John Wooden, the iconic coach of the UCLA basketball program in the 60s and 70s has passed away at the age of 99.
In the interest of being honest I am not a basketball fan. I have never been a basketball fan. It would be putting it mildly to say that I pretty much hate everything about the game. So I really hate to admit that I get a lot of my coaching inspiration from a basketball coach.
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Bragging on my kid a while...
Forgive me, I'm going to play the proud papa for a while.
My oldest daughter was named the Burroughs High School Female Student Athlete of the Year today.
I'm smiling as loud as I can right now.
My oldest daughter was named the Burroughs High School Female Student Athlete of the Year today.
I'm smiling as loud as I can right now.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Reply to Bad Sportsmanship
On Saturday my alma mater, The university of Wyoming, played a football game against the University of Utah.
The game wasn't going well. UW was losing 0 - 40 a half-time. Then with 6 minutes and 30 seconds left in the third quarter Utah scored a field goal to take a 43-0 lead.
On the ensuing kick off the University of Utah attempted an on-side kick. Fortunately for UW the kick didn't go 10 yards and they recovered the ball.
Personally I consider a team attempting an onside kick against an opponent that you are beating by more than 6 touchdowns to be really low class. I would love to hear the Utah coach, Kyle Whittingham's explanation as to why he would make such a obviously bad sportsmanship call.
The announcers of the game in CSTV had this to say:
"They are going to onside kick it? You gotta be kidding me!"
"No. This is wrong."
"What is the point?"
"But this is classless in my mind."
"I disagree whole-heartedly with this."
So what did Joe Glenn the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys think of that play?
Well, Joe didn't waste too many words. He just grabbed his shovel dug for a little while until he got down to the same level as the Utah Coaches and said:
Under normal circumstances I would never condone this kind of behavior. But in this case I think flipping a little bird may have been deserved. Probably not appropriate but definitely deserved. I just wish the coach had expressed his disgust with Coach Whittingham in person instead of on national television.
Later when questioned about his finger Coach Glenn said that "Football is an emotional game and he got caught up in the emotions of the moment and wasn't thinking."
The game wasn't going well. UW was losing 0 - 40 a half-time. Then with 6 minutes and 30 seconds left in the third quarter Utah scored a field goal to take a 43-0 lead.
On the ensuing kick off the University of Utah attempted an on-side kick. Fortunately for UW the kick didn't go 10 yards and they recovered the ball.
Personally I consider a team attempting an onside kick against an opponent that you are beating by more than 6 touchdowns to be really low class. I would love to hear the Utah coach, Kyle Whittingham's explanation as to why he would make such a obviously bad sportsmanship call.
The announcers of the game in CSTV had this to say:
"They are going to onside kick it? You gotta be kidding me!"
"No. This is wrong."
"What is the point?"
"But this is classless in my mind."
"I disagree whole-heartedly with this."
So what did Joe Glenn the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys think of that play?
Well, Joe didn't waste too many words. He just grabbed his shovel dug for a little while until he got down to the same level as the Utah Coaches and said:
Under normal circumstances I would never condone this kind of behavior. But in this case I think flipping a little bird may have been deserved. Probably not appropriate but definitely deserved. I just wish the coach had expressed his disgust with Coach Whittingham in person instead of on national television.
Later when questioned about his finger Coach Glenn said that "Football is an emotional game and he got caught up in the emotions of the moment and wasn't thinking."
Friday, September 14, 2007
Sports Editor or Football Editor?
The following is a copy of a letter I just sent to the local paper. I'm not holding my breath waiting for a reply.
-----------------------------------
Mr. Barrera,
During a quick perusal of the Friday Daily Indpendent I found on the front page two advertisements for tonights BHS away football game. Then once I got to the sports section I found eight pages of sports coverage. As a sports fan I think this level of coverage is great. Except, those 8 pages consisted of 4 and a quarter pages of local football, one and a quarter pages of NFL football, a full page of Cal Berkley college football and a full page of NASCAR coverage. That left only one half a page for all the other sports. That space was split between two articles - one on Major League Baseball and one article on the BHS tennis team. Over half the coverage of the local high school football programs were about games that haven't even been played yet. The four and a quarter pages of football coverage consisted of four articles all written by you, the DI Sports Editor. There were also 11 photographs most of which are supplied by you or just listed as "contributed."
Mr. Barrera, I think it is time for you to get out of the football stadiums and start covering all the sports being played in the Indian Wells Valley. We don't need pages of coverage of football games that haven't been played yet when there are so many other sporting events being competed by our local youth. There has been no mention that the BHS volleyball team freshmen lost a close match to Kern Valley High School JV team on Wednesday, or that the BHS Varsity Volleyball team beat Kern Valley High School Varsity team 3-1. Do you know that Thursday evening the BHS JV and Varsity volleyball teams also won matches against Rosamond High School to continue their undefeated seasons? Are you aware that the five local middle school's have 18 girls volleyball teams that have been practicing for weeks and will start competition with each other next Monday? What about tennis, cross country, golf and all the other club and independent youth sports being playing in our area?
