decided to hold in confidence.

I shouldn't have to go online whenever I want to know even the most basic information about a particularly event.

The coverage which started off on such a high with the live coverage of the preliminary shot put round from Olympia has fizzled into a serious of disjointed, unreferenced highlights and it's really, really sad.

Gymnastics is finally over and it's time to reflect on the coverage and the performances. I have three main thoughts about this.

1) NBC really needs to rethink their commentary team. Team Trautwig is not getting the job done and Elfi Schlegal in particular needs to be put out to pasture. We don't need the Canadian perspective that badly.

Tonight is the last night for swimming at the 2004 games. The meet has been great to watch. Not too many world records were set because of the Athens' heat, but competition was as hot as the weather. As far as I know, NBC covered the entire meet. Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines did yeoman's work behind the mic. The underwater cameras revealed a side of swimming we never see and the computer graphics with the flags of the swimmers, the race leader and the WR line were very, very cool.

Americans also fared incredibly well. Michael Phelps didn't live up to the hype, but how could he? His quest to break Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games was unrealistic, but his performance was still insane and he's only 19 years old and, this is scary, will only get better. How could you not love Gary Hall, Jr. in the 50 free? Aaron Peirsol stayed cool in the face of controversy and came home with two wins. Amanda Beard and Natalie Coughlin were scintillating on the women's side.

I started off not wanting to watch tennis because this just seems like another stop on the tour. You can watch tennis almost anything weekend and there seems to be nothing Olympic about it at all. Then Chileans Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu came on the scene, seemingly from out of nowhere.

First Gonzalez eliminated Andy Roddick which was a huge upset. Then, in a match that took 3 1/2 hours, went on to beat another American, Taylor Dent, in the bronze medal match, 6-4, 2-6, 16-14. And Massu, who beat Dent in the semis, is set to play yet another American Mardy Fish in the gold medal match, so the Chileans are assured of at least two of the top three spots in men's tennis. On top of that, Gonzalez and Massu outdueled the Germans for the doubles title.

What makes this performance all the more amazing is that this tourney has been grueling for the players. The heat, the humidity and the relentless schedule of the Athens games has made for the most demanding conditions. Then there's the stress of competing against the best in the world in a pressure cooker environment not seen anywhere outside of Davis Cup competition.

I think Massu, who is a clay court specialist, is out of gas and Fish will take him in the final, but you have to acknowledge the amazing Chileans.

Does anybody else think that NBC's gymnastics coverage sucks? This is one of the marquee events of the games and NBC is blowing it and this is why:

1) There were 32 competitors in the all-around completion for both men and women. How many did we see? Rafael Martinez of Spain finished 5th on men's side. Remember him. Probably not. NBC didn't even show him once. They didn't even show a list of competitors for either men or women nor their scores in the prelims that qualified them for the finals.

The story of Iranian world champion judoka Arash Miresmaeili has been bothering me immensely since it broke at the beginning of these games. What's bothering me is not that this guy, the world champion by the way, disqualified himself by showing up overweight rather than face an Israeli competitor. That's a perfect example of the stupid stunts that Iran has been up to for years. What's bothering me is that there isn't more international outrage over this.

Is there anything weirder than race-walking? How did this become an Olympic event let alone a sport?

Despite skepticism from the rest of the world, the organizers of the Athens games have done so many things right, and nothing exemplifies this more than holding the shot put at Olympia. I don't know who thought of it, but it was a stroke of genius.

In a games already steeped in history, the organizers thoughtfully connected the ancient and modern Olympics in a serene setting that was so unusual that it will probably be remembered as one of the highlights of these games whenever they are recalled. The competition was exciting and the setting was as intimate as it was historical.

The shot put normally takes place in the middle of the field with the track separating the crowd from the event that seems so distant as if it's happening in another place. In Olympia, the shot put took center stage as the only event being competed with 15,000+ fans watching right on top of it from the grassy knoll right next to the pit. It must have been great to be a part of it.

The crowd was treated to a fascinating men's event, which ended in controversy when the Ukraine's Yuriy Bilonog tied the United States' Adam Nelson, which meant Bilonog would really beat Nelson, unless Nelson could come back with one last amazing throw, which he did, except he fouled, except he said he didn't foul, but he really did.

