Um...you've got some Wildcat on the bottom on your shoe

Way to go NU, thanks for completely dismantling the Arizona football team and in the process saving me a year of ridiculous comments from U of A alumni. ASU is still hyped up over their win over Nebraska in 1996......really they replay it on TV. Yeah, 14 years later.

Phoenix Suns center and Arizona alumni, Channing Frye said about the Mildcats dismal showing at the Holiday bowl: "We're building on hoops. I'm always with the hoops but now we got to go to something that I'm gonna get a guaranteed win in and that's softball. Killing in softball."

Wish I could comment on the NU game, but since the Pelini brothers were efficiently pushing the Stoops brothers into lockers and taking their lunch money I felt free to watch the Suns beat the Celtics JV team. No KG, Milkshake or Big Baby? yes, still a very satisfying beat-down. Complete with mandatory Rasheed technical.

And since your year wouldn't be complete without some Steve Nash - here's his all star video promotion. enjoy. (funny footnote- Steve asked the video tech to set him up with 5 clips, they sent him back 10 mins.)

Have a great New Years (esp. you poor Star!)

An overlooked sport

Floor hockey....

No, not field hockey, played by tough girls in plaid skirts, but rather played by a bunch of misfits wearing everything from tshirts and shorts to jeans and plaid flannel shirts. Every Christmas Eve, my family decides that we must continue the tradition of bruised shins and twisted ankles. The Dirtman brings out the trusty plastic sticks and PVC goals, and we proceed to smack the heck out of each other.

And, yes, we consider this fun....

-boo

Happy Birthday Star....

I was trying to figure out what to get you for your birthday, and I hope the NU VB team delivers you a win and a Final Four appearance tonight, but since I have no control over that....

Here are a few things for you to enjoy.....

-boo

Congrats...

to Spain for knocking down the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup, then kicking clay in their faces. Seriously, they won 5-0. I mean of the 15 sets that were played the friendly Czechs won 3.
Usually when a team has won a Davis Cup tie, they throw out some nobodies in the last two matches. Not Spain, they threw Rafael Nadal & David Ferrer at Jan Hajek & Lukas Dlouhy. Poor little guys didn't even know what hit'em.

Happy Birthday to our sister Fifi.

HEAVY SIGH....

That game was just one second too long.....

SUH FOR HEISMAN!!!!!

...boo

Here is the Suh award watch...
12/07/09 - Nagurski Trophy (Best Defender) - winner
12/09/09 - Lombardi Award (Top Lineman) - winner
12/10/09 - Outland Trophy (Top Interior Lineman) - winner
12/10/09 - Bednarik Award (Best Defender) - winner
12/10/09 - Walter Camp (Outstanding Player) - finalist - McCoy won(?!?! whatever !?!?)

Belated Thanksgiving

Dear Steve Kerr,

Thanks for trading Shaq away. You made Steve Nash happy and when Steve's happy the whole world smiles.

Also, before the Sun's get bludgeoned by their brutal december schedule, they own the best record in the NBA, quick enjoy it. But tonight they play the New York Knickerbockers, who are just killing time until summer and Lebron sends back the note with the box next to NO checked. But head coach, Mike D'Antoni (former coach of the SSOL Suns) had managed lead them to a 3-14 record, which isn't terrible considering how badly the entire roster plays basketball. It does answer a which comes first chicken/egg question - Did Nash make D'Antoni's system or did D'Antoni's system make Nash? Answer: 14-3 v 3-14.

Remember Channing Frye? The Sun's new center? We liked him because he blogs about sushi, now we love him because he's 6'11", shoots 47% from 3, and most importantly likes 30 rock & Three Sheets. Winner!

Cy Young and Big XII North Champs

During the last week, a couple good things happened. Well, at least in the sporting world that I care about.

Zack Greinke, the crazy good young KC pitcher won the AL Cy Young in a landslide. And by crazy good, that is both crazy and good. As discussed in many other posts, Zack is a bit of a head case, but recovered well enough to strike out most of the American League, and quite a few of the National during interleague play... In an excellent week for him, he also married his high school sweetheart, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. I guess that's great if you like the perky blond swimsuit model-type. Whatever.

In a completely unrelated story, the Huskers won the Big XII North championship. That is kind of like me winning a foot race with Trent, Alex, Zach and Anna. And then having to race Mitch in the Championship game. Oh, well, at least Bret wasn't in the race. She might have smoked me.

-boo

TNT Checklist/Drinking Game

Pop your popcorn kiddies, settle in tonight and see if your Suns can break their 14 game TNT losing streak. Yep, that's all last year, plus pre-season. Not good. Also not good are the New Orleans Hornets without CP3, so the Suns have a good chance at this one. Here's your checklist/drinking game play along at home....

1. Kenny's tie knot will be slightly smaller than his head, only slightly.

2. Charles will make 3 inappropriate/racial references/jokes and only mention the Sun's in the context of turrrible defense...just turrrible.

3. Steve Nash with get fouled (maybe) not get the call (definitely) and will waste the entire next defensive possession yelling the the refs, gesturing wildly with arms & hair, and perhaps (if we're lucky) making glasses out of his fingers.