Mr. Barrera its time to get out of the football stadium and start reporting all the sports being played in town. There are many fine young athletes in this valley who are pouring their hearts and souls into the games they love to play and its time to stop ignoring them or pretending they are not as important as football. I understand that sometimes you need to rely on submissions from the organizers of these other athletics events for your information. Additionally, BHS has made tracking other sports events more difficult by removing any mention of sports other than boys soccer, basketball and football from the athletics section of their website. But since you were able to generate over four pages of news about football surely you could generate a little coverage of some of the other local sports. After all you are the Sports Editor, not the Football Editor.
-----------------------------------
Mr. Barrera,
During a quick perusal of the Friday Daily Indpendent I found on the front page two advertisements for tonights BHS away football game. Then once I got to the sports section I found eight pages of sports coverage. As a sports fan I think this level of coverage is great. Except, those 8 pages consisted of 4 and a quarter pages of local football, one and a quarter pages of NFL football, a full page of Cal Berkley college football and a full page of NASCAR coverage. That left only one half a page for all the other sports. That space was split between two articles - one on Major League Baseball and one article on the BHS tennis team. Over half the coverage of the local high school football programs were about games that haven't even been played yet. The four and a quarter pages of football coverage consisted of four articles all written by you, the DI Sports Editor. There were also 11 photographs most of which are supplied by you or just listed as "contributed."
Mr. Barrera, I think it is time for you to get out of the football stadiums and start covering all the sports being played in the Indian Wells Valley. We don't need pages of coverage of football games that haven't been played yet when there are so many other sporting events being competed by our local youth. There has been no mention that the BHS volleyball team freshmen lost a close match to Kern Valley High School JV team on Wednesday, or that the BHS Varsity Volleyball team beat Kern Valley High School Varsity team 3-1. Do you know that Thursday evening the BHS JV and Varsity volleyball teams also won matches against Rosamond High School to continue their undefeated seasons? Are you aware that the five local middle school's have 18 girls volleyball teams that have been practicing for weeks and will start competition with each other next Monday? What about tennis, cross country, golf and all the other club and independent youth sports being playing in our area?
Mr. Barrera its time to get out of the football stadium and start reporting all the sports being played in town. There are many fine young athletes in this valley who are pouring their hearts and souls into the games they love to play and its time to stop ignoring them or pretending they are not as important as football. I understand that sometimes you need to rely on submissions from the organizers of these other athletics events for your information. Additionally, BHS has made tracking other sports events more difficult by removing any mention of sports other than boys soccer, basketball and football from the athletics section of their website. But since you were able to generate over four pages of news about football surely you could generate a little coverage of some of the other local sports. After all you are the Sports Editor, not the Football Editor.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Bonds Hits 756
All I have to say about this is:
***** YAWN *****
My grandfather loved baseball. I spent a lot of my weekends traveling around South Dakota in my Grandpa's car. If there was a game being played Grandpa would be listening to it on the radio in his car. I remember one day, he pulled over to the side of the road and we sat there for an hour because he wanted to hear the end of the game and the direction we were traveling was weakening the radio signal. So we sat there in the middle of nowhere, listening to the baseball game end.
Grandpa often took me to home games of the minor league team in town, the Rapid City Chiefs. One summer he took me on a business trip with him to Minneapolis. The highlight of the trip for Grandpa was the Minnesota Twins game we went to. The only thing from that game I remember is Harmon Killebrew hitting two home runs. I remember it because Grandpa went on and on about what a phenomenal performance that was, and that I should remember it because Harmon Killebrew was going to be one of the great players in the game.
A year or two later a couple guys from the Oakland A's were in Rapid City. My grandpa took me to meet them. They signed a baseball for me, then later sent my grandpa a ball signed by the entire A's team. I still have that ball and its signatures including J. Catfish Hunter, Vita Blue, Reggie Jackson, Dick Green and a whole bunch of other guys I never heard of before.
I think my grandpa was always very disappointed that I never learned to love baseball the way he did. But I just never got the hang of the game. I tried playing as a kid but could do nothing right. I didn't understand the rules, the theory of the game nor how to throw, catch or hit. It might have help if I could have had an adult try to teach me those things. But grandpa never tried playing ball with me, he just listened to it, watched it and talked about it. My Dad was only into cars and probably cared less about baseball than I did. My little league coaches and PE teachers didn't teach either. They just sent us out to play.
As I got older and started discovering other sports I just sort of ignored baseball. I would see an occasional headline in the paper. I was pleased to see Harmon Killebrew inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. Its too bad Grandpa didn't live to to see that his prophecy fulfilled.
As I progressed though college and beyond I learned to play football, volleyball, soccer and racquetball. I got into these sports because I had friends who were willing to teach me the rules and how to play the games. I also started running and bicycling. I even ended up playing on a couple softball teams. But I was allowed on them simply because I could run fast and catch. I never did learn how to bat or throw. My cousins used to tease me that I throw like a girl. I wish.... I know lots of girls that I would love to be able to throw as well as they do.
