Well, the weekend in sports was definitely a roller coaster ride. Up down, around the loop- to- loop I went, weeing and screaming all the way. When the ride stopped, first I was jacked and then I was right sick.
Warm and Fuzzies
Way to go Lance Armstrong, you are truly an inspiration to humanity. Armstrong by winning his seventh Tour de France by almost five minutes has etched himself into sporting lore ahead of Gretzky, Woods and all the other contemporaries that he spoke so eloquently of in his farewell speech. Cheers!
As well, congratulations are in further due for Armstrong not being able to resist a parting shot at "the people who don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics" who suspect that doping is rife and fuelled his dominance of the past seven years.
"I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. But this is a hell of a race," he said. "You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it."
Quotes Curtesy of Associated Press
The Good.
I did fantastic in my Yahoo Sports Fantasy Racing League on Sunday. At the end of NASCAR's Pennsylvania 500 mt stats looked like this.
Notes Started Finish Laps LapsLed QualBonus LapsBonus Score Pts
(A List)
Ryan Newman Dodge 4 5 203 1 1pt 10pts 82 93
(B List)
Rusty Wallace Dodge 13 2 203 18 10 88 98
Mark Martin Ford 3 3 203 26 3 10 86 99
(C List)
Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 14 22 203 8 10 48 58
Race Total:348
If anyone else plays in a fantasy league drop a line and tell me how you did. I had a pretty good day for a rather lack luster season.
Here's the Official Race Results and Summary.
St Car Driver Make Sponsor Pts/Bonus Laps Status
1 2 #97 Kurt Busch Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 190/10 203 Running
2 13 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 175/5 203 Running
3 3 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 170/5 203 Running
4 41 #99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 160/0 203 Running
5 4 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge Mobil 1/Speedpass 160/5 203 Running
6 10 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 150/0 203 Running
7 6 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 146/0 203 Running
8 23 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 142/0 203 Running
9 34 #0 Mike Bliss Chevrolet NetZero Best Buy 138/0 203 Running
10 5 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft Genuine Parts 134/0 203 Running
11 1 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco Havoline 130/0 203 Running
12 9 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 127/0 203 Running
13 21 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 124/0 203 Running
14 8 #25 Brian Vickers Chevrolet GMAC/ditech.com 121/0 203 Running
15 20 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 118/0 203 Running
16 39 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 115/0 203 Running
17 7 #16 Greg Biffle Ford Post-it/National Guard 117/5 203 Running
18 16 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 109/0 203 Running
19 26 #43 Jeff Green Dodge Cheerios/Betty Crocker 106/0 203 Running
20 42 #41 Casey Mears Dodge Target 103/0 203 Running
21 22 #07 Dave Blaney Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 100/0 203 Running
22 14 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 102/5 203 Running
23 27 #32 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Chevrolet Tide 94/0 203 Running
24 19 #11 Jason Leffler Chevrolet FedEx Ground 91/0 203 Running
25 11 #22 Scott Wimmer Dodge Caterpillar 88/0 203 Running
26 24 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 85/0 203 Running
27 15 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 82/0 202 Running
28 25 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 79/0 202 Running
29 31 #4 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Lucas/Wide Open Energy Drink 81/5 202 Running
30 33 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Chick-Fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride 73/0 202 Running
31 12 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge Schwan's Home Service 70/0 202 Running
32 38 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 67/0 201 Running
33 18 #10 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Valvoline 64/0 201 Running
34 32 #66 Mike Garvey * Ford Peak Fitness 61/0 201 Running
35 37 #37 Kevin Lepage Dodge BoSPOKER.net 58/0 201 Running
36 30 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DeWalt Power Tools 55/0 195 Running
37 17 #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 52/0 192 Running
38 40 #77 Travis Kvapil * Dodge Kodak/Jasper Engines 49/0 179 Running
39 28 #5 Kyle Busch * Chevrolet Kellogg's 46/0 150 Out of Race
40 29 #7 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Jim Beam 43/0 143 Out of Race
41 36 #34 P.J. Jones Chevrolet Mach One Inc. 45/5 23 Out of Race
42 43 #27 Kirk Shelmerdine Ford LR Lyons & Son/Salem RV 37/0 11 Out of Race
43 35 #13 Greg Sacks Dodge Sacks Motorsports 34/0 5 Out of Race
* Denotes Rookie
(Re-posted from www.Nascar.com)
Kurt Busch dominated at the beginning, surged back to the lead late and raced to his second win of the season Sunday in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. Busch led 110 of the first 150 laps on his way to retain his fifth place overall standing.
Busch passed second-place finisher Rusty Wallace coming out of Turn 3 with 17 laps left and held on to the lead even as four cautions came out before the end, which forced three extra laps and the green-white checkered flag. Jimmy johnson retains the overall lead with his twelfth place finish.
It was nice to see Mark Martin take third spot, this was perhaps his last run at Pocono. Overall it was a good race, only minor bitching about track conditions causing cut tires from Gordon but hey what do you expect. The million dollar baby finished 13th and is running out of time to crack the top 10 to contend for the Nextel Cup Championship.