4. Can-Jez will make one pass that thats so ridiculous that you will drop your popcorn, not figuratively, literally- rewind your dvr and see it again.

5. Amar'e will play 33% of the game completely disinterested in defense, 100% overly tatooed and drop 2-3 easy passes.

6. Jared Dudley will be so annoying, you'll be yelling..."Mom, Jimmma is picking on us" but he won't be - that would be JD being the biggest pest you can imagine. His over/under for times he hits the floor is 5 (8 if its a blowout)

Let's go Suns!

Remember last NBA playoffs when I told you about Ron Artest being crazy?...read this.

Hey Everybody!!

So, been a while, but I've been inspired. Who watched the Breeders Cup yesterday? Because it was fantastic.
Zenyatta is a ginormous 5 year old mare. Bigger than all the boy horses. And the Breeders Cup has never been won by a filly. In fact, only 6 or 7 have ever run it. But she's undefeated, so how about they give her a run? She actually was the favorite, somewhat surprising.
To start with, some other horse goes crazy and has to be scratched at the gate. So all the other horses are just loaded up waiting, probably not good for these somewhat high-strung animals. So she breaks bad out of the gate, and is dead last through most of the race.
But going around the last curve, she kicks it in. Silly. Fast.
And that's the story.
Also, I think V and I are going to lose again in Fantasy Football. Big Surprise.
Jock

Good sports day yesterday

Husker football managed an ugly but satisfying win over the Sooners, the VB team spanked Ia State. That wouldn't have been news not long ago, but Christie Johnson has got those Cyclones playing some pretty good volleyball. 2 BigXII teams in the top 10. Pac10 got nothin' on us.

And on the hater side... Iowa, ND and Michigan all lost. Sniff, sniff.... hehehehe.

Star will have to tell about her Beer and Bagel run today. I think she had lots of fun!!!

Happy Birthday to the Dirtman!!!
-boo

Cycling & Whatnot

Surprise of the cycling off-season: Cadel Evans signs with BMC Racing Team. What the?? you say....me too. He still had one year on his contract with Silence-Lotto (a pro tour team), but BMC bought it out & he signed a 3 year contract with BMC (not a pro tour team). I guess Cadel will have Big George and Karsten Kroon to help him out & maybe get him to that top step of the podium of a Grand Tour.

Poor Tommy Haas has H1N1. I think he needs a hug....once he's not contagious. And Marat Safin is retired, just saying.

Oh and it's 100 days until the Vancouver Olympics!! Obscure Sports Heaven!!

Quick, before they lose.

Feeling pretty good that I managed to escape the midwest with nary a sniffle, that I get to watch Dwight Howard and Two-time (MVP that is) tonight in HD and that the Dunkin Donuts by my house is finally open - yes!

Okay, so the Suns are undefeated (4-0). And if you read my NBA prediction post last week you would see that I totally nailed it. or not. But I'm gonna be right about Cleveland. fo sure.

But back to Captain Fantastic - he's just sick. Not literally, but he's playing like the best point guard in the NBA, channeling the old white guy at the YMCA and whatnot, they say don't swim with sharks but he's faster than sharks so its not a big deal.

But I have to post this quick since they are most likely going to be 4-1 after tonight.

Unrelated, Andre Agassi's meth use makes me understand his poor clothing & hair choices a little better.

Fantasy Football - I love it... this year...

I figured I had better write this post now. I am sitting on top of the league right now, but like the king of the mountain contest atop the big snow pile by the old milkhouse, I will soon be doing a face-first snow angel.
Last year I started with a respectable 4-1 record, only to finish with at 6-8 and out of the playoffs. Which is pretty pathetic, considering that 6 of the eight teams made it.
Star is attempting to buy a championship, but is unable to even get a win. A bitter pill to swallow coming off her Glass Chalice season last year. The prior year's winner, Bones, is trying the same strategy, with more success. And don't even talk to Jock, who's JV team is suffering some first year growing pains.
But mainly, this post was an excuse to show some fine pics of my main man, Adrian Peterson. Mmmm, yummy. My starting quarterback, Peyton, is funny, but not as likely to show up shirtless. And, as hard as I tried, couldn't find many Kris Brown pics...

Well, until I fall from grace, I'm having fun this season!
-boo

It's Amazing...

Guess what! It's NBA regular season!!! yippee. Our house is very excited, each for different reasons. But you ask, didn't the season just end? well, yes it did but taking the format from pro tennis, 2 weeks off is all you need. I've put together a cheat sheet for all you non-NBA watchers (I don't know who that could be...*crickets*)

Eastern Conference

Shaq & LeBron have teamed up, which is awesome, until its not and Shaq sits on "Boobie" Gibson and squishes him, demands more touches and makes Coach Mike Brown cry. The Shaq experiment will cause Cleveland proper to curl up into the fetal position sucking it's collective thumb, desperately trying to convince itself that Cleveland is a way better place than New York. Here's all I have to say...Good Luck with that.

The Celtics will continue to cause non-Celtic fans to hate them even more (possible? yes!), while raising the dialogue of the game by putting Rasheed out on the floor with KG. Bring lots of earmuffs for the kiddies in the first 10 rows, or there'll be some word learn' going on.

The Orlando Magic - Dwight Howard's back, I guess he has teammates, don't know this never seen them. We know he has shoulders.