As my love of sports continued to expand my apathy for baseball slowly turned into feelings of disdain. When Bud Selig canceled the world series in 1994 I pretty much completely stopped paying any attention at all to baseball. Any more, baseball is just something that shows up this time of the year on the front page at ESPN's website that I have navigate past to find the sporting news I am looking for.
So when I read this morning that Barry Bonds had broken Hank Aaron's home run record I had mixed feelings. For the most part I couldn't care less. But I was also a little sad. I haven't followed his career closely, but from my limited perspective, Barry Bonds' dramatic increase in size, power and ability to hit home runs at an age when most men are starting to lose strength, speed and power seems almost too good to be true. That coupled with the fact that his personal trainer is doing multiple stints in jail for refusing to talk to a grand jury about Barry's suspected steroid use makes Bonds look guilty as hell.
I have been told a story by a friend who did some computer work for the A's. While trying to make small talk she mentioned Barry Bonds. That is when she learned that Barry is pretty much despised by everyone there because he is apparently a pretentious and arrogant a$$hole.
At first I was tempted to be angry or upset that I guy who I think is a cheat and who others think is an a$$ should be setting records and being lauded by the media and worshiped by little kids. But then it occured to me. Why do I care? I haven't given much more than a moments thought to baseball for over 30 years. So I guess Barry Bonds can use all the 'roids he wants to, his friends can sit in jail protecting him, he can break all the records he wants, and the media can gush all over him all they want. My response (besides this long rambling blog post) is:
***** YAWN *****
I have other things to worry about. I have a job to go to and a volleyball court to repair or improve at the school. I have a patio to lay in the back yard. I also have a bunch of young athletes coming to a volleyball camp this weekend and years from now I don't want them writing about how no one ever taught them how to play volleyball when they were kids. So I have lessons to prepare.
***** YAWN *****
My grandfather loved baseball. I spent a lot of my weekends traveling around South Dakota in my Grandpa's car. If there was a game being played Grandpa would be listening to it on the radio in his car. I remember one day, he pulled over to the side of the road and we sat there for an hour because he wanted to hear the end of the game and the direction we were traveling was weakening the radio signal. So we sat there in the middle of nowhere, listening to the baseball game end.
Grandpa often took me to home games of the minor league team in town, the Rapid City Chiefs. One summer he took me on a business trip with him to Minneapolis. The highlight of the trip for Grandpa was the Minnesota Twins game we went to. The only thing from that game I remember is Harmon Killebrew hitting two home runs. I remember it because Grandpa went on and on about what a phenomenal performance that was, and that I should remember it because Harmon Killebrew was going to be one of the great players in the game.
A year or two later a couple guys from the Oakland A's were in Rapid City. My grandpa took me to meet them. They signed a baseball for me, then later sent my grandpa a ball signed by the entire A's team. I still have that ball and its signatures including J. Catfish Hunter, Vita Blue, Reggie Jackson, Dick Green and a whole bunch of other guys I never heard of before.
I think my grandpa was always very disappointed that I never learned to love baseball the way he did. But I just never got the hang of the game. I tried playing as a kid but could do nothing right. I didn't understand the rules, the theory of the game nor how to throw, catch or hit. It might have help if I could have had an adult try to teach me those things. But grandpa never tried playing ball with me, he just listened to it, watched it and talked about it. My Dad was only into cars and probably cared less about baseball than I did. My little league coaches and PE teachers didn't teach either. They just sent us out to play.
As I got older and started discovering other sports I just sort of ignored baseball. I would see an occasional headline in the paper. I was pleased to see Harmon Killebrew inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. Its too bad Grandpa didn't live to to see that his prophecy fulfilled.
As I progressed though college and beyond I learned to play football, volleyball, soccer and racquetball. I got into these sports because I had friends who were willing to teach me the rules and how to play the games. I also started running and bicycling. I even ended up playing on a couple softball teams. But I was allowed on them simply because I could run fast and catch. I never did learn how to bat or throw. My cousins used to tease me that I throw like a girl. I wish.... I know lots of girls that I would love to be able to throw as well as they do.
As my love of sports continued to expand my apathy for baseball slowly turned into feelings of disdain. When Bud Selig canceled the world series in 1994 I pretty much completely stopped paying any attention at all to baseball. Any more, baseball is just something that shows up this time of the year on the front page at ESPN's website that I have navigate past to find the sporting news I am looking for.
So when I read this morning that Barry Bonds had broken Hank Aaron's home run record I had mixed feelings. For the most part I couldn't care less. But I was also a little sad. I haven't followed his career closely, but from my limited perspective, Barry Bonds' dramatic increase in size, power and ability to hit home runs at an age when most men are starting to lose strength, speed and power seems almost too good to be true. That coupled with the fact that his personal trainer is doing multiple stints in jail for refusing to talk to a grand jury about Barry's suspected steroid use makes Bonds look guilty as hell.
I have been told a story by a friend who did some computer work for the A's. While trying to make small talk she mentioned Barry Bonds. That is when she learned that Barry is pretty much despised by everyone there because he is apparently a pretentious and arrogant a$$hole.
