My Drive Time...

Photo Courtesy of SteephillTV

The peleton finished with the same time as the guys out front, and Treks lead man was sprinter Daniele Bannati. The breaks are nerve racking in the closing kilometers. One rider makes a break and then with 100 meters to go, another sprinter finds a burst from deep within, and overtakes the attacker! It is ridiculous! Team Sky rider Chris Sutton, from Australia made such a surge, to out last Team Lotto and Team Shimano Skil riders to claim the stage victory. However, again because the peleton finished with the same group, Team Trek Leopard finished on top in the General Classification, taking first and second overall. Daniele Bannati with his sprint finish took the red jersey from teammate Jakob Fuglsang finishing ahead of him in the slightly uphill finish. Trek Leopard now has three riders in the Top Ten.

Now if I can just find a replay of Stage Three for tomorrow! Great job Trek Leopard. Great job from Fabian Cancellara and the team to force a grueling pace!

Viva La Vuelta!

Is it just me, or is that the Trek Leopard Team, with the Time Trial World Champion Fabian Cancellara out front in the Vuelta A Espana after winning the Time Trial stage on Saturdays opening day? 170+ km stage tomorrow, but with no serious climbs. The experts (again) are saying that this 21 stage race will favor the climbers. Isn't that the way of most Grand Tour races? All I can say is Go Shack, Go Leopard!

 

Trek Leopard won today as a team, and kept it together. They kept things together despite a few crashes, and kept the Schleck's up front in France, so I feel pretty good about Trek bringing home another victory. Time will tell. In fact September, 11th will tell. Until then, I will catch you after church tomorrow para Etapa Dos dela Vuelta...

2011/12 Panther Training Camp

The sun was relentless at the start of the day. The players looked fresh and very alive. Coach Rivera seems to have the team geared and ready to play in the Rivera Era! The veterans seemed to mesh well with the rookies, and believe it or not one of those rookies was Cam Newton, and Cam Newton's attitude seemed contagious! Mr. Newton got the crowd into the spirit, bounding around the field like a young buck and flailing his arms up and down to pump up the fans, and then he got the receiving core fired up. Cam was giving out high fives and motivating fellow rookies and vets alike. Yes, including one Steve Smith.

Moving onto the other QB's (quarter backs)... Clausen showed some good signs, but on the down side he showed signs of the same rookie mistakes that he manifested from last year. Clausen was still hesitant, but not horrible. He tried to force a few passes (a couple of potential interceptions), but did manage to find Steve Smith on a pass or two where Smith erased the young QB's mistakes by making some circus snags.

Anderson took limited snaps, and appears to be the clear cut starter. He has the NFL experience, but is he the guy that you want guiding your younger and rookie QB's?

Newton didn't look bad, appeared a bit rattled when blitzed in passing drills, but showed his strength and his touch on numerous occasions. He looked good throwing to Steve Smith and had a sixty yard strike to Clowney, which seemed to please the crowd -including yours truly- and allowed Clowned to redeem himself. Newton seemed to make the pass with ease!

Stewart and Williams looked poised and ready to return healthy and in peak form. If the offensive line stays healthy and makes lanes for the S&W Express then it should also open up lanes for the receivers and buy Anderson the time that he needs to deliver. I don't expect a Super Bowl run this year for the Panthers, but certainly not another 2-15 season either!

Eric Norwood looked as if he has bulked up even more, and the stand out from South Carolina looked faster in drills. He broke up a few pass plays and got to each QB in drills. He is not Peppers at 6'0" and not a prime Dwight Freeney, but he is a good football player and seems to be an even better person.

Should be a good season and the beginning of a very successful Rivera Era!

Historical Year at the Tour de France!

Picture courteousy of Steephill TV for review only

Andy and Frank Schleck become the first brothers to finish together in the same year (second and third) on the podium at the Tour de France. So the Schlecks and Trek make history again this year. Trek is also the record holder for consecutive Tour de France victories, and most consecutive victories from an individual rider.

Cadel Evans is the first ever Australian winner at this years Tour de France, and the first winner from the Southern hemisphere. He was also the first rider to give me the same (exact) expression that I had when hearing Mike Tyson talk for the first time! He sounds like a thirteen year old in a thirty plus year old body. But like Tyson (in the Cus D'Amato years), he knocked out the competition this year!

British rider Mark (The Mouth) Cavendish is the first Brit to win the Sprinters jersey, and is still on course to hold more stage wins than any other rider in the Tours history. It will not come in this historical year, but he was close to winning more stages in one Tour than any other rider again this year.  He is quite the talent, and I know his fans are pulling for him to turn in the complete ride, and win the Tour. He has the potential in my way of seeing things, if he will just put the complete ride together.