Other eastern team are mostly lousy, with a side of inept offense. (except for NY Knicks they'll be a different kind of lousy)

Western Conference

The Yankees/Lakers added two sides of crazy in the offseason, 1. Ron Artest 2 . Khloe Kardashian (married Lamar Odem, she's not actually playing-but that would be good news for the rest of the league). This will cause Kobe to wrestle the spotlight back by taking 20+ attempts a night and getting Phil Jackson's name tattooed on his neck. Luke Walton will continued wear way to much mascara, and his father will continue to drive me crazy. Sasha cut his hair, in theory this should make him less annoying, but I doubt it.

The San Antonio Spurs added Richard Jefferson, which is downright scary. Especially once he gets the chip implanted so he can sync with Timmy D. Read this here - picking them to win it all (unless Timmy needs a new part or Manu isn't Manu or Pepe Le Pew is distracted by his wife, or Pop goes to live on a deserted island)

Dallas added Shawn "The Matrix" Marion (former Sun, traded for Shaq) and I can't really think about that. Too sad. Even though Shawn is a unhappy human with a chip on his shoulder, I still wish he was on the Suns. And Dirk's hair is very german cyclist, put a helmet on that!

Denver still has Chauncy Billiups, who made a believer out of me during the playoffs. They continue to have the most tattoos per square inch of skin in the league.

Portland is young, except for Greg Oden who's 53.

Your Phoenix Suns will attempt to turn back the clock, going back to run & gun, replenishing the fountain of youth for Nash & Grant Hill, while turning the clock forward on the youngsters on the team and Amare's defensive development. Impossible? probably. But we have Steve Nash. Time and space constraints don't apply to him and whatnot.

New starting center, and Phoenix native, Channing Frye is set to have a breakout season, probably because he spent the last couple riding the pine in Portland, is it a problem that our starting center wasn't good enough to play much? no silly! just means he's rested up. Besides he likes sushi, so we like him. Channing and Amare will attempt to rebound, never heard of it? neither have they. So that might be a problem. (side note: truly expecting Theo's first words to be "Amare REBOUND dammit!")

Enjoy the next 8 months of basketball!!!

Misc....

Just some thoughts as I watch Nebraska battle Iowa State in volleyball....
-When are they going to announce Zack Greinke as the American League Cy Young winner....not soon enough.
-Baseball is not meant to be played or watched in the cold, (believe me, baseball is miserable when you have more then 2 layers on) so why is the season so long?? Hats with earflaps are meant for chopping wood and hunting!!
-With whom will Alberto Contador ride next year??? Still don't know, but will have a better idea at the end of the week when the UCI decides on Astana's Pro Tour status. If they don't make it, Garmin is very near the top of AC's list of teams. That would make it interesting come July.

ah shoot...Iowa State just beat Nebraska in 5 sets....the first loss to IA State by NU ever.

Tengo Gusto del éne•bé•a

Last night Los Suns played the 78'ers in Mexico, NBATV covered it with Spanish announcers - I got to work on my non-existent language skills. "Muy rapido, Steve Nash". Basketball already? you ask...didn't the season just end? or maybe you ask "What is this sport you are talking about?"

But to get you up to speed - Los Suns traded The Big Black Hole of Marketing/Ego/Sucking for a dozen donuts, which I was calling for all last year, at the top of my lungs, just ask Theo.

But no worries, Steve is back and so is Grant Hill (sporting a fade hair cut - old school), and a bunch of other tall guys too. Including Amar'e who had to lay face down 22 hours a day for 10 days recovering from eye surgery - two things about him. 1. he has the tattoo "black jesus" on his neck 2. he's featured in Mad Libs.

I really want to do a Mad Libs about ¡Jens! - who's in?

they say going down is easier.

We went down the South Kiabab trail, you can read about it here and plan your own hike. Ready girls?

Well done Tyler!

The American "Gentleman" sprinter Tyler Farrar won a four stage race in Belgium. He also won the first 2 stages, the young riders jersey & the sprinters jersey. And these was with guys like Tom Boonen & JJ Heado there, too!
Oh yea, and they do call Tyler a "gentleman sprinter" & I've heard that he is one of the nicest guys in the pelaton. Being called a gentleman is better then a prick (Cavendish) or druggy (Tom Boonen), but not a cool as being called a god (Thor).

Ouchie!

So, in your WNBA news- Indiana took game 2 here in Phx. The Mercury played poorly, Cappie Pondexter (2 guard, all-nba 1st team) has been a bit chippy and out of her game - I think it might be her new playoff hair style. Penny Taylor took an elbow to the mouth, they couldn't stop the bleeding for 20 minutes, got stitches in her lip and sat on the bench the rest of the game...not good. Luckily she's australian (as we have discussed in earlier posts) so she's cool.

So now Phx has to take one game in Mr Armpit's house in order to come back here - you all will have to cheer for me as I will at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Which brings us to the title of this post- that's probably what my legs will be screaming.

Oh, and a Steve Nash alert...I think he's one of the three musketeers. My guess is Dirk Nowitzki is another one..... don't know who the third one is, maybe Grant Hill?

Also, Cider (hard) is making a comeback - turns out...very old school. I'll drink to that!!!!