At first I was tempted to be angry or upset that I guy who I think is a cheat and who others think is an a$$ should be setting records and being lauded by the media and worshiped by little kids. But then it occured to me. Why do I care? I haven't given much more than a moments thought to baseball for over 30 years. So I guess Barry Bonds can use all the 'roids he wants to, his friends can sit in jail protecting him, he can break all the records he wants, and the media can gush all over him all they want. My response (besides this long rambling blog post) is:
***** YAWN *****
I have other things to worry about. I have a job to go to and a volleyball court to repair or improve at the school. I have a patio to lay in the back yard. I also have a bunch of young athletes coming to a volleyball camp this weekend and years from now I don't want them writing about how no one ever taught them how to play volleyball when they were kids. So I have lessons to prepare.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
End of the Sports Machine
George Michael's Sports Machine a weekly recap sports show that aired at 11:30 PM on Sunday nights has been a weekly routine in my life for over 20 years. The Sports Machine was ESPN before there was an ESPN.
According to USA Today The Sports Machine is going off the air because NBC which financed the show demanded several staff cuts. George Michael said that if there were layoffs he would be the first to go. Which just proves that the classy guy I watch interviewing athletes for over 20 years wasn't just an image cultivated for the show.
I'll miss the sports machine. But mostly I'll miss the "Plays of the month" monthly feature that George did. I always recorded that segment, first on tape and lately on DVD and used it as pregame entertainment for our superbowl parties each year.
The best feature George ever did was a fairwell to Julius Erving. His musical montage of Dr. J's basketball career was a masterpiece. When I showed it to a couple die hard basketball fans it left them in tears. My biggest regret was that he didn't do the same kind of show for Walter Payton when he retired from football. He wanted to, but Walter asked him not to make a fuss about his retirement and being the classy guy George is, he complied.
I know the Sports Machine was just a 30 minute sports highlight show. But my family is going to miss it almost more than me. Because now they have to sit and listen to me prattle on about the good old days when the Sports Machine was on.
According to USA Today The Sports Machine is going off the air because NBC which financed the show demanded several staff cuts. George Michael said that if there were layoffs he would be the first to go. Which just proves that the classy guy I watch interviewing athletes for over 20 years wasn't just an image cultivated for the show.
I'll miss the sports machine. But mostly I'll miss the "Plays of the month" monthly feature that George did. I always recorded that segment, first on tape and lately on DVD and used it as pregame entertainment for our superbowl parties each year.
The best feature George ever did was a fairwell to Julius Erving. His musical montage of Dr. J's basketball career was a masterpiece. When I showed it to a couple die hard basketball fans it left them in tears. My biggest regret was that he didn't do the same kind of show for Walter Payton when he retired from football. He wanted to, but Walter asked him not to make a fuss about his retirement and being the classy guy George is, he complied.
I know the Sports Machine was just a 30 minute sports highlight show. But my family is going to miss it almost more than me. Because now they have to sit and listen to me prattle on about the good old days when the Sports Machine was on.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
WYO vs BYU
I'm sitting here with my family watching the University of Wyoming play football at BYU.
I have done my duty as a loyal UW graduate and taught my children that BYU stands for Bite Your Underwear.
My oldest daugher just asked me why do you hate BYU so much Daddy.
The best answer I could give her was there is on 9:21 left in the game. BYU is up 41 to 0 and their starting quarterback and his favorite receiver, their tight end Harlene are both still in the game and trying to run the score up. Which they just suceeded in doing. So the score is 48-0.
Actually my hatred of BYU stems from my years at Wyoming in the late 70s. It seemed like every school in the Western Athletic Conference had a rivalry going with BYU. Most years football and basketball conference titles came down to BYU vs Someone Else with BYU winning a lot of those games. They have good sports programs and therefore tend to inspire hatred in the schools that lose to them.
Well, BYU's special teams just scored to make it 55-0.
Karsten Sween Wyoming's starting QB is a local boy. He graduated from Burroughs High School two years ago. His starting at Wyoming means that the local paper has covered the Wyoming games a lot more than usual. Which means they at least get mentioned. This last offensive series they took Karsten out of the game to protect him and put the back up in. Third play, Wyoming uncorks an 81 yard run to finally get Wyoming on the board.
Game over. Bite Your Underwear 55 - Wyoming 7
My dear wife asked if I was upset. Not really. I'm a Wyoming fan I've gotten used to my team falling apart late in the season. But it does stink that they had to get torn apart by BYU and on national television. But there are certain truths for Wyoming football - you can end the season 2-10 as long as those two wins are against BYU and CSU it was a good year.
I have done my duty as a loyal UW graduate and taught my children that BYU stands for Bite Your Underwear.
My oldest daugher just asked me why do you hate BYU so much Daddy.
The best answer I could give her was there is on 9:21 left in the game. BYU is up 41 to 0 and their starting quarterback and his favorite receiver, their tight end Harlene are both still in the game and trying to run the score up. Which they just suceeded in doing. So the score is 48-0.
Actually my hatred of BYU stems from my years at Wyoming in the late 70s. It seemed like every school in the Western Athletic Conference had a rivalry going with BYU. Most years football and basketball conference titles came down to BYU vs Someone Else with BYU winning a lot of those games. They have good sports programs and therefore tend to inspire hatred in the schools that lose to them.