So Nelson settled for the silver, while two other Americans, John Godina and Reese Hoffa, finished out of contention, far short of his prediction that Americans would sweep the event.

Ok, after weeks of waiting, the main event of the WSOP is finally here, tonight on ESPN at 6 PM PST. No excuse now for anyone not to watch, unless they are glued to the Olympics. I'll be switching back and forth myself.

Who knows who will take the bracelet this year. The field is far too deep to predict, but if I was a betting man, I'd put my money on Phil Ivey. The guy is steel. As long as some of my favorite players (Daniel Negreanu, Layne Flack, John Juanda, et al.) have a good tourney and show up at the final table (and Phil Hellmuth doesn't) , I'll be a happy poker fan. Enjoy the show.

I've been watching the Olympics for three days now and there's the awful trend that is really sad for the organizers of the games in Athens. After an Opening Ceremonies where the stadium was packed full of enthusiasts, athletes have been laboring in the obscurity of empty arenas all across Greece. From beach volleyball, to tennis, to rowing, the crowds have been sparse and the venues have been empty.

It's not just a matter of a seat here or a seat there. Huge blocks of seats are empty. It's eerie. The biggest surprise is at the gymnastics arena. Gymnastics is typically the jewel of the Olympics. But in the prelims, just like everywhere else, except maybe swimming, the fans are staying away in droves.

It's sad that even if terrorists don't manage to disrupt the games with a bomb or some other incident, their impact on these games is felt nonetheless. They have succeeded in sowing fear so deep in the rest of the world that people are staying away from one of the greatest sporting shows on earth.

I understand why NBC tape delays most events at the Olympics and shows them during primetime. It's because they care more about ratings that the quality of their programming. What I don't understand is why they can't show events live and then repeat them on tape delay from 8-11 (or 7-10 central and mountain) for the TV dinner crowd.

Part of the great magic of sports is the drama created when the events you are watching are happening simultaneously and you don't know the outcome. That's the key. Not knowing what is going to happen creates tension that tape delay diffuses.

Now I can try all I want to avoid the news and thus hearing the results, but it's next to impossible. I try not to listen to the news. I don't surf the web. I listen to music on the radio. I train my eyes above the scroll on ESPN or CNN or any channel that doesn't care if they blow the mystery of the outcome. But so far I've had trouble, especially with swimming.

I don't know if NBC will ever figure it out so I'll just have to do my best to continue to avoid the results of the tape delayed events and catch as much of the live stuff as they are willing to throw out there.

You want to see the real "Dream Team". Forget Men's Hoops. Look no further than USA Women's Softball, arguably the most dominant team of any sort on the planet.

Before Athens, the team had a 53 game barnstorming tour of the US and Italy. I caught 3 of these games on ESPN (Texas, Arizona & UCLA) and it was simply unfair. Team USA, a fine balance of speed and power destroyed all comers handily. On their tour, the finished a lofty 53-0 with a team batting average over 400, almost 80 home runs, a team ERA below .030, 4 perfect games, 12 no-hitters and god knows how many strikeouts. In a word, awesome.

In Athens, they've kept the throttle down winning their first three games without giving up a run. I stayed up last night to watch the game against Japan, the team USA played in the gold medal game in Sydney. Cat Osterman pitched a scintillating 8 inning 1-hitter as they beat Japan 3-0 in extra frames. Japan is probably the toughest competition they will face in these games, so a gold medal is likely.

So the USA lost the Men's 4x100 Freestyle relay for the second games in succession after dominating the event, never having lost the event in the previous history of the Olympics. In Sydney, we lost to the Aussies led by Ian Thorpe. In Athens, we lost to South Africa.

The controversy comes not because we probably didn't field our best team, but because of the way the team was put together. 1st Michael Phelps was placed on the team in favor of Gary Hall, jr. Phelps has one of the fastest 100s in the US, but he didn't even bother to swim the event at the trials. He was put on the team in a vain effort to give him a chance to win 8 gold medals in a single games, a feat that will have to wait for another four years. Then there was Ian Crocker's dismal start. He went out in 50.05, the worst split of any swimmer in the race, and left his teammates with a margin too big to close. Crocker was suffering from a sore throat before the race and probably should have been scratched.

The result, a third place finish after Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands zipped past Jason Lezak on the final leg, is the USA's worst finish ever in the event.