I have not abandoned you....

Not that you care, but I have been keeping up on the blog, I just haven't been commenting like I should. Busy days....

Few comments -

- Zack Greinke should win the Cy Young, but with only 16 wins on a bad team, his eye-popping stats won't be enough. 2.07 ERA, that is just sick for a starter, he just got no run support. He lost 6 games where he gave up 1 or less runs. I mean, seriously, that's just wrong.

-My niece is a stud. Took a softball to the throat and still went 5 for 6 with 5 RBI.

-Can't wait to watch my nephew V in his junior high football game tomorrow. Even though it is going to be cold as heck at that game.

-I'm super glad that baseball is almost over. I have to make some time to clear my DVR up, and I have been wasting way too much time watching bad KC games.

-Go Big Red!!!

-boo

Girls basketball does not suck

Okay, I know I'm the only basketball fan on here...hello? Dirtman? are you there?

But last nights game between the Phoenix Mercury and the Indiana Fever did not suck. At all. The Merc ran and ran like Gracie after eating a half bag of chocolate chips. Surprisingly the Fever kept up. Tamika Catchings managed to keep Taurasi under control (22 pts, 6 dimes, 9 rebounds, but on 5-17 shooting...yikes, kobe-like #'s). Luckily the Merc have Penny Taylor off the bench - who scored 23, 18 in the first half - all while chugging a Foster's* - Okay not chugging, but she looked like she may/may not fall asleep at any moment...australians are cool like that.

So, file away another obscure sport that I follow that gets 20 sec on coverage on SportsCenter, squashed in between an analysis of the Yankee's socks and a report that Tim Tebow flossed. If it wasn't for my boy Josh Elliot, I would be over you SC.

* Thats Australian for beer, like I need to tell you that.

Two buck seats...

Okay, first The Roosevelt was great. An old house, good beers on tap (Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale), yummy food (deviled eggs & ham, pickled okra).

But the Mercury game was just as good. First off - its always nice to see Phoenix beat L.A in basketball. And we got to see the classy (and really, really tall with sharp elbows) Lisa Leslie in her last WNBA game.

The Merc play an up-up-up tempo game and mix things up on defense. The starting lineup for LA averaged over 6 foot, and Phx starting guard had to be 5'3", and the 2 guard was 5'8". But Phx had Diana Taurasi, who yes...it's true, is a complete and total stud. She reminded me of Lebron in the way she seems about 25% more athletic than any other player on the court. But unlike Lebron she's completely clutch. She came out in the fourth and scored 8 straight points - if she decides to go to the basket, good luck stopping her.

Taurasi has at least two insane (insane! I tell you!) assists and guarded every single position on the other end (including blocking Lisa Leslie). It was pretty amazing. She's right up there with the greatest athlete I've ever seen in person - after the game Leslie said that Taurasi is the greatest player on the planet and I believe her.

So, free up your sports schedule (not that there is anything worth watching...really) The Mercury open the Finals against Indiana tomorrow night - best of 5. Go Merc!

WNBA - tonight!

So got $2 tickets to the Mercury tonight (thanks to ticketmaster it somehow ended up being $15.50, I wish Pearl Jam could have taken them down)

Poor Yen I've bribed him with promises of drinks & eats at The Roosevelt downtown (owned and operated by Matt of Matt's Big Breakfast) pretty exciting...will report back.

boo & I can pick out the cyclist...

Just check out the top 4 on the World Championship Time Trial:
1. Fabian Cancellara
2. Gustav Larsson
3. Tony Martin
4. Tom Zirbel
No surprise on who won, but wow, boo & I are good. Just a few short week's ago we were hanging out in a hotel lobby and 2 of these guys just happened to walk by. Curious.

Check out Bradley Wiggins helmet...totally cool.

On a similar note, but slightly off, here's the reason that Tom Z gives for being hired by Garmin: "I think it's because Magnus retired and they needed a token big guy."

A couple not-so-good things....

1. Justine is back. I know. Apparently, since Kim made it look so easy at the US Open, she is just going to breeze back out of retirement. Aaarrg.

2. NU volleyball takes on Texas this weekend. File under "Not sure yet", but pretty sure it isn't going to turn out well.

3. I'm OLD!!! But thanks for the birthday wishes anyway. At least my doctor told me I didn't have to lose weight. I don't know what she was thinking. She saw me in a hospital gown.

-boo

A couple good things...

1. A Dunkin Donuts is opening walking distance from my house. Very, very good news.

2. File under really, really obscure but the Phoenix Mercury (powered by Diana Taurasi) have advanced to the western finals, where they meet the LA Sparks (with Candice Parker & Lisa Leslie). Phoenix plays uptempo ball, with barely passable defense. I think defense is allergic to Phoenix, or vice versa.

3. Canadian Celebrity Steve Nash has an infomercial. NO WAY! Brilliant.

4. Happy Birthday Boo! Here's a cake blog for you!

Tour of Missouri - The Grand Finale

Just a few stories to finish of our adventure at the Tour of Missouri. We thought we were done after the podium and decided to take one last look through the hotel lobby. Well, I don't remember who's idea it was, but it was a great one. We'll just go from encounter to encounter.
-Mick Rogers (Asssie, Columbia-Highroad): after laying his guts on the line and being swept up by the pelaton within 500 yards of the finish line, you can understand why he was standing by himself and not in a very good mood. But as I've always said "Cyclists don't walk" that's the only way we can catch 'em. He did try to blend into a post that was nearby, but we got him anyway.