Well, BYU's special teams just scored to make it 55-0.
Karsten Sween Wyoming's starting QB is a local boy. He graduated from Burroughs High School two years ago. His starting at Wyoming means that the local paper has covered the Wyoming games a lot more than usual. Which means they at least get mentioned. This last offensive series they took Karsten out of the game to protect him and put the back up in. Third play, Wyoming uncorks an 81 yard run to finally get Wyoming on the board.
Game over. Bite Your Underwear 55 - Wyoming 7
My dear wife asked if I was upset. Not really. I'm a Wyoming fan I've gotten used to my team falling apart late in the season. But it does stink that they had to get torn apart by BYU and on national television. But there are certain truths for Wyoming football - you can end the season 2-10 as long as those two wins are against BYU and CSU it was a good year.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Italy!
I'll admit that I don't follow soccer as closely as I used to when my knees would let me play it. But Italy won the World Cup last night. They played France to a 1-1 tie and eventually won in penalty kicks 5-3.
French Captain Zinedine Zidane pulled the bone headed play of the year when he walked past Italian defender Marco Materazzi then stopped turned around and in full view of everyone headbutted Materazzi in the chest. This totally unnecessary behaviour was the final act of a great soccer career and was rewarded with a red card expulsion from the game.
Then again later in the evening Zidane was rewarded again for his childish behavior with the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player. This is an award that is voted on my journalists. Which explains a lot. When was the last time you heard a european journalist who had a clue about what he was talking about.
Zidane with one act of childish anger tainted an entire career as a great player.
That may seem a little harsh but as a defender and backup goalie I was on the receiving end of several fits of anger by self important star strikers. I learned very quickly that I don't care how good you are on the field the moment you lash out at an opponent that way you don't belong on the field anymore. And you certainly don't deserve a top player award.
Zidane made as ass of himself and his career in front of the world. Then a couple hours later the journalist who voted for him joined him.
French Captain Zinedine Zidane pulled the bone headed play of the year when he walked past Italian defender Marco Materazzi then stopped turned around and in full view of everyone headbutted Materazzi in the chest. This totally unnecessary behaviour was the final act of a great soccer career and was rewarded with a red card expulsion from the game.
Then again later in the evening Zidane was rewarded again for his childish behavior with the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player. This is an award that is voted on my journalists. Which explains a lot. When was the last time you heard a european journalist who had a clue about what he was talking about.
Zidane with one act of childish anger tainted an entire career as a great player.
That may seem a little harsh but as a defender and backup goalie I was on the receiving end of several fits of anger by self important star strikers. I learned very quickly that I don't care how good you are on the field the moment you lash out at an opponent that way you don't belong on the field anymore. And you certainly don't deserve a top player award.
Zidane made as ass of himself and his career in front of the world. Then a couple hours later the journalist who voted for him joined him.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Tour de France 2006 Stage 7
Stage 7 is a 52 km individual time trial from Saint-Gregoire to Rennes.
Today was the day when the overall race favorites were supposed to step up and make themselves known. However someone forgot to tell the race favorites that. At least the guys who the OLN broadcasting crew have been pushing as race favorites didn’t show up today.
OK, Floyd Landis who has been presented as a race favorite showed up, but the rest of the “favorites” seemed to struggle with the wind on the course today. Floyd had some handlebar problems early on and needed a bike switch. But he really put in good ride after that.
Discovery channel dropped from 1st to 4th in the team competition. Overall as a team they didn’t perform well.
Early in the race American Bobby Julich went down on a curve and had a nasty crash into the curb. That crash ended Bobby Julich’s tour. Preliminary reports are that he damaged his wrist. Based on the way he hit the ground I would have thought that his shoulders and ribs had taken all the damage.
The time trial was won the first ever Ukranian to win a stage in the Tour. Serhiy Honchar who rides for the T-mobile team blew everyone’s doors off the entire race. When the day was over Serhiy Honchar won not only the stage but the overall leader's yellow jersey.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
Two more days coming up for the sprinters then the Mountains start and then we’ll find out who the contenders for the tour really are.
Today was the day when the overall race favorites were supposed to step up and make themselves known. However someone forgot to tell the race favorites that. At least the guys who the OLN broadcasting crew have been pushing as race favorites didn’t show up today.
OK, Floyd Landis who has been presented as a race favorite showed up, but the rest of the “favorites” seemed to struggle with the wind on the course today. Floyd had some handlebar problems early on and needed a bike switch. But he really put in good ride after that.
Discovery channel dropped from 1st to 4th in the team competition. Overall as a team they didn’t perform well.
Early in the race American Bobby Julich went down on a curve and had a nasty crash into the curb. That crash ended Bobby Julich’s tour. Preliminary reports are that he damaged his wrist. Based on the way he hit the ground I would have thought that his shoulders and ribs had taken all the damage.
