Been bit by the random sports bug
So for those of you not currently addicted to watching World Cup soccer or the Tour de France, I'll fill you in. The action is addictive and nearly impossible to avoid. It doesn't help that friends of mine and I are playing this game to see who can get the most points for picking the daily stage winners of the Tour [there are 20] so it involves analyzing each stage, the remaining riders [some of the best never even started the race due to a Spanish doping scandal]
The World Cup is nearly over with Italy playing France for the 1st and 2nd place titles and Germany and Portugal playing for 3rd place. The last few games have had little or no score in regulation time, often going to double overtime and eventually a shoot out. Its too bad that American's aren't nearly as absorbed by the national past time of so many other nations.
The Tour de France is shown several times a day on OLN TV and if you can manage to catch just a bit of the color commentary by Bob Roll, its well worth it. He has several choice analyses of the racers as well as the spectators. There are several American riders who are favored to take the whole lot, including Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, potentially George Hincapie [although at 36, he's past his prime]. The race is currently in the 'flat' part so its been fun to watch the crazy sprinters break for the finish line as if they were thoroughbreds in a Preakness race or something. In one of the most recent stages, a fan cut a rider with a "green hand" promo piece, causing the race directors to ban the dangerous cardboard from the finish line [seriously, the guy riding was going about 45 mph and his heart was beating at about 190 bpm so its no wonder that a cut just gushed blood].
There have been a few exciting crashes [cause that's why I really watch...to see the blood and gore] and watching the stage with Tivo [John says its a time machine; you can zip through commercials and boring parts with the click of a button] is a luxury.
If you're interested to listen to the action, log onto eurosport.com and listen in. Its not the same as watching but its better than reading the commentary.
The World Cup is nearly over with Italy playing France for the 1st and 2nd place titles and Germany and Portugal playing for 3rd place. The last few games have had little or no score in regulation time, often going to double overtime and eventually a shoot out. Its too bad that American's aren't nearly as absorbed by the national past time of so many other nations.
The Tour de France is shown several times a day on OLN TV and if you can manage to catch just a bit of the color commentary by Bob Roll, its well worth it. He has several choice analyses of the racers as well as the spectators. There are several American riders who are favored to take the whole lot, including Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, potentially George Hincapie [although at 36, he's past his prime]. The race is currently in the 'flat' part so its been fun to watch the crazy sprinters break for the finish line as if they were thoroughbreds in a Preakness race or something. In one of the most recent stages, a fan cut a rider with a "green hand" promo piece, causing the race directors to ban the dangerous cardboard from the finish line [seriously, the guy riding was going about 45 mph and his heart was beating at about 190 bpm so its no wonder that a cut just gushed blood].
There have been a few exciting crashes [cause that's why I really watch...to see the blood and gore] and watching the stage with Tivo [John says its a time machine; you can zip through commercials and boring parts with the click of a button] is a luxury.
If you're interested to listen to the action, log onto eurosport.com and listen in. Its not the same as watching but its better than reading the commentary.
posted by no-e-plz at 4:38 PM