-Yaroslav Popovich (Ukranian, Astana): from a fellow stalker that was in the lobby we heard the Popo was outside the hotel about to get into a taxi. After a few moments of deliberation, we decided, what the hell. There where about a half dozen people standing outside and Popo packing things into the side door of the taxi van, so I walk right past them and as I tap him on his shoulder I swear he was singing to himself. But here's a lesson to all you stalker wannabes, don't be shy. As we head back into the lobby after getting our picture, we hear someone from the group that was hanging back say "well, if she can get a picture...". Hell ya!

-Franco Pellizotti (Italian, Liquigas): fantastic hair, but slightly scary upclose. He won the Climbers Jersey in the Tour de France this year, so he's little. Totally not flattering to stand next to.

-Gustav Larsson (Swede, Saxo Bank): he is so in my top ten now. Check out his tat. Oh, by the way, he was second in the Tour of Missouri and is the reigning Olympic silver medalist in the time trial. He's got pretty eyes, is nice and 6' 4", 169 lb, *ding*. That's why my eyebrows are raised, I just said to Gustav "You're tall!" You can see in the background !Jens! running away. What Would Jens Do?


-Tom Zirbel (American, Bissell): he finished 3rd in the time trial, & has signed with Garmin next year. Seems like a really nice guy, but you would think he was from England.
And the cyclists we missed (let walk by) Floyd, Frankie Andreu, Chicchi, Eki & his sad little mullet. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

And check this out, we were like 20 ft away and Cozza almost took out Dave Z after the race. And the Garmin guy in black...it was his wife that got !Jens! flowers that were for me! Arg!
It was a good time that was had by all, except Dirtman, I don't think he was impressed.

Why now????

Why? Why? Why? The Royals are torturing me again this season with a stellar September. After stinking it up more than I thought possible in June-August, they are on a complete tear within the division this month. I think they are just making sure that we start getting our hopes up again for next year, only to dash them again 2 months into the season.

After taking the last 4 series, they are clobbering the #2 Chicago White Sox 10-0 right now. At least Star's boyfriend has his 17 game hitting streak intact.

***heavy sigh****

There's always next year....

-boo

What goes up...

Not nearly as exciting as stalking cyclists, last weekend Trip Leader* and I did a practice climb up Mt. Humphery's (highest peak in AZ at 12,637 ft) to get ready for our upcoming Grand Canyon exhibition. Its a little over 4 miles to the top, with the last mile at over 11,500 in the tundra. Yes, tundra in Arizona.

Made it unscathed, despite a brief time of hunger-induced delirium when I was confused by a bird acting like a chipmunk (at least I thought - it was confusing).

Resting/Freezing on the saddle before the last mile - Star & Boo, behind me in the pic are those old volcanos we walked around NE of Flag, and yes I wear a goofy hiking hat because me & the sun are frenemies, without the "fr" part. But we summited - and according to Trip Leader* the weather was great, meaning that the wind wasn't blowing 40 mph.

Taking Trip Leader's* official summit portrait. The best part of the whole thing? easy, the bag of Doritos that I inhaled once we made it back to the car.

* Yen insists on being referred to as Trip Leader for all activities to do with the GC hike. He gets one letter addressed to him and then the power trip begins.

Tour of Missouri - !JENS!

For those new to cycling and this blog might not know how awesome Jens Voigt, hereby known as !Jens!, is. Here are a few !Jens! related stories from the Tour of Missouri.


-We saw 2 people sporting "WWJD? What would Jens Do?" shirts. Come on, that shirt is so 3 years ago.

-About a block from where the finish was, we were waiting to storm the podium and !Jens! came soft pedaling by 2 minutes after the pelaton finished. Boo and I yell "Good Job Jens" he turns and smiles. I think that is what caused the next story.

-Picture this, you're standing just to the right of the awards stage and Team Saxo Bank is being honored as the winner of the team category. All the riders get flowers and have just finished spraying and drinking their champagne. A few riders throw out their flowers into the crowd, then a few more. So you make eye contact with !Jens! and put of you hands as to say "!Jens! you're a rock star, throw me your flowers" and so he tosses them under-handed.....to the lady in front of you. Come on !Jens! she's wearing Garmin gear, I know you only use your arms to steer, but just one more person back. Maybe I looked like I didn't have any ups? Anyway, I think he did look sorry that he didn't get them to me.
And he must have remembered he stiffed me later when he rushed from hotel lobby to avoid me.