The time trial was won the first ever Ukranian to win a stage in the Tour. Serhiy Honchar who rides for the T-mobile team blew everyone’s doors off the entire race. When the day was over Serhiy Honchar won not only the stage but the overall leader's yellow jersey.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
Pos. No. Name Team Nat. Gap
2 071 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA 01' 00"
10 018 ZABRISKIE David CSC USA 02' 03"
17 003 HINCAPIE George DSC USA 02' 30"
22 016 VANDEVELDE Christian CSC USA 03' 25"21
62 041 LEIPHEIMER Levi GST USA 06' 17"
126 064 HORNER Christopher DVL USA 12' 19"
011 JULICH Bobby CSC USA Abandoned
Two more days coming up for the sprinters then the Mountains start and then we’ll find out who the contenders for the tour really are.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Tour de France 2006 Stage 6
Stage 6 is a 189 km sprint from Lisieux to Vitre.
One small little cat 3 climb about 28 km into the stage and then nothing but flat land sprint points all the way to Vitre.
Narrow roads and several flat land riders who are running out of chances to win a stage or some points made for a day of beautiful scenery and some fast and awkward cycling.
After several breakaways it came down to a big sprint again. Australian Robbie McEwen won his third stage of this tour. Not much changed in the general classification or the green or polka dot jersey standings.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
Tomorrow is the first individual time trial. Expect these stats to change. Hopefully 5 of these seven men will be moving up the standings.
One small little cat 3 climb about 28 km into the stage and then nothing but flat land sprint points all the way to Vitre.
Narrow roads and several flat land riders who are running out of chances to win a stage or some points made for a day of beautiful scenery and some fast and awkward cycling.
After several breakaways it came down to a big sprint again. Australian Robbie McEwen won his third stage of this tour. Not much changed in the general classification or the green or polka dot jersey standings.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
Pos. No. Name Team Nat. Gap
5 003 HINCAPIE George DSC USA 00' 25"
8 071 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA 00' 36"
17 018 ZABRISKIE David CSC USA 00' 43"
21 011 JULICH Bobby CSC USA 00' 45"
24 016 VANDEVELDE Christian CSC USA 00' 48"
25 041 LEIPHEIMER Levi GST USA 00' 48"
139 064 HORNER Christopher DVL USA 08' 42"
Tomorrow is the first individual time trial. Expect these stats to change. Hopefully 5 of these seven men will be moving up the standings.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Tour de France 2006 Stage 3
Tough stage today, 216.5 km from Esch-sur-Alzette to Valkenburg. The temperatures were high and so were the crashes.
Hot days in on the road tend to lead to careless riders and careless riders lead to accidents. There were several little dustups along the road where no one got hurt. Nearing the third climb of the day American Fred Rodriguez and Eric Dekker from the Netherlands crashed into a spectator. Reports are that Rodriguez broke his wrist and Dekker several teeth. Fred Rodriguez has never been a threat to win the tour. His job is to lead out Australian Sprinter Robbie McEwen. I think this will be interesting to see how McEwen does in the sprints over the next few days without his favorite leadout man.
Eric Dekker is a big loss to me. Over the last several years Dekker has been part of many group and solo break aways. While he is getting older you still never knew what he was going to do next. Dekker is one of a few riders in the tour who could say that they won stage races against both Lance Armstrong and Miguel Indurain.
Later in the stage with about 20 km to go there was a small peloton pileup that took Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde out of the race with a broken collarbone. Valverde was one of the young riders that many people thought had a shot at winning the tour this year.
American Chris Horner was injured when he was “shooting the gutter” and ran into a section where the gutter wasn’t paved. He and Stuart O’Grady crashed. Chris suffered a dislocated finger and O’Grady a small crack in his fourth vertebra. Both are racing today.
In the end this stage was won by German Matthias Kessler. Yesterday Kessler escaped from the peloton with about 7 km left to race. He tried hard to stay away but was caught by the sprinters with less than 50 meters left to race. Today he tired the same tactic and it worked. He managed to get across the line about 50 km ahead of the rest of the pack.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
All serious contenders plus a few extras all within 30 seconds of yellow is good!
Hot days in on the road tend to lead to careless riders and careless riders lead to accidents. There were several little dustups along the road where no one got hurt. Nearing the third climb of the day American Fred Rodriguez and Eric Dekker from the Netherlands crashed into a spectator. Reports are that Rodriguez broke his wrist and Dekker several teeth. Fred Rodriguez has never been a threat to win the tour. His job is to lead out Australian Sprinter Robbie McEwen. I think this will be interesting to see how McEwen does in the sprints over the next few days without his favorite leadout man.
Eric Dekker is a big loss to me. Over the last several years Dekker has been part of many group and solo break aways. While he is getting older you still never knew what he was going to do next. Dekker is one of a few riders in the tour who could say that they won stage races against both Lance Armstrong and Miguel Indurain.
Later in the stage with about 20 km to go there was a small peloton pileup that took Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde out of the race with a broken collarbone. Valverde was one of the young riders that many people thought had a shot at winning the tour this year.
American Chris Horner was injured when he was “shooting the gutter” and ran into a section where the gutter wasn’t paved. He and Stuart O’Grady crashed. Chris suffered a dislocated finger and O’Grady a small crack in his fourth vertebra. Both are racing today.