It is also the first year that the imperfect Christian has had an opportunity to watch each stage of the Tour. So a historical, and great year for cycling, and this imperfect cycling fan...

What Do You Do With...

What do you do with a bad stomach, a sprained elbow, a broken Droid and rain. You sit inside and think about how behind you are getting in your yard work. Then you abandon your phone grab your laptop, watch the best (known) bicycle riders on the planet do battle in the Pyrenees! Andy looked to struggle a bit at the end, or was he just saving the kick for tomorrow? Frank looked strong at Plateau de Beille in the end, and grabbed a couple of seconds today, but not near enough to take a chunk out of the general classification time to gain the yellow jersey. Limoux to Montpellier tomorrow. I think with a rest day Monday you will see a different group of riders if the weather is fair! Contador will force things tomorrow, or my hiney isn't butter pecan brown! Voeckler will also come out of the yellow tomorrow. Stage Fifteen is the last of the Pyrenean stages, however word has it that everyone that has won the stage involving the climb up La Plateau de Beille (this years fourteenth stage) has gone on to win the Tour de France in the same year. I'm thinking that changes this year. This time next week will tell me if I am correct or not. I could be wrong, I mean I did have Chris Horner (of Team Radio Shack) and Fabian Cancellara (Team Leopard Trek) being up front. Now that The Shack has half of their team left, I only have a chance at Fabian being up front in one stage and that will be the one where he wins the Individual TT! But being banged up how probable is that even? Wait this is Fabian Cancellara right? The man who has shattered every Time Trial record out there, and won the last what 20 million Time Trials around the globe, including the UCI World Time Trials the last Olympic Time Trials. OK I take him winning by half a minute in the 42km TT. Anyone dare to challenge that?

NASCAR in New Hampshire tomorrow at Loudon, and the Hendrick's guys were said to look strong. JG in seventh and everyone else lined up in the twenties, I hope they are strong, considering how far back the rest of the team is starting! Fortunately, there is a lot of racing to do in a Cup race so no biggie starting back as far as twenty-eighth.

I guess tomorrow will be much of the same, I will be sitting and healing. I may run and not put as much strain on the elbow, then again, I may sit and transfer the strain from the elbow to the eyes. (Smile) As for now, it's steak time again, I have fought not eating it for two long!

How Lucky Is 13?

Some don't see Friday the thirteenth as lucky. So does that count for stages in the Tour de France as well? Frank looked a bit wobbly at the end of the big climb today, and Andy looked ready for a Tour victory. What was Contador's look? Was he sand bagging? Four minutes is not impossible to overcome. There are still nine stages remaining. There is one climb left tomorrow, and Gilbert is still right there. So will Contador relax, and reserve some fight for later in the race, or will he try and gain ground on Schleck and Voekler, while attempting to discourage Gilbert, with a strong performance? The biggest or is, "OR" is he really suffering after playing catch up twice over already? I guess we will have our answers around 11:30am EST. Go Trek! Best wishes to teams Leopard, and Radio Shack. As I said before, Schleck's on the Trek's who could object? I just wish that Cancellara and Horner (who is completely out of the Tour now) could have been closer to the front. Don't count out Alberto, there are still nine stages, nine days of torture, and only one day of rest. I feel a great finish coming on! See you at Champs Elysees! One last time... Go Trek!

Which Way Is Up?

Proverbs 24:16 say that the righteous man falls seven times, only to rise again.

Several have fallen physically, and several others have fallen mentally in the 2011 Tour de France. Some riders felt the agony of Stage 8 and the Super Besse while others rejoiced in personal triumph. Rui Costa of Portugal (pictured above via Getty Images) won Stage 8 in fine fashion. He rode up front in the final portion of the stage, made his break and was victorious. Schleck stayed with Contador as did Evans and Hushovd, and they finished safely while maintaining their positions and advantage over the rest of the field.

17 "The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps His way preserves his soul." Proverbs 16:17 (NKJV)

The highways of France can produce certain dangers, and so can the road to life. Some riders try to avoid danger, while others take more risks. Costa jumped out front and rode a smart race and successfully finished first in Stage 8. So how is it that we jump out front in the life race. Get up earlier, rejoice more, and give thanks. Rui Costa pointed toward the heavens to thank God after the stage, and as a devout Christian (more than likely Catholic) I gather that it's safe to say that he prayed for a victory today and rejoiced as it was granted. I pray that I will rejoice and be more thankful today.

I am thankful for good Samaritans today, and grateful for a Comforter in The Holy Spirit. I dedicated this blog to a downed rider Lie Nielson who in Christ can rise again. Blessing to his family. God be with his widow and five year old twins. For the full story:

http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/jul/09/5/local-doctor-rising-star-killed-in-bike-race-accid-ar-1190758/

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