What seems to lost in the shuffle is that RSA set a world record in winning the gold so it's likely that even had our best swimmers been out, we would have lost anyway. Huge congratulations to Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling of South Africa.

I, like everyone else, watched the horror show that was the USA's Hoops opening Olympic disaster against Puerto Rico. I had seen most of the games in the pre-Olympic tour, including the 17 point shellacking at the hands of Italy, so I knew the US was less than prepared as a team and bereft of talent because of injuries and security fears. However, we had beaten PR by 25 points just two weeks ago, albeit with Tracy McGrady in the lineup, a guy who can shoot. Which brings me to my main point.

There's no denying the denial. Despite protestations from coach Larry Brown and co-captain Allen Iversen that the team's problem is defensive in nature, the reality is that the team simply cannot shoot 3 pointers. Remember that in the international games, the 3-point is only at 20' 6", 3 feet shorter than in the NBA game. Most of our best shooters, the aforementioned McGrady, Ray Allen and others stayed home and they are sorely missed.

It's not like Puerto Rico just squeaked by either. With one NBA player, Carlos Arroyo of the Utah Jazz, and a band of CBA castoffs and NCAA rejects, the PR dismantled a "team" with 2 NBA MVPs and many all-stars. Back when college players made up team in 1988, when we lost to the USSR by 6 points it huge deal. Now we're losing by 20 to a nothing team. It's a disaster.

Fortunately, it's just the opening round in the pool play, so the USA has a chance to make amends. And they will take care of Greece handily on Tuesday. But what happens when they have to play one of the top of the teams like Argentina or Serbia? Could the USA finish out of the medals for the first time ever in Olympic competition? That would be incredibly sad. We've already fallen behind the world in baseball and volleyball, two sports we invented. Is basketball next?

I don't watch the Today, so I'm not subject to the mystical power that Katie Couric seems to exude over the American public, but watching (and listening) to her in action during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies was excruciating. Even Bob Costas was particularly inane. There were so many stupid or downright incorrect or inappropriate comments and some awful mispronunciations. And both of them were talking over Bjork's performance like they were covering some kind of parade. I t made me really wish I could have watched the coverage of the BBC, the CBC, or the ABC.

That said, I really enjoyed the ceremonies. I almost always do. They only thing I can ever remember not liking was the pickup truck business at the redneck games in Atlanta. I love the pageantry, the color, the symbolism. I always look forward to the parade of nations, as it's almost the only time we get to see athletes from the majority of the countries that will not only never win a medal, but won't even come close (including, for example, Samoa). I don't care about that. I still want to see them. And I do expect Katie Couric to do some damn homework so she can pronounce Lesotho and Paradorn Srichaphan.

I thought the stadium designed by Santiago Calatrava was an architectural marvel. It's really spectacular. The parade that demonstrated the history of Greece with living statues was impressive and beautiful. And the lighting of the torch was novel and memorable even if not lit by the Greek 200m Olympic champion Konstantinos Kenteris, because he's in a little spot of trouble with the IOC for missing a drug test.

Personally, I've never bought into NBC being the Olympic network. For my money, it's got to be ABC. The coverage has been dumped down since the coverage changed hands from one network to another. Bob Costas will never stack up to Jim Mckay. Since I don't think NBC is ever going to remove Couric. So my only hope is that ABC can someday wrest the Olympics back from the peacock network.

The 1972 Munich Olympics were supposed to be the Olympics of Peace, a showcase for the new democratic Germany. But celebration turned to tragedy as Palestinian terrorists infiltrated the Olympic village and took Israeli athletes hostage.

On the even on the 2004 Athens games, an Olympiad many suspect will be marred by the specter of terrorism, I watched the documentary One Day in September about the events that unfolded that dark day in Bavaria.

The film details not only the attacks, but how the operations to rescue the Israelis were botched time and again by the German authorities ultimately ending in the death of 11 athletes and all but three of the 8 terrorists. The tragedy unfolds through first hand footage from ABC (thank you, Jim Makay) and subsequent interviews, including the startlingly revealing descriptions of Jamal Al Gashey, the one terrorist still living (the two others were assassinated by the Mossad after being released from prison in Germany).

It was sad and awful event not only in the history of the Olympics, but in the world. One can only hope and pray that the massive attention paid to security in Athens will have the desired effect of keeping these games safe.