In the end this stage was won by German Matthias Kessler. Yesterday Kessler escaped from the peloton with about 7 km left to race. He tried hard to stay away but was caught by the sprinters with less than 50 meters left to race. Today he tired the same tactic and it worked. He managed to get across the line about 50 km ahead of the rest of the pack.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
Pos. No. Name Nat. Team Gap
3 003 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 00:00:05.000
7 071 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 00:00:16.000
15 018 ZABRISKIE, David USA CSC 00:00:23.000
19 011 JULICH, Bobby USA CSC 00:00:25.000
23 016 VANDEVELDE, Christian USA CSC 00:00:28.000
25 041 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 00:00:28.000
143 064 HORNER, Christopher USA DVL 00:08:22.000
066 RODRIGUEZ, Fred USA DVL abandoned
All serious contenders plus a few extras all within 30 seconds of yellow is good!
Monday, July 03, 2006
Tour de France 2006 Stage 2
Today was the second longest day of the Tour de France. A 228.5 km ride over two category 3 climbs, three category 4 climbs, and about 140 miles of north eastern France. The race started in Obernai and ended in Esch-sur-Alzette Luxemburg.
At the 1 km point of the race two riders got away on a breakaway and managed to stay away for most of the day. These two guys swooped up most of main sprint and mountain points that were available out on the course. In the end one of them, David De La Fuente, ended the day in the Polka Dot Jersey.
Mostly it was a long hot day of riding. George Hincapie and the discovery team did not make a effort to defend the yellow jersey. This tells me that they have decided that they are in this race for the long haul and not looking for single day glory. This is good news to me.
In the end this was another mass sprint at the end. There was a pile up about 2 km from the finish that split the peloton apart. In the end, the stage was won by the Australian Robbie McEwen.
Thor Hushovd the Norwegian who had his right arm sliced open on the final sprint yesterday had another mishap this afternoon when he slipped his left pedal in the final 30 feet and had to pedal across the line with only one foot on the pedals. He still finished 3rd. This third place finish coupled with a 2 second time bonus out on the road put this scrappy Norwegian back in the yellow jersey for tomorrow.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
All serious contenders plus a few extras all within 30 seconds of yellow is good!
At the 1 km point of the race two riders got away on a breakaway and managed to stay away for most of the day. These two guys swooped up most of main sprint and mountain points that were available out on the course. In the end one of them, David De La Fuente, ended the day in the Polka Dot Jersey.
Mostly it was a long hot day of riding. George Hincapie and the discovery team did not make a effort to defend the yellow jersey. This tells me that they have decided that they are in this race for the long haul and not looking for single day glory. This is good news to me.
In the end this was another mass sprint at the end. There was a pile up about 2 km from the finish that split the peloton apart. In the end, the stage was won by the Australian Robbie McEwen.
Thor Hushovd the Norwegian who had his right arm sliced open on the final sprint yesterday had another mishap this afternoon when he slipped his left pedal in the final 30 feet and had to pedal across the line with only one foot on the pedals. He still finished 3rd. This third place finish coupled with a 2 second time bonus out on the road put this scrappy Norwegian back in the yellow jersey for tomorrow.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
Pos. No. Name Nat. Team Gap
4 003 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 00:00:10.000
5 018 ZABRISKIE, David USA CSC 00:00:16.000
11 071 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 00:00:21.000
20 064 HORNER, Christopher USA DVL 00:00:27.000
29 011 JULICH, Bobby USA CSC 00:00:30.000
34 016 VANDEVELDE, Christian USA CSC 00:00:33.000
35 041 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 00:00:33.000
99 066 RODRIGUEZ, Fred USA DVL 00:00:50.000
All serious contenders plus a few extras all within 30 seconds of yellow is good!
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Tour de France 2006 Stage 1
Today was the first official day of racing in this year’s Tour de France - Stage 1. Yesterday was the prologue which basically gives them a back to hang the yellow jersey on.
Today’s ride was a 184.5 km ride in the park from Strasbourg to Strasbourg. I’m not sure why Strasbourg got to host two stages of the tour this year. Apparently they have a better PR department than many of the other French cities. Additionally I probably shouldn’t refer to a 184.5 km ride as a ride in the park. I could probably ride 184.5 km if I had to. Of course it would take me several days and I'd need motel reservations along the way. But if I had to ride at the same pace as the tour riders race, I would be lucky to get from the grand depart to the starting line before my heart would explode.
Today’s race had one small category climb that Bob Roll the OLN commentator described as a freeway overpass.
The main excitement of the day happened at the 175.5 km sprint and at the finish line. At the last sprint of the day, George Hincapie sprinted out of the peloton and grabbed the 2 second time bonus for third place in the sprint. This was a brilliant move on George’s part, since he was in a dead heat with Thor Hushovd for the yellow jersey. Eventually those two seconds put George Hincapie in the yellow jersey at the end of the day.