It's off for a week, then the guys head off to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Brickyard for the Allstate 400 on August 6.
The Bad
My CFL fantasy pool over TSN took a beating, it was a week of upsets and finishes you couldn't script. Lets start in Calgary were Henry Burris got the strong start he wanted playing against his old team.
In his first regular season game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders since being acquired by the Calgary Stampeders in the off-season, Burris set the tone early and led his new squad to a convincing 44-18 win Saturday night.
Almost a third of the sellout crowd of 35,652 fans were wearing green to support their beloved Riders, but they didn't have much to cheer about as Burris ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for two more to lead the Stamps to victory.
Pick:Sask.
Here in Hamilton on Saturday as well, there were five lead changes, but when the final whistle blew the B.C. Lions were still undefeated and my beloved Hamilton Tiger-Cats winless.
B.C. trailed by nine in the second quarter before piecing together a comeback and taking the lead for good late in the third in a 28-22 victory over Hamilton on Saturday night.
The Lions improved to 4-0, while the Ticats fell to 0-4.
Danny McManus played well, but it's clear he needs help from his receivers. Danny Mack completed 16 of 32 passes for 221 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns in front of 27,692 at Ivor Wynne Stadium. The game clearly went to the Lions quarterback Dave Dickenson, who completed 26 of 34 passes for 313 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Pick:BC
Friday night I witnessed the shocker of season so far. Milt Stegall gave the suffering Winnipeg fans something to finally cheer about. The Bombers came into the game win less at 0-4.
Stegall took the game in his own hands.
The 11-year Bomber slot back caught a 56-yard touchdown pass with 1:43 remaining to help the Bombers (0-4) get their first win in a wild 51-46 victory over the 2-2 Montreal Alouettes.
The game went back and forth right from the opening kick in front of the 24,550 fans at Canad Inns Stadium. Winnipeg took a 37-19 lead into the fourth quarter, but fell behind 44-43 with just under three minutes remaining until Stegall hauled in his TD. Wane McGarity followed with a two-point conversion.
Here's how the fun unfolded. Just 1:55 into the final quarter and leading 37-22, Winnipeg gambled on a third and one at their own 44-yard line. Roberts was stuffed and Montreal took over and made Winnipeg pay with a 17-yard Cahoon catch deep in the end zone to close the gap 37-29 at 5:09.
On the next series, Glenn's pass to McGarity popped out of his hands and defensive back Reggie Durden snatched it and ran 28 yards to Winnipeg's five-yard line.
A Montreal penalty forced the Als back to the Bomber 15, but Calvillo threw the ball to a wide-open Watkins in the end zone. A two-point convert toss to Cahoon was successful and tied the game 37-37.
With 5:38 remaining Roberts broke open for a 69-yard TD run, but Westwood's convert failed because of a bad snap and it was 43-37.
Calvillo then engineered a five-play, 61-yard drive that finished with Lapointe's one-yard TD plunge at 12:05. Duval's convert was good for a 44-43 Montreal lead, their first lead of the game.
Stegall's TD and McGarity's two-point convert lifted the Bombers back into a 51-44 lead with 1:43 left.
Calvillo marched his squad down to Winnipeg's 24-yard line, but his pass was intercepted by cornerback Justin Coleman at the two-yard line.
Ryan finished the scoring by conceding another safety.
The good part of the game was that former Hamilton Tiger Cat QB, Anthony Calvillo became Montreal's all-time leader in passing yardage. He now has 30,429 yards, surpassing Sam Etcheverry's 30,303 yards.
Pick:Monteal
On Friday night I correctly picked the Edmonton Eskimos(4-1) win over the Ottawa Renegade(2-3). A close one 28-21.
My Results this week: In reality 2-2 (for what ever reason the pool wizards at TSN Fantasy have Hamilton winning 22-0, giving me a weeks total of 1-3?). Hmm, nice try guys but I don't feel my joy. Any way this gives an overal season total of 11-9, I think I need help.
Stats Courtesy of www.cfl.com
The Ugly
I split my time between the race and that awful Toronto at Kansas City game. I won't dwell on it long, in case it induces nausea for some.
Firstly, I guess most KC residences were enjoying their air conditioning instead of braving the 36C heat. I've seen a better turn out for a little league game.
Secondly, I realize it was the 25th anniversary or something like that of George Bretts pine tar incident, god how I realized it! George Brett must have been payed for each reference. I counted four references in less than two innings by the announcer, usually followed by long pauses of dead air from the other announcer.
The game well, the stats say everything, Lilly starts off like a man on fire. Three and two thirds innings, eleven straight put outs. Then he craps out, thirty-three pitches in the fourth inning alone! Gets pulled, for Gaudin who tosses up two runs on four hits in only one and two third. Jays take the loss 6-4.
If it couldn't get worse Jays have lost all star out fielder Vernon Wells. The bright spot for the Jays was Hinskis' double and a three run homer and the report that Third baseman Corey Koski could be ready to return on Tuesday.
Stats courtesy of www.tsn.com
Well that's how I saw the world of Sports this past weekend.
Later,
Kenaz