Tour of Missouri - Garmin's busdriver

***Note: The bus driver has a name....it's Kevin!!
We don't know his name, but he does have a point to the story. We talked to him at the Sedalia ITT stage and he did remember meeting us at the the ToC back in February. I guess we're memorable. We asked if Dave Z was going to win the ITT and he said that Dave was joking around a lot and that means he's feeling good. He (the bus driver) also mentioned that Dave is a curious study in human nature, no kidding.
We saw our friendly bus driver before the final stage in KC. We were standing outside the bus and he asked if we were here to see anyone in particular. Of course, Danny Pate is the correct answer. But we got distracted and started wandering though the other team buses. Saw Thor & Henrick again. Anyway, back to the Garmin bus... we standing around when I hear boo say "Hey Christian, how's the hand?" Holy Crap, boo and her cyclist eyes were on their A game. Christian Vande Velde tried to sneak up behind us on his little bitty cycling feet and boo still caught him.
Seriously back to the bus driver, we're waiting for Danny to come out and our driver asks if we wanted a picture or an autograph. Well, we don't have anything to sign, so we plan on just a picture. So our driver pulls out a Garmin cycling hat and asks if we want 1 or 2? Of course we want 2. Bonus points for the driver. Danny comes out fashionably late looking all cute, signs our hats and takes a picture with me. (Jock we forgot to ask him to Thanksgiving) And since Christian is still there we have him sign that hat too, now it might be worth something.
-Star
How elfin does Danny look?!?! I mean seriously, I was expecting his cycling shoes to have pointy toes with little bells. Ok, they are pointy, but there were no bells. - boo

Tour of Missouri - in the beginning

Tour of Missouri: we came, we stalked & then we left. I thought I'd give ourselves a day to make sure we don't get any restraining orders, but where do I start. I have to say that next time boo will not let me drive her car as we get close to the stage, I was so excited to see Team Saxo Bank out warming up that I kept starting out in 3rd (but I only killed it once!).

The first stage we went to was the individual time trial in Sedalia, MO. We got there early, which is important. We saw the whole Team Cervelo show up, so they were our first victims. Thor was there having coffee (surprise) and I got my pic with Heinrich Hausler. He's the cutie that leads out Thor on all the sprints. It looked like he just woke up, which I think he did.



There was slight confusion when I was going for a pic with Steve Cozza. He arrived in a car with Dave Z, & there was a miscommunication between boo & I. She followed Dave and I talked Steve into a pic, so when we turned around and smiled boo was gone. We were a little out of practice. But that is why Steve doesn't look very thrilled.




There was fire sale on Astana merchandise that we were going to buy them out and send it all to Lilly. hehehe

Tour of Missouri - we are back

Just you wait - Star has ALL kinds of stories about this year's Tour. She hit the stalking jackpot, pictures to follow. Fun race, good to see Planet Energy take a stage win. Two Canadians on the last stage podium, with a third as "Most Aggressive". Who knew?

Any way - more from Star later... - boo

Tennis, I guess...(half heartedly)

John Isner, I don't think I forgive you. sorry, you royally pissed my eyes off and they get stabby & carry a grudge. Sorry John, my eyes just get like that. Oh Andy, we'll miss you.

At least Murray got beat, and Shreeck-ova too. Oudin was a giant, blond russian killer, but couldn't take out the giant, blond dane tonight. And in further bad tennis news, the Bryan Bro's lost too. Too much time spent practicing jumping chest bumps I guess.

However, the first two sets of the Nadal/Monfils match last night were great - until wheels fell off the french bicycle and the spanish lion ate delicious flaky french croissants for a midnight snack.

Oh and who else is ridiculously excited for the Spike Jonze movie Where the Wild Things Are? Ohhh ME! Pick me! Pick me!!! (trailer)

Oh happy day...

Where do I start? Ok we'll start in Spain. Tyler Farrer won a stage at the Vuelta a Espana! He has ridden in every Grand Tour this year and it took him until the 12th stage to win one....he has had numerous 2nds & 3rds, but finally pulled though. Well done Tyler!!!
Now the real big news: THOR beat Cavendish in a sprint at the Tour of Missouri. Yippeee God of Thunder!! And he also took the leaders jersey from Cav, hehehe.
On some cycling sidenotes:
-Christian Vande Velde broke his hand during the 1st stage of the Tour of Missouri. That's sad.
-!Jens! Voigt made the team for the Tour of Missouri. That's awesome.
-Both of the Schlecks have dropped out of the Vuelta because of illness. I stopped watching them for the same reason.
-George Hincapie is wearing the Stars and Stripes at the Tour of Missouri. He does look like a super hero.
-Big Mig was at the Vuelta today. Check the comment on the pic.
-Dave Z should not be a model.

Happy Weekend! (early)

sad tennis eyes

because of Murray vs. Gulbis, then my ears got ticked off when Brad Gilbert started talking. He is close to leapfrogging Al Trautwig on announcers my ears would most like to push off a cliff. My ears know it's bad when they are glad that Johnny Mac starts talking.

One good thing about living on the left coast (besides being able to hold a weenie roast on the smoldering ruins of your neighbors house) is watching the last US Open match and still getting to bed at ten. Roddick's first round match, featured Andre Agassi in the comment box. Andre, you are the best. Really. A rare case of a great athlete and an even better person.

Unrelated to anything having to do with sports - but this guy twitters things his dad says. You're welcome.

Crashtastic....

that's about the best way to describe Stage 4 of the Vuelta. Take a look at the last crash, and probably one of the largest I've seen, there was many more before that. One rider ran into the back of a tanker that was parked on the side of the road....it had to hurt.
Chris Horner is out with a broken wrist :( I say he calls it a season, I think he needs a hug.
David Millar is really funny. And so is Ryder.