The other bit of excitement came at the finish line. Thor Hushovd the current yellow jersey holder was in the final sprint to the line when he was struck by a large green cardboard hand that one of the tour advertisers had passed out to spectators to wave. This harmless souvenir sliced Hushovd’s right elbow open and ruptured a vein in his arm. Hushovd finished the race with blood rapidly covering his entire right arm. He was eventually taken to the hospital where is arm was stitched up. Hushovd says that he is not sure if he will be able to grip the handlebars as needed in order to sprint for a day or so but he intends to continue racing and see how he fairs in the next few days. You gotta love those tough Norwegians.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
George Hincapie in Yellow and two other riders in the top 10 - wonderful.
Today’s ride was a 184.5 km ride in the park from Strasbourg to Strasbourg. I’m not sure why Strasbourg got to host two stages of the tour this year. Apparently they have a better PR department than many of the other French cities. Additionally I probably shouldn’t refer to a 184.5 km ride as a ride in the park. I could probably ride 184.5 km if I had to. Of course it would take me several days and I'd need motel reservations along the way. But if I had to ride at the same pace as the tour riders race, I would be lucky to get from the grand depart to the starting line before my heart would explode.
Today’s race had one small category climb that Bob Roll the OLN commentator described as a freeway overpass.
The main excitement of the day happened at the 175.5 km sprint and at the finish line. At the last sprint of the day, George Hincapie sprinted out of the peloton and grabbed the 2 second time bonus for third place in the sprint. This was a brilliant move on George’s part, since he was in a dead heat with Thor Hushovd for the yellow jersey. Eventually those two seconds put George Hincapie in the yellow jersey at the end of the day.
The other bit of excitement came at the finish line. Thor Hushovd the current yellow jersey holder was in the final sprint to the line when he was struck by a large green cardboard hand that one of the tour advertisers had passed out to spectators to wave. This harmless souvenir sliced Hushovd’s right elbow open and ruptured a vein in his arm. Hushovd finished the race with blood rapidly covering his entire right arm. He was eventually taken to the hospital where is arm was stitched up. Hushovd says that he is not sure if he will be able to grip the handlebars as needed in order to sprint for a day or so but he intends to continue racing and see how he fairs in the next few days. You gotta love those tough Norwegians.
So how are our Americans cyclists doing after today’s stage?
Pos. No. Name Nat. Team Gap
1 003 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 00:00:00.000
3 018 ZABRISKIE, David USA CSC 00:00:06.000
9 071 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 00:00:11.000
20 064 HORNER, Christopher USA DVL 00:00:17.000
31 011 JULICH, Bobby USA CSC 00:00:20.000
36 016 VANDEVELDE, Christian USA CSC 00:00:23.000
38 041 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 00:00:23.000
114 066 RODRIGUEZ, Fred USA DVL 00:00:40.000
George Hincapie in Yellow and two other riders in the top 10 - wonderful.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Tour de France 2006 Prologue
The big news of this years tour is the “sending away” of nine riders on the day before the tour was scheduled to start. While this would be big news for any sport, the fact that 4 or 5 of these riders were expected to be main competitors for a podium finish in Paris.
I have always liked watching Jan Ulrich ride so I was a little upset to see him gone. I have never warmed up to Ivan Basso. Lance Armstrong seemed to like and respect him but I never really cared one way or the other. So Basso being gone doesn’t really matter to me. Well, actually it does. With Ulrich and Basso gone the riders that I have decided to cheer for this year have a better chance of winning.
I’m afraid that I am going to be pretty nationalistic this year. I’m cheering for the Americans - Hincapie, Julich, Landis, Leipheimer, Zabriskie, Horner, Rodriguez and Vandevelde. I’m going to put Hincapie first because he is riding for the American Team of Discovery Channel. Realistically Landis and Leipheimer are the only other two that have a shot at the podium in Paris. But I’ll pull for them all anyway.
The top results for the day are:
I have always liked watching Jan Ulrich ride so I was a little upset to see him gone. I have never warmed up to Ivan Basso. Lance Armstrong seemed to like and respect him but I never really cared one way or the other. So Basso being gone doesn’t really matter to me. Well, actually it does. With Ulrich and Basso gone the riders that I have decided to cheer for this year have a better chance of winning.
I’m afraid that I am going to be pretty nationalistic this year. I’m cheering for the Americans - Hincapie, Julich, Landis, Leipheimer, Zabriskie, Horner, Rodriguez and Vandevelde. I’m going to put Hincapie first because he is riding for the American Team of Discovery Channel. Realistically Landis and Leipheimer are the only other two that have a shot at the podium in Paris. But I’ll pull for them all anyway.
The top results for the day are:
Pos. No. Name Nat. Team Time
1 118 HUSHOVD, Thor NOR C.A 00:08:17.000
2 003 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 00:08:17.000
3 018 ZABRISKIE, David USA CSC 00:08:21.000
4 044 LANG, Sebastian GER GST 00:08:21.000
5 091 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP CEI 00:08:21.000
6 013 O'GRADY, Stuart AUS CSC 00:08:21.000
7 026 ROGERS, Michael AUS TMO 00:08:23.000
8 009 SAVOLDELLI, Paolo ITA DSC 00:08:25.000
9 071 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 00:08:26.000
10 096 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS CEI 00:08:27.000
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