Have you got it? I do. Big time. The games don't officially open until Friday, but there are prelim Women's soccer matches starting tomorrow with Greece vs. USA getting things underway.

NBC is covering the games like never before with live coverage on their wide series of networks. Dick Ebersol, head of NBC Sports, has finally seen the light after years and years of crappy coverage and is going to blanket the event. I'm thrilled.

However, I think the networks have down a less than stellar job of building up the event. I can't remember a time when I knew less about the athletes competing. I've seen some the US Men's hoops pre-Olympic tour, which has been dour. I caught a good part of the track and swimming trials. But other than that, precious little. I can't name a single gymnast, boxer, or anything else for that matter, and I'm a sports minutae junkie. I get into the archery and the equestrian, especailly cross-country. I want to know about field hockey and pentathlon, diving and, especailly, wrestling (even Greco-Roman).

That aside, the games are going to awesome, so let them begin!

I went down to the Stadium Pub down the street to watch two of the final stages of this year’s Tour de France. I don’t know why I didn’t do it earlier, but I didn’t. I don’t have OLN, so instead I’ve been following the Tour on the web.

I’ve always been amazed at how close the crowds come to the riders. In many places, fans are right on top of the riders, moving out of the way only at the last minute. I keep thinking, what’s stopping a crazed fan (or a terrorists) from striking a rider or the peloton. Nothing, really. It’s happened before.

In 1975, a drunk fan punched Belgian rider Eddie Merckx during his attempt to win his 6th tour. He was leading and set to win when a Danish fan named Ole Ritter, tired of Merckx's domination, jumped in front of him and punched him in the liver. Merckx, weakened by a blood-thinning medication to ease the pain and a crash later that Tour, stumbled home in second and never was the same.

Watching the cyclists plow through seas of fans as they prgress through the mountain stages makes me wonder how this doesn’t happen year in and year out.

That aside, Lance is simply unbelievable. It was a amazing to watch him dominate a field of the most highly tuned athletes in the world. I hope the stories that are ciculating about his use of performance enhancing drugs turn out to be unfoudned. It would be devastating to all the people have supported him so vigorously all these years.

Well, it's on now. It's in full swing with the Prologue and 2 Stages down. Lance Armstrong is in great position in the top 3 and has a fantastic chance to become the first 6 time winner of the TdF. If you want to follow the race and Lance as he makes his way across the French countryside and up and over the Alps, you can watch it on OLN or check out one of the best blogs I have come across.

I have said this before and I'll reiterate it today. I think the coverage in the US of this incredible race is pathetic. It was awful before Lance and it's just plain disturbing now. I understand that it's happening in Europe. And I understand that people in this country don't have the patience to watch the entire event. But we deserve more than a hour a day on some obscure cable channel that most people (including me) don't even get.

It would be bad enough if this country didn't have a dog in the fight. The event is still an amazing, coloful celebration of sport. But Lance Armstrong is the 5-time defending champ. 5 TIME. It's time for us to step up and put the whole damn thing on TV. ESPN? Too busy putting on repeats of the World Series of Poker and the Nathan's hot dog eating contest. Hopefully one day they will get their priorities straightened out.

Good luck, Lance.

Did baseball sort of sneak up on you this season? It did me. I guess it's easy not to pay attention when in you're in the middle of fucking nowhere and it's snowing outside. It's not exactly baseball weather here. It's still snowing every so often in Denver which must be a pleasure for teams visiting the Rockies. Anyway, it comes as a pleasant surprise that baseball has arrived. And in an even more pleasant surprise, my Dodgers are in first. That won't last long.

So, this is not most exciting Super Bowl matchup ever, but I'd still like to watch the game. It is, after all, America's great sporting event. All the other major sports have playoff series which can be long and drawn out over more than a week. But the Super Bowl is a discreet, decisive and (sometimes) exciting moment. Plus, I love the commericals.

So I'm going to be missing out on this great treasure of American culture, not because we can't get reception in the Rockies, nor because I have better things to do, but because I'm going to be trapped in the store selling damn photographs from 3-7 (mountain time).

Wherever you are, enjoy the game and don't spend a second thinking of my plight while you suck down another beer and dig deep into the guacamole.

The NFL season is down to nail biting time for concerned fans. 8 teams left. 2 wins to the Super Bowl in Houston. Very exciting.