Hot of the wire: Big George has signed with BMC...wtf? Team BMC signed a couple big international names. I guess they're hoping for some invites to the Grand Tours. What I find interesting is Marcus Burghardt flew from Columbia to BMC, as well...Big George and Marcus were Mark Cavendish's final 2 leadout men all season. Last year it was Gerald Ciolek and he didn't stick around. I'm pretty sure that's a trend, but is it because of Cav or Columbia management?

New York, New Dork

I was going to write an insightful commentary on the US Open, but realized I didn't have another 20 shirtless pictures of Andy Roddick. So, Nadal opens against Richard Gasquet, he of "accidentally ingested cocaine" fame. On the Ladies side the Williams sisters are on the same side of the draw, Clijsters won her first round match and every third player is a 6 foot blond russian.

But more importantly Steve Nash is in China, where-apparently all fashion rules are thrown out the window. A Dork, an adorable dork, but a dork nonetheless.

Lil

Cycling...it was a good weekend!

For those not keeping track at home it was a good cycling weekend. In the first 2 stages of the Vuelta we had some good-looking winners. The fabulous Fabian Cancellara won stage 1 and Mr Adorable (and yes he does have cow spots on his jersey) was an upset winner of the stage 2 sprint.
In the US Championship we had Dave Zabriskie 4-peat as the champion of the time trial. He is Captain America of the time trial and put all others to shame, the second place was +40 sec back.
And the big, sexy George Hincapie is back as the champion of the road race. He looks great in a cape!!

Cycling Update...

Well the cycling season is starting its last hurrah. The third and final Grand Tour, Vuelta a Espana is starting in Holland on Saturday. Yep, the Tour of Spain's first 4 stages are in the land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and blisters from hell. The Hollandite riders are very excited to be riding a Grand Tour in their home country, every other rider is dreading the long transfer after 4 stages.
A few notables in this most Spanish of Grand Tours:
-Keep an eye (and don't blink) on America's fastest man on a bike Tyler Farrar, he's been on a tare in the last few weeks winning Vattenfall Cyclassics and winning 3 stages and wearing the leaders jersey in the Eneco Tour.
-I will say that the Vuelta will be very easy to watch considering Ivan Basso, Mr. Adorable (Gerald Ciolik), Karsten Kroon, and my little Chechu are all racing.
-Alexander Vinokourov is back on a bike and racing. I got some mixed feelings about that.
-The Schleck are racing, so my judgement gun is out. They're really skinny, so I have to be precise with my aim.
-Pieter Weening's racing for Rabobank.....need I say more.
And the Tour of Missouri is coming up as well....more on that later. -Star

Back to the pain..

that is summer in Phoenix. Nebraska was nice- until the last two days. Boo - your cupcakes were amazing and Star your house was very clean.

So, while we were busy, Steve Nash was on Who Wants to be a Millionaire to play for his charity. They must have thought he was a dumb jock not from canada, cause they gave him a pretty easy question. Mo Rocca also tried to act like the question was hard. Steve was his usual charming self, with shiny, shiny hair. The highlight is Regis putting the jersey on like a smock.

Star - help me out. Is it true Tyler Farrar won a Classic? that puts him elite american cycling company. Also, David Millar has a new blog post about the start of the Vuelta. David, you are the pastiest, funniest cyclist.

One more thing, the royal-esque d-backs (coming off a 7 game losing streak) have the most adorable little Aussie playing for them. He's spent a long time in the minors, but has done well since being called up. Don't worry about knowing his name cause he's gonna be back in Reno soon.

Yea!!! The God of Thunder!!

Thor Hushovd will be at the Tour of Missouri, so I have another chance to have coffee with him prior to the Time Trial. Come on down to Sedalia and join Star and me. Or come to KC, I think the Dirtman will be joining us for the criterium. - boo

S%&# or get off the pot.....

yes, I'm talking to you Brett Favre. Seriously, this isn't like choosing to have a padded toilet seat or not (go with padded).
What gets me is what he wore to his press conference. I'm not on the up and up of fashion, but is he also mowing the grass for the Vikings?

Cycling Update......

Since the Tour de France, the cycling world has been full of rumours of who's going to what team and who's starting the Vuelta e Spana (Tour of Spain) and Tour of Missouri (personally very interested).
But nothing can be officially announced regarding riders changing teams until Sept 1. But here are some changes that are going on. Chris Horner doesn't even know where he'll end up, but with whomever he's signs, Horner thinks they will be getting their money's worth. Kind of like the company I work for....ok, not really.
The Vuelta is starting Aug 29 and here's a rough start list. Tyler Farrar will get a chance to go mano a mano with Tom Boonen for the sprints, which should be interesting. They have Christian Vande Velde starting, but I've also heard he's defending the Tour of Missouri, maybe he's been cloned? Chechu will be starting for sure, this is the one Grand Tour he asks to go to, so he won't be in Missouri :(
And speaking of the Tour of Missouri, starting Sept 7, everyones favorite German rider that has a face of steel: !JENS! could be there! Oh sweet day!!! -Star

*crickets*

Sports suck right now.

To help you pass the time and get ready for fall races....

