Only The French

Someone must explain to me why the Tour de France is 20 stages. I watched the 19th stage, a time trial, and at the end of the broadcast the announcers said Alberto Contador (don't ask why he is kissing something from my grandmother's china set) had won the entire race. How is this possible? The guy had nearly lost his 2+ minute lead only moments before but he was declared the winner with one day remaining in the race. Cadel Evans of Australia and Levi Leipheimer of the USA (the guy on the right in the above picture) were within 23 and 31 seconds, respectively. If it weren't for tradition yesterday's 20th stage through Paris had the making of a phenomenal finish. Alas, there was none.

A lot of people have grown disinterested in the Tour de France because Lance Armstrong is no longer riding and everyone that is left makes Barry Bonds seem like an honest person doing it with only God-given ability. That of course bothers me but I can't believe the last day of the race does not matter. I have never seen the NFL skip the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl and declare the score at the end of 3 quarters the final tally. Likewise, I have never been to a baseball game that skipped ahead to the post game celebration after "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." Hell, I can't think of any other sport, or activities that call themselves sports (e.g., fishing, bowling) that don't count the final minutes of action.

It's common to rail on sports whose winners are determined solely by judges but at least ice skaters are given scores that matter on each and every triple salchow, even the last one. The cannonball entry into the water on the last dive does hurt a diver's chance of winning gold. A gold medal winner of the 1,500m race at the Olympics is declared just that after all 1,500m have been completed. No sooner. The idea of clutchness has never entered the lexicon of the Tour de France. The last stage is for champagne and hand-holding. I will never understand but am not the least bit surprised that it's the French that advocate such a finish to a grueling sporting event.

(Photo from Peter DeJong/AP.)

While I Was Gone

I did not get much sports news while I was away so I spent a fair amount of time today catching up on things. Work is a bit slow at the moment so I was able to get away with it. There were a few things that happened that caught my eye.

1. Home Run Derby - Vlad won the Derby, which made me very happy. It appears there weren't very many home runs hit. In particular, no one had a fair ball land in McCovey Cove. For whatever reason this gave people reason to marvel at the greatness of Barry Bonds. Personally, I saw it more as a reason to marvel at the greatness of BALCO.

2. All-Star Game - How in the hell does Albert Pujols have as many ABs at this year's All-Star Game as (insert name of your favorite 6-year old cousin)? If Tony LaRussa thinks managing to lose the game is going to keep the Dodgers from winning the World Series he is gravely mistaken.

3. Greg Oden - Check out this YouTube clip and explain to me why the NBA is using 8 ft. hoops for summer league. Everyone wants to look at the fact that Oden had 19 fouls in 2 games and say he was terrible. I contend that number is more of an indictment on the high school refs they had at the games. Oden will dominate. The Blazers will win championships.

4. Tour de France - This thing started and nobody cares. I remember a few years ago it was a big deal for me to wake up at 6:00 am to catch the end of each stage to see where Lance was. Now that he has retired and everyone else has been busted for drugs people are more excited about eating contests and I wake up later. Only the NHL has any idea what the Tour is feeling these days.

5. David Beckham - The Beckhams arrived in LA and it was a big deal. I'll give the guy credit and admit he probably is good-looking but I'm not sure that is going to make Americans watch football. My unhealthy sports addiction is well-documented but I am certainly not going to watch MLS games because he is playing. I vow to only care about the World Cup and no male model is going to change that.

6. Yankees Still Suck - It is mid-July and people still haven't figured this out. The Yankees play some horrendous teams with one-fourth their payroll and folks think they are new and improved. That simply is not the case. They still have the most overrated player at nearly every position, embarrassingly poor pitching and a racist manager (so says Gary Sheffield and Kenny Lofton). That trifecta tells me they may finish above .500 but miles away from a playoff berth.

(Photo from Kimberly White/Reuters.)