The a couple of great things about this playoffs. The first is that any of these 8 teams is capable of wining. These are good team. The elite of the NFL and all that. However the salary cap has created a situation of parity in the league that has reached its apotheosis this season. The second is that you're looking at crop of quarterbacks that has to be unparalleled in the history of the league.

Tom Brady - Patriots
Steve McNair - Titans
Marc Bulger - Rams
Jake Delhomme - Panthers
Brett Favre - Packers
Donovan McNabb - Eagles
Peyton Manning - Colts
Trent Green - Chiefs

Brett Favre is warhorse, a sure first ballot Hall of Famer, who despite the fact that no one can figure how he justifies the spelling of last name, is one of the best QBs ever to take the field.

Steve McNair and Peyton Manning shared the MVP trophy this season. I think it should have gone straight up to Manning, who is one of the classiest players ever to take the field. But you have to respect McNair, both for his incredible athletic ability but his regular decisions to play hurt.

Marc Bulger and Trent Green are the modern day mad bombers, throwing up huge numbers. I'm a huge Kart Warner fan, and both of the QBs labored as his back up at one point or another and I think it has a great deal to do with their success as starters.

Donovan McNabb got off to a slow start this season, but he was injured. As his health improved, he was on a mission and made Rush Limbaugh look like a fool when the he led the Eagles to 9 straight wins in the middle of the season. No one, not even McNair, has speed, his intensity, his power and his accuracy. When healthy, McNabb is in a league of his own.

Jake Delhomme is the only quarterback of the 8 who isn't a proved a winner, but I suspect that fact is going to be erased over the next few seasons. He did throw for well over 3,000 yard this season in a conservative offense and ripped up Dallas in the Wild Card game.

THE PREDICTION:

This is tough, because I have to fight my heart over my head. I'm a lifelong Rams fan and I would love to see them win it all again. I would love to see a rematch with the Patriots. But I don't think the Rams can beat the Pats. They can, however, beat every other team left in the NFC. If they beat Carolina, which they should, they will either play the Pack at home or go on the road to Philly. Either way, they come home with the victory and represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

The AFC is tougher to call. I don't the Chiefs can win. Their D is too porous and Priest Holmes and Trent Green can't keep up in a shootout with the Colts with Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James. The Colts will go into Arrowhead and come away with a big raod victory. In the other bracket, there's going to be a war. The Titans went into New England and handed the Pats one of their early season loses. Since then the Pats have been firing on all cylinders and haven't lost once. Can the Titans do it again? I don't think so. It's going to be too damn cold this time around. That leaves an AFC Championship game of Pats vs. Colts at Gillette Stadium. This is also a tough one to call. My head says Pats. My hearts say Colts. My heart is going to win this one. The Colts are also one of the toughest teams on the road in the history of the league.

So that leaves a matchup of the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis in Houston for Super Bowl number whatever. This will be the first meeting of two dome teams in the ultimate game and whoever wins will be only the second dome team to win the Super Bowl. The only other team was the Kurt Warner led Rams back in SB XXXVI.

The winner of this game will be...

I had wanted to go and watch the end of the preofessional New York Marathon but I couldn't because I was so exhausted from the night before, even though the finish line was just down the street from Josh's apartment. How late were we out on Saturday night? We were out so late that when I missed my stop and went up past 96th street, I ran into a guy from South Africa with a number on his chest who was going down to the park to prepare for the race. It was a crazy, fun night.

So we were wandering around Columbus Avenue. We're walking south, we see more and more people with these odd silver, thermal blankets draped around them. This must have been after 6. It was dark, about an hour after sunset. Just south of the Museum of Natural History on 82nd or so, we took a right towards the park. There's tons of lights. Tons of security and police. We weren't allowed in the park. I guess we were a major security threat.

We did see these old Indians who had just finsished the race. I was talking to this Punjabi and he said, if you think these guys are amazing, wait until the 90 year old finishes.

Tonight's MNF game between the Chiefs and the Raiders is a classic lesson in why you should never stop watching an NFL game at halftime, no matter how horrible the first half is.

The first half was about as dull as you can get, ending in a 10-0 score in favor of the Chiefs. The Raiders couldn't do anything. Neither team could really. Gannon threw for less than 60 yards. Fortunately, he was injured in the last drive of the half and into the came infrequently used 3rd year backup QB, Marques Tuiasosopo. That's Samoan QB Marques Tuiasosopo, formerly of the University of Washington and the son of NFL great nose tackle Manu Tuiasosopo.

