Archive for July, 2009
Alberto Contador has the Yellow Jersey
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Can he keep the Yellow Jersey after Stage 16?
Alberto Contador proved last Sunday that he is the sport’s next big star after winning Stage 15 of the 2009 Tour de France. The win also let Contador seize the yellow jersey, something he and his teammate, Lance Armstrong, have been salivating over ever since we kicked it off in Monaco.
While Alberto Contador had one of the best performances of his career to take the lead in the standings, Lance Armstrong had one of his worst. Armstrong finished in ninth place, finishing a minute and a half behind Contador. And because of his somewhat unimpressive performance, he sees his chances of an eight Tour de France title, fading.
‘’It will be hard. A day like this really shows who’s the best, and I wasn’t on par with what is required to win the Tour,’’ Lance Armstrong said. ‘’That’s the reality; that’s not devastating news or anything.’’
‘’I gave it everything that I had, and I wasn’t the best.’’
Being the best is what Alberto Contador is hoping to be once Armstrong walks away from the sport for good. He finally recovered the celebrated yellow jersey, something he hadn’t worn since his Tour victory two years ago, and now that he has, he’s making it clear that he is the man to beat this year.
And as far as his Astana teammate, Lance Armstrong is concerned, the guy agrees.
With a 1-minute, 37-second gap between him and Contador, Armstrong now sees himself playing the domestique role to help and support Contador win it all this year. Does this mean that Armstrong is quitting on the 2009 title already? Who knows, but at least he tried to sound happy for his teammate last Sunday.
‘’[Contador] is the best in the race, and he…
The Vikings still love Brett Favre’s arm
Monday, July 20th, 2009
You can almost see the Vikings signing Favre in a few weeks now.
In case you were living under a rock lately, the Minnesota Vikings have been waiting for Brett Favre to finally make his inevitable return to the field official and play for them, and since we only have a few months left before the 2009 NFL football season kicks off, Favre better decide soon.
On July 30, Minnesota Vikings fans will finally find out if Brett Favre will be on their side for the coming season or not. Favre acknowledges the fact that he is running out of time contemplating about making another comeback or just become irrelevant like Daunte Culpepper has become these days. According to Favre, he’ll make a decision at the end of the month.
‘’There’s two weeks left and I’m doing everything I can,’’ Brett Favre said. ‘’I was down here Sunday morning working out. I’m trying to get everything to where I feel 100 percent when I go in. I can’t go in any less. When you’re 39 years old, it’s hard enough. But it’s getting there.’’
‘’I felt like going to New York last year that I still had it,’’ Favre said, referring to the last comeback that he made last season when he decided to play for the New York Jets. ‘’I didn’t know my arm was hurt at the time. So that’s what I try to get across to people. I had that fixed, the surgery to fix that. So I’m trying to make sure that if I go back that that part is completely resolved.’’
Is it? Does he finally have that power in his arm back that gave him the license to put us through this ‘’retire then comeback’’ bullshit every goddamn year?
‘’I don’t think Minnesota would even consider it if I didn’t have it,’’ Favre said. ‘’Second of all, I wouldn’t even think about it if I didn’t have it. Now, having it here and having in on the field on Sundays is two different things, I know that for a fact. I know what it takes to play on Sunday and I still believe I have that.’’
Let’s sure hope so because some people…
Stage 12 of 2009 Tour de France is on
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Cavendish will go for his third straight win on Thursday.
The 2009 Tour de France continues its eastward journey across central France with Stage 12 running between Tonnerre and Vittel.
And as far as Mark Cavendish is concerned, he wants to win this one too. You see, he’s been riding on some kind of momentum lately that got him winning the last two races of the Tour. Thanks to Cavendish, the standings remain the same with Rinaldo Nocentini holding on to the yellow jersey, Alberto Contador second and Lance Armstrong remaining third overall.