An article about a Phoenix man who recently ran Badwater.

And a blog post about getting fast or maybe faster - and fartleks - yeah, fartleks not what they sound like.

and Dwight's shoulders.

Sorry for the delay

It has be a down period in the obscure sports world. Enjoying watching Andy in the Legg Mason where he is the short (6'2") guy in the tall man bracket. (Querry 6'6", Karlovic 6'10" and Isner 6'9") And he gets Del Potro (6'6") in the final. He is doing better than he thought he would after taking a month off. All I know is... can't wait for the US Open!!
The Royals are worse that they were last year, and this is after a start where they looked great... what went wrong? I mean, besides everybody getting hurt. All teams have injuries, it is just that the Royals are young and fragile and can't handle the pressure. But Zack got his first win since before the All-Star break. Good for him!
Football starts in less than a month!!! Yea!!!
-boo

Maybe it is cool in Argentina, but turquoise shorts and a muscle shirt????

Heckle the Fastest Man on wheels. . . in person

Well Star & Boo, sounds like you're gonna have to start practicing now, your heckling will have to be short and to the point since he's going by at 50mph.

Good luck with that.

Or just stand on the smallest incline, then you can read the entire paragraph you've prepared.

Sad Day in the NFL

I know it's not an obscure sport, but's still a sad day. Stewart Bradley has a torn ACL & out for the season. :(
Ah Stewy, you may need some surgery. I'm not surgeon, but I can see a very good hospital from my window, so I can give you excellent directions. But you won't be able to drive with the bum knee.... so I'll drive, no worries. Just get better & don't stop smiling, you have the finest grill in the NFL, but thank you for getting a haircut.

Its been 13 days since a steve nash posting

You are due.

Quote from Steve who is receiving a honorary degree from University of Victoria (where he grew up practicing in their gym) "It's about time, All the books and essays I've contributed to modern science and whatnot, it's the least they can do"* **

*extra point for the use of "whatnot" Stevie - sometimes you are so canadian.

** the canadian papers took out the "whatnot" - the AZ paper kept it in.

File under adorably self-deprecating.

Dream Tennis Match

Seriously....could anyone imagine a better looking match? At the LA Open Marat Safin is playing Tommy Haas. Sigh.

Okay...I'm not ready to be over it

Here's a picture that (almost) perfectly illustrates one of my dream scenarios - with this slight tweaking - Wiggo on a podium and Dave Z standing by with torch to light Jonathan's sideburns.

Bradley way to double fist them beers - I imagine that after finishing the TdF that is a group of skinny cheap drunks.

Lilly, !Jens! has found a way to beat Astana!! And he's recovering. - Star

Maybe Tour of Missouri!! WWJD?!?! Get back on his bike and say "Shut up body and just pedal!!" - boo

Post-Tour letdown

Despite having 4 more free hours in my day, I miss the tour.

So, here's a couple photos to cheer you (and me) up.

US Men's indoor V-ball has been on espn2 lately, but I think they are old games which is weird, but I guess it's summer and old volleyball games are better than baseball. It's so amazing to see such tall guys dig, its also very scary to see them hit. Happy eyes indeed (that's right- I'm talking to you #3)

Completely Random

-Guy who writes in the OWH made a funny about Rogerer, "...when the twins were born, they slapped the babies to make them start crying, then they slapped Roger to make him stop..."

-Sad comment on SC after yet another KC loss, "... Zach Greinke, and that rhymes with Future Yankee..." NOOOOOOO!!!! He would be a disaster in NYC, too much of a head case.

-Shout out to the "Irish Mist", took 5th in the Bayview Mackinac Yacht Race, a 239 nautical mile race in Lake Michigan. Yacht racing just doesn't get the press it should.... The race took 3 days, the winds are fickle. Congrats to Skipper David Spiers. I don't know him, but his daughter-in-law is a friend of a friend. And I would love to go up the Mackinac Island. Looks gorgeous.

-Belated Congrats to the niece on a hard-fought 3rd place finish at the State Softball tourney a couple weeks ago. They lost the first game, and had to play 7 in a row out of the losers bracket.

- Umm, that's all I've got. -boo

Le Tour...Le Fail

Not so much win...

Astana - rhymes with drama for a reason. Can't even began to chronicle it. I toss a water bottle of fail at your heads (except for you, Levi, and you, Kloden, and you, Popo).

Lance's butterfly bike - decorated with real butterfly wings - just cause you can, doesn't mean you should. "I'm so rich I'm gonna make solid gold bike shorts, look at me everybody" (say in texas accent)

That hole in the road that brought down Jens- not fair! not cool!

Cav talking.... or celebrating. (But a complete win on enthusiastically hugging his teammates, I guess if George is your teammate it makes it easy-watch out for his collarbone!)

Contador winning ITT - Really? over Fabian? REALLY?

The Schleck's biceps (or the place where their biceps should be)

Tyler's haircut- noooooooo!- to much time spent with russian bike monkeys.

George not getting yellow - I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just sayin' its a shame.

Frankie's lame ass interviews. "So, how'd you go today? So, how you gonna go tomorrow?

Johan's....well...existence.

The curb that broke Levi's wrist. Come on curb pick on someone you own size. -Star