Marques shook off the cobwebs, threw for over 200 yards and brought the Raiders to the brink of victory. Down one touchdown and starting on their on 6 yard line with no timeouts and less than 2 minutes to play, Tuiasosopo drove the team down the field win pinpoint passes to Rice and Porter. The last play of the game was a bullet of a pass to Tim Brown who was stopped on the 1 yard line, just short of the endzone and a tying score. Heartbreaking!

It was a great second half, but an unfortunate result for the Raiders who now fall to 2-5 while the Chiefs march on undefeated. The worst part about the game is that the Raiders probably would have won if not for a fumbled punt that led directly to a towndown. The best part was the arrival of Tuiasosopo as the heir apparent to the Oakland QB job.

Hopefully the Raiders can regroup. At least they have Detroit to beat up on next week.

Caly Aiken, the "American Idol", is singing the national anthem and the World Series is about to get underway, which is always an exciting prospect. As much as I and almost everyone else in the country (including FOX) would have liked to see the Cubs play the Red Sox, we're going to have to deal with the Yankees and the Marlins. At least there should be some good pitching and the match-up of the old guard Yanks (Wells, Clemens, Petitte & Mussina) against the young upstarts of the Marlins (Penny, Beckett, Redman & Pavano). The great thing about the Series is that you never know what is going to happen. And the games take place against the backdrop of baseball histroy spanning more than a hundred years into the past. The only bad thing about the Series is having to suffer that moron Tim McCarver. Between the mute Brett Boone and the asinine things that come out of McCarver's mouth, I think Joe Buck probably wants to off himself between innings.

I hope the Marlins win. I think we've had enough Yankee victories for one lifetime.

There are so many questions swirling around Chicago after last night's collapse against the Florida Marlins. Did this fan reach into to the field of play to interfere with Moises Alou? Did it change the result of the game? Is this just another manifestation of the "curse"? Are the Cubs going to choke again?

All these questions will disappear if the Cubs can win tonight and they have a good chance, playing at home with Kerry Wood on the mound. But if they lose, the questions will be debated for years and this guy will have to go into the witness protection program.

The reality is, the ball was in the stands and the guy had every right to go after it. At the time, the Cubs were up 3-0. It wasn't this guy who gave up the hits to the Marlins. It was Prior and Farnsworth. It wasn't this guy who didn't make a pitching change after Prior lost his shutout. It was Dusty Baker. It wasn't this guy who booted a routine double play ball. It was Alex Gonzalez. And it wasn't this guy who only put three runs on the board. It was the lousy Cubs.

I want the Cubs to win as much as anybody. I think the most exciting thing that could happen to baseball in decades would be a Cubs-Red Sox series. The next best would be Cubs-Yankees. Anything other than those two possibilities is frightening, not only for me and most of the fans in America, but also for FOX or whoever is broadcasting the games. Sorry Marlins, but no one outside of Florida wants to see you play another game.

(BTW - News organizations who are giving out information about this guy such as where he lives and works are going to sued unmercilessly, and rightly so)

He wasn't at the top of his game. He was sick. He crashed several times. He had tremendous cyclists breathing down his neck all the way to Paris. Yet Lance Armstrong pervailed to win the Tour. Again.

He joins only four other riders - Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain - as champions who have won the Tour five times. Only he and Indurain have managed 5 consecutive wins.

It's a truly incredible feat for the a man once stricken down with cancer.

How do you measure greatness? Lance Armstrong is good yard stick.

Links:

New York Times
Velo News
BBC Sport

Lance Armstrong still maintains the lead in the Tour de France, but only a scant 15 seconds ahead of close rival Jan Ullrich, who, I think, is the only other rider in this year's field to have won the Tour previously.

It's incredible how close this is. Think about this. They've gone about 1500 miles and are only separated by a quarter of a minute. In a 100m sprint, a spread of that same ratio wouldn't even be thousands of a second.

If you're wondering, the closest finish ever in the TdF was back in 1989, won by American Greg LeMond, the only other Yank besides Armstrong to win the Tour.

