Brewmonkey

Will her smoking habit cut down his VO2 max?

Ridiculous.

Eric Gagne won the Cy Young. He pitched a total of 82 1/3 innings. Yes, he was the most important pitcher on the Dodgers... His team still finished 15 1/2 games behind the Jason Schmidt's Giants. He had a great ERA, but then again he only had 82 1/3 innings to ruin it.

Schmidt, who finished second in Cy Young voting, was the best pitcher for the Giant. He also pitched 207 2/3 innings and had a 2.34 ERA. He had 5 complete games and 3 complete game shut out. He was robbed.

I'm not saying that relievers should not be allowed to win the Cy Young. They should be required to pitch a minimum of 150 innings. Pitching only 82 1/3 innings, he has not contributed enough the his teams success.

Jamison, Fortson, Mills, and Welsch for Van Exel, Eschmeyer, Jones, and Johnson.

What is wrong with this picture? It is great to dump Jamison's salary, Fortson cancerous attitude in the locker room and on the bench, and Mills oft injured body. Welsch is still an unknown, who I think can still be a quality player. The problem is what they are getting in return. Van Exel is a quality player. Eschmeyer, Jones and Johnson are not even worth mentioning. Hopefully they will all retire after next year freeing up cap room.

The main problem with this trade is that it shows St. Jean has absolutely no foresight, and no plan in place. Fire St. Jean before Mullin learns all of St. Jeans bad habits. Why sign Arenas to a two year guaranteed contract, and not have the foresight to add options for a third and fourth year? If he did, the Warriors would have had to gone through the shit they did this year. After this coming season, they would have had the frickin' Bird rights to him. Why didn't they sign Steve Logan? If they didn't want his services they should have never drafted him in the first place. If they hadn't signed Arenas to the guaranteed contract, Logan wouldn't have wanted one. Knowing that if Arenas were to have a good year, they would be able to sign him given their cap situation, they should have either signed Logan, to get him a years experience, or they should have worked to free up cap room earlier to allow them to make a competitive offer for Arenas services in the future. This situation has been hanging over their heads for an entire year. Why did they draft Zimmerman, sign Claxton, and still want to sign Logan, if they were going to go after Van Exel? So they can have four subpar point guards on their roster? It is like matching the Rockets offer for Mark Jackson, so the Warriors can pay somebody to be a cancer on the bench. They are both stupid mistakes by St. Jean.

The warriors really took a step backward with this one. They traded away their best player and got nothing in return. Caproom for the future? If St. Jean is still around he'll screw that up too.

©AFP 2003

©brewmonkey.com 2002. All rights reserved

*Victories/Start is used to determine rank.  Days in Yellow/Start is the first tie breaker, and Stage Wins/Start is the second tie breaker.

According to this Table 2, Lance Armstrong is only the 4th best 5 time winner.  Merckx is still the best.  If Lance wins next year, all bets are off.

Five times the bridesmaid.

I've been reading quite a bit about the Tour this month. With the end being near, and just 65 seconds separating Lance and Jan, I've increased that amount.

It seems to be that a most are predicting that Jan will win tomorrows time trial, and about half believe that Jan will win the Tour. I believe that Lance will win both the time trial and the Tour.

Here is my reasoning:
1. He has finally found his form. He had complained about how his legs felt for just about every stage prior to Luz-Ardiden. Even with those bad legs, he still managed to get to the lead in the Tour. Yes, his team has been quite strong, but leading the tour after the Alps and the Pyrenees is still a great accomplishment. Taking second in the first time trial with those dead legs speak volumes.
2. He has won the last time trial in the last four Tours.
3. He will be ultra motivated to not repeat the mistakes on the first. I truly believe that he wants to win this one to show that the results of the first was a fluke.
4. The predicted inclement weather will be to his advantage. He is a much better bike handler that Jan.

