Real Sports

Seeing some of the footage from Tour of California yesterday made me really happy that I'm not an "elite" cyclist, subjected to racing in miserable conditions to earn a $5,000 per year paycheck. Given that cycling is mostly a hobby, a very time consuming, often exhausting hobby, I have the option of riding inside some days and skipping out on races where the weather forecast is less than optimal.



I have had to ride in slop like this, both warm and cold, and it is not fun. Everything about riding becomes more difficult than necessary, you are more prone getting flats, getting caught up in a crash, and days like that really make you question your desire to continue. In the warmth and relative comfort of the basement this weekend, I caught up on other sports in the world. Soccer has become a favorite of mine for trainer rides because it is entertaining and uninterrupted by commercial breaks. Saturday, I caught the match between Lazio and Turin, set the the soundtrack of whatever was on the iPod at the time. I lost a little focus during this particular highlight:



I didn't mean to laugh at the ref's misfortune, but the speed with which he dropped was simply incredible. Footballers love the dramatic anyways, I can recall at least 158 instances of somebody taking a dive at the slightest bit of contact. There were some quality opportunities on goal and a couple great goals in the game, especially the one to tie it up.



On Sunday, instead of waiting for it to warm up so I could get outside, I made the executive decision to drink many, many shots of espresso and get on the trainer before motivation slid away completely. In hindsight, it was a mistake since I could have ridden outside pretty comfortably later in the day. I got to watch Manchester United v. Derby County in some Carling Cup action. There are a mind boggling number of different leagues, championships, etc. that these teams play in during any given week.



Watching Manchester United toy with Derby was like watching a kitten play with a ball of yarn. They had the game under control for pretty much the entire time I was watching. You can tell in the highlights clip above how stronger Manchester United was than Derby. It really is great sport with constant action, near misses, high level of precision and skill. While there are not a lot of goals scored in regular matches, there is still plenty keep your attention . . . the challenges on 50/50 balls, the one on one tests as a team tries to move up field, the chess like strategy . . . if you haven't watched in a while, I recommend checking out Fox Soccer Channel for a schedule for Premier League, Championship League, UEFA Cup, Serie A, Bundesliga, Argentinian U-23 match play, and so on and so on.

Back in the good ol' U.S. of A., there was plenty of "traditional" sporting action this weekend too. The Daytona 500 452 was action packed and full of excitement and controversy. I didn't watch it and I haven't even bothered to watch the full clip below, but I can only hope there was an exclamation of "Oh m'gawd! Dju see that wreck? Oh m'gawd! Woooo . . . NASCAR!! Awesome . . . daaaaamn!!"



I shouldn't make fun of a sport that has roots in running moonshine and getting away from the law-man . . . a sport that has such heroes as Dick Trickle and this man . . .


I'll stop picking on NASCAR for now. At least they have plenty of funding, a place in the national spotlight, and can garner constant coverage . . . did Lance win that Tour de France going on in California yet?