The win also let Mark Cavendish take the green jersey from Thor Hushovd. ‘’I was able to get the jump on Thor and win, so it was perfect,’’ Cavendish said. ‘’It was just beautiful the way the guys could adapt to the situation and deliver me to the sprint.’’
As big as this win was for Cavendish, don’t expect him to settle because we are entering to the crucial parts of the 2009 Tour de France where anything can happen, including Lance Armstrong catching up to the yellow jersey.
With stage 12 of the 2009 Tour de France running between Tonnerre and Vittel, the advantage now shifts to the breakaways as the race climbs six categorized climbs. None of the climbs on the menu are especially difficult. The constant up and down should enable the attackers to elude capture and contest the stage victory.
It’s a day of wine and water, as Tonnerre is famous for its white wine and Vittel for its mineral water. Tonnerre is a new start town for the Tour, which typically traces the outline of France, rather than cutting straight through the center of the Hexagon. Tonnerre sits astride a canal and retains many of its medieval buildings.
Vittel has hosted the Tour de France…
Betting on the 2009 MLB All-Star Game
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
The Midsummer Classic is here.
That’s right, the 2009 MLB All-Star Game is set this Tuesday as the players fans voted in to play will hope they can make an even bigger name for themselves and increase their dollars.
So who made the cut? Let’s start with the 2009 MLB National League All-Star starters. The NL team consists of catcher Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, and top vote-getter Albert Pujols at first base.
And since Pujols was the leading vote-getter in balloting for the Midsummer Classic, he became the very first Cardinal to start an All-Star game in his home ballpark. ‘’It feels great to be there and represent the organization and the city you play in,’’ Albert Pujols said.
Albert Pujols is well on his way to another amazing year, leading the majors with 31 homers and 82 RBIs. He collected 5,397,374 votes to finish with the second-highest total in Major League history, trailing only Ken Griffey Jr.’s six million votes in 1994. Pujols has made the NL team eight times in nine seasons and will be making his sixth start.
The rest of the National League all star infield consists of Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, and Mets third baseman David Wright. Manning the outfield would be Brewers Ryan Braun, Mets Carlos Beltran, and Phillie’s Raul Ibanez.
The injury-riddled Mets lead the NL with…
Home Runs kick off Midsummer Classic
Monday, July 13th, 2009
Albert Pujols kicks off the Midsummer Classic in front of his hometown fans in St. Louis.
THAT is the kind of pressure top vote-getter Albert Pujols is in coming to the 2009 MLB All-Star festivities in St. Louis. Imagine this, he was just voted in by baseball fans the most, getting majority of the votes to play in the All-Star game. But before he can get to play the actual game, he has the 2009 MLB Home Run Derby to worry about first. And did I mention he has the entire town of St. Louis watching his every move?
There is no doubt that Albert Pujols will go for broke once the Midsummer Classic gets to St. Louis. The top vote-getter for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game will compete in his third Home Run Derby and while the last two were already great, this one should be more special since this will be the first time Pujols will perform in front of the Cardinals fans in Missouri.
There’s this one problem though.
In the 23 previous Home Run Derby contests, only one hometown favorite has hoisted a trophy at the end of the night. That was Ryne Sandberg back in 1990. But if there’s one guy who can win the Derby for his hometown, it’s Albert Pujols.
Other guys who’ll be competing against Pujols include Prince Fielder. Fielder is the first second generation player to be a Home Run Derby contestant. His father, Cecil Fielder competed back in the early 90s. He never won, which gives estranged son Prince some motivation to show up his dad.
Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres is also in. The guy is quietly having an awesome season for the floundering Padres, looking like a young Sammy Sosa for at least the first half of the season. Don’t let those 24 home runs fool you though, Gonzalez plays in the spacious Petco Park, where he’s only cranked out 8 Home Runs at clip of 18.1 AB/HR. On the road, he’s a Pujolsesque 8.5 AB/HR with 16 Homers.
Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies is…
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