He may not be as strong as other years. But, he may not have to be. He is not competing with his history. He is only competing with the other riders. Yes Vino and Mayo may be better that him in the mountains. They will lose a minute in the time trial tomorrow. Ulrich may be coming into form, and may be getting better. How do you categorize that? By him being able to stay on Armstrongs wheel on Cat 2 and 3 climbs at the end of stage 9? He lost time on the summit finish to L'Alpe d'Huez. Remember, Lance is still an excellent time trialist, and an excellent climber. And, he is still the leader of the tour. He may be more vulnerable than in other years, but until I see another rider with the yellow jersey on their back, I won't believe it.

The race will be decided on Luz-Ardiden or the last individual time trial. This first time trial will show who the true contenders are.

Petacchi is truly the next Cipollini.
Magnificent sprinter, and a quitter.

Hope the Tour organizer excludes his team next year.

Things never change...

Laurent Fignon, a two-time winner of the Tour de France, was one of the leaders of the helmet protests in 1991. Now a race organizer, Fignon said after Kivilev's tragedy, "If you land on your forehead, a helmet is still not going to protect you. It doesn't change a thing."

     By John Maher
     AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
     ( click here for the original article.)

He doesn't like them now, he certainly didn't like them when he was racing. Only if he had worn a helmet for the Tour finale in '89. History may have been different. He may have been the three time winner instead of Lemond.

In my opinion, the best English Tour de France site is from the BBC(click here).

The best TdF site may be l'Equipe(click here). I believe that l'Equipe and the TdF are both owned by the same umbrella organization (Amaury Sports Organization). Since I can neither read French or find the Google translation(click here) palatable, I prefer the BBC site.

Here are some other TdF sites worth mentioning not in any order:
Bicycling Magazine
Cyclingnews
Official Tour Site (English version)
Velo News
OLN TV
Eurosport
USPS Cycling Official Site
Yahoo! Sports Cycling UK
Yahoo! Sports Cycling USA

Two of the American hopefuls may have been eliminated from Le Tour today.
It is certain that Levi Leipheimer will not start tomorrow morning.
About Tyler Hamilton, his abandonment is less certain, with the decision being withheld until tomorrow morning. I believe that he will not continue with the race.
Certainly there are other Americans left in the tour. Armstrong, Hincape, Landis, and Rodriguez, among others. Chances are that an American will still be standing atop the podium in Paris, but losing two of the top three American cyclist in a single accident is still quite tragic.

It could have been worse. Lance and George were also involved in the same wreck. Lance escaped relatively unharmed, with a bruised thigh and roadrashed shoulder. Haven't heard about Georges condition. I assume he escaped unharmed. No news is good news.

le Tour begins on Saturday.

Important stages:
Stage 4 - July 9: Joinville - Saint-Dizier - Team Time Trial
Stage 7 - July 12: Lyon - Morzine - Mountains
Stage 8 - July 13: Sallanches - L'Alpe d'Huez - Mountains
Stage 9 - July 14: Bourg d'Oisans - Gap - Mountains
Stage 12 - July 18: Gaillac - Cap' Découverte - Individual Time Trial
Stage 13 - July 19: Toulouse - Plateau de Bonascre - Mountains
Stage 14 - July 20: Saint-Girons - Loudenvielle - Mountains
Stage 15 - July 21: Bagnères-de-Bigorre - Luz-Ardiden - Mountains
Stage 16 - July 23: Pau - Bayonne - Mountains
Stage 19 - July 26: Pornic - Nantes - Individual Time Trial

Barring a Delgado-esque mistake on the prologue, a well represented breakaway of lesser knowns gaining 20 minutes, illnesses, or major accidents, these stages are where the tour will be determined.

How about them Warrrrriorssssss?

Amazing. The first team in 30 years to beat the two previous NBA finals participants in consecutive games. And Musselman? He hasn't quite reached greatness, but he is the right person for the job.

Mooch is out as 49ers head coach. An article from ESPN.com is stating that Mariucci has been released from his contract.