It all begins and ends with Lance Armstrong. The anti-Tour de France rhetoric is well underway already, but winning six in a row is simply amazing. What am I saying? Winning one is amazing. Winning five, as four others have, is unbelievable. But, six? Amazing.
Like many others, I pay more attention because an American is doing well, but diminishing Armstrong's accomplishment because we don't count this event amongst our top sporting interests is somewhere between silly and naive.
It's not like this version of bicycling is you and me heading out to the local park. They are going up the Alps, not their driveway. They have time trials and endurance contests. They race up mountains and down cobblestone roads. They race in the rain, cold, heat and whatever other condition arises. They ride for over twenty days.
I admit I like the Tour. Unlike many zealots of other "minor" sports, I am not going to tell you that the Tour is better than the World Series. It isn't. Well, not for me anyway. However, it's a cool event and darn difficult to succeed in. If you don't like it or view it as something less than important on your sports scene, that's fine by me. You just lose out on seeing a great moment in sport.
Williams Bolts
I've already written some on Miami Dolphins' star Ricky Williams cashing out and bidding the NFL au revoir (Sorry, it's French left over from previous post). Having seen this sort of thing first hand with Barry Sanders, I am not surprised. Unlike Sanders, Williams had some well documented issues off-the-field and appears to be the stereo-typical "free spirit". Those only make the former Heisman Trophy winner's departure that much easier to understand.
I'm sure that most Fish fans are probably really mad right now. However, I've learned over the years that some athletes don't really like their jobs all that much. Most do, but there are a few blessed with talent that just tolerate the confines of their profession until they can find something better to do with their time. While this confounds those of us who wish we could have their jobs and ability, some guys just aren't into playing sports for a living.
If one of your co-workers retires young, especially if financially secure, no one really bats an eye. Who could blame them for getting out from under the stress that a "regular job" takes? In fact, most people I know would love to have the opportunity Williams has before him. Early retirement with lots of money in the bank? Many dream of such a chance.
If Williams, already known to have some emotional problems, walks away from what he perceives as a stressful enviroment, who am I to say he's wrong? Maybe Williams is absolutely right. Maybe getting out of the glare and repetition of the NFL will help him. I hope so. All that money and free time can lead to disaster if not handled properly.
It's easy to peg Williams as a loser. He is, even by his own admission, making a very selfish decision, but it's hard for me to get too upset. He doesn't have to play football if he doesn't want to. We shouldn' expect him to.
The I Don't Care Department
(Editor's Note: Technically, it should be the "You Don't Care Department". As I am going to fill this space sharing things you could care less about.)
I'm trying to follow European soccer this fall. However, I am already overwhelmed. Part of it is clearly the lack of knowledge of common terms, nicknames and the like, on my part. The other thing I find both interesting and disturbing is the amount of international transactions. It's interesting because you can change your football club in a hurry, it's disturbing because you can change your football club in a hurry.
One day your goalkeeper is from Hungary, next season it's a Brazilian and their this kid in Spain who might be available. I thought trying to keep track of baseball prospects was challenging, I have no idea how international football fans keep pace with the transactions and rumored deals. I think I know part of the reason that so many football fans are drinking.
Did I mention the season has started yet?
No comments:
Post a Comment