LeMond trailed frenchman Laurent Fignon by 50 seconds overall going into the final time trial in Paris. No one gave him much chance of clawing back that time in just 24.5 kilometers but the new triathlon-style handlebars were a distinct advantage as he beat Fignon by 58 seconds. After 3,285 kilometers of racing a mere eight seconds separated the two men overall. It doesn't get any more dramatic than that.

Hiopefully this year will be more of the same. Too bad I can't watch it.

Yes, Samoa actually beat the USA 52-45. Ok, so it was in Netball, a sport you probably didn't even know existed.

Even if you were aware of Netball, it's unlikely that you knew that the 11th Netball World Championships are currently underway in Jamaica. The international Netball governing body, IFNA, doesn't even seem to know. At least they can't be bothered to update their website for the most important event on their calender, which should tell you something about the margins in which this sport exists.

It's further doubtful that you knew that the USA was fielding a team. I didn't know about it myself until I heard the story on the radio this morning about Samoa defeating the USA. Funnily enough the announcer was treating the result as some big upset, probably unaware that all 11 people in the States who know about Netball are currenlly in Jamaica.

After dispatching the USA, Samoa is moving on to face the powerhouse "Silver Ferns" of New Zealand in the quarters. That should probably be the last we hear of Team Samoa from Jamaica.

The French penchant for protest has reached new heights. Crazy supporters of radical farmer Jose Bove ran into the road and blocked Tour de France cyclists near Pourrieres. Armstrong was caught behind the pickets.

Certainly this is not the first time the TdF has been the venue for a protest, but I don't think the stakes have ever been higher. And I don't think there's any doubt that Armstrong was a target here (on Bastille Day, of all days).

The tensions between the French and the Americans have never been higher and the fact that Armstrong has won their great national sporting event four years running has to rankle not a few of them.

Armstrong still has the lead and the protest only cost him a few seconds, but if something happens like this again and it costs Lance the lead or worse yet, the race, there will be an international incident.

I'd love to think that these moves that the Lakers are making or are rumored to be making are going to work. But I doubt it highly.

If nothing else, Karl Malone, deserves a championship. I've been a huge fan since his days at Louisiana Tech, duking it out in the NCAA backwaters of the long since disolved Southland conference against the likes of Joe Dumars at McNeese St.

If Malone is going to win, he might as well do it with the Lakers.

I stole this amusing picture from Satan's Luau. I hope I don't go to hell for it.

If you had any doubt about the strength and power of Samoans, you only have to look over to Fiji where the 2003 South Pacific Games are taking place.

Powerlifter George Leafiifano has set a WORLD RECORD in the bench press hoisting an incredible 293kg. For those of you out there who are not metric freindly, that's 644.6 pounds. Insane!

The previous world record was held by some Russian at a mere 292.5kg.

"This is the happiest day of my life...this is the greatest acheivement of my career", said the exuberant Leafiifano.

Malo Galue, George!

It's July again so it's time for one of the world's greatest sporting events, the Tour de France.

I've been watching the Tour for years. I'm wierd about it. I'm one of these people who'd like nothing better than to pull up a chair, grab a bottle of wine and some cheese, and watch 5 hours of men riding through the French countryside in colorful shirts. I'm very jealous of the European coverage. Of course, this year, I won't see any of it. I'll just have to deal with following it online.

Last year I watched the TDF on OLN (Outdoor Life Network). The coverage was decent. The usual stuff with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin, but every day the program ws distilled down to an hour or so. It wasn't enough for me. I'm greedy for the Tour.

One of these days, I'm going to travel to France and follow the riders around the country or at least be there, on the road, as the peloton whizzes by. Maybe on the heights of Alpe-d' Huez. It's one of my dream vacations.

There's a really interesting looking class being taught at the University of Toronto called A Cultural History of the Tour de France. It's too bad they are not offering it online. There are tons of good links on the website for the class.

Time to wrap this up. Good Luck, Lance!. I'll be watching you from Samoa.

You have to feel a little sorry for Roy Williams. They guy has had a bad run of it. And you really want him to win. He's such a classy guy. He graduates his players. He stayed at Kansas even when his dream job at Carolina opened up. But he can't seem to get the monkey off his back and win the NCAA title.

On the other hand there's Jim Boeheim. A little slimy guy with questionable "student athletes" and no real quality players delivered to the NBA, unless you count Derek Coleman, but who would?