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Look, I’m doing it again

And again. this one is a real classic- Cantona’s Au Revoir at the end pleases me to no end.

In the next ten or so days we have:

• The Boston Marathon One of the world’s great sporting events takes place in my back yard I love the Marathon and this year my girlfriend and I are going to watch it from the course together, which is a first. We’re heading to Heartbreak Hill to watch the elites and hopefully catch sight of Lance Armstrong before heading home for a little relaxation. Should be an awesome day.
• The Red Sox playthe Texas Rangers on the very same day. The annual Patriot’s Day game has an early morning, 11:00 AM start time. Since the Marathon course goes right through Kenmore square the convergence of the two events is occasionally serendipitous- the game getting out just as the elite runners are hitting the square.
• The Boston Celtics, truly great again for the first time in twenty years, open the NBA playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks. I know the NBA is hoping for the return of the dream match up to end all dream match ups- a Celtics/Lakers NBA Final.

  I’d be pretty happy with that result too <- understatement.

• Over in Europe, the spring cycling calendar continues with The Amstel Gold Race on the 20th, La Flèche Wallonne 2008 on the 23rd and Liège-Bastogne-Liège on the 27th. While they don’t possess the grand drama of the grand tours, the spring classics are dependably great racing and this week of back-to-back-to-back action is an annual highlight.
• Closer to home the top American riders will all be on the start line of the Tour de Georgia. Folks like George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Tom Danielson, Dave Zabriskie, Chris Horner, and Bobby Julich will be vying for top honors in this challenging race through the state of Georgia.

  Of special interest, as always, will be the premier stage in all of North American cycling, the mountaintop finish atop Brasstown Bald. The nearly mile high peak brings the best out of the American climbers and adding a win atop Brasstown Bald is one of the most impressive victories a cyclist can earn on North American roads.

• Women’s Marathon 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held in Boston the day before the Marathon (the 20th.) I’m not sure if I can make it out but it might be a lot of fun if I’m able. How often can one say they’ve seen two marathons live in two days?
• The Bruins? Heck, they might even be able to pull of an upset of Les Habitants. Not that I pay much attention to hockey anymore, but I know some people that do, so I’ve got to shout out the Bs
• Chelsea play Manchester United on April 26th. A game which could decide the Premier League. Fun times.

Did I miss anything? Even if I did that’s enough to keep me entertained and my DVR in good shape for a while. Good times.

Baseball

I know it’s early, but I really like this year’s edition of the Boston Red Sox. The pitching staff has the possibility to be the best of my lifetime and the positional players seem like they could come together to be a real force. To my mind, the lynch pins are probably Coco Crisp and the health of JD Drew. If Crisp can be the player he was a couple of years ago (and he’s starting to show signs) and Drew can remain healthy I really like this team’s chances.

And I won’t even get started with Daisuke-mania

Speaking of early, is it just me or is the blisteringly hot start that Alex Rodriguez is having a complete microcosm of his career? He’s having the best start of anyone, ever and yet the Yankees are basically treading water. I know that the pitching staff has been bludgeoned about the face and chest by injuries, but still, it’s like Texas all over again.

Cycling

Discovery suspend Basso

This is one of those issues that just drives me nuts. Let’s explore why:

1. Basso is one of my favorite cyclists (and I’m obviously a fan of Discovery Channel) so I’d be doubly disappointed if he were found guilty- on the one hand I’d be disappointed in him doping and on the other I’d be seriously bummed to not be able to watch him go for the double.
2. I’m sick to death of hearing about Operacion Puerto, so anything that prolongs that agony is a bummer
3. With this uncertainty I can’t even speculate on the Giro or the Tour. Speculating on these events is half the fun and without knowing who the leader for Disco is at each event I’m seriously out of sorts. Considering I was just getting ramped up on the Giro, that’s a real kick in the nuts.

On the bright side if he is found guilty then Levi will get a shot at the Tour. With the way Disco have been riding (remember, they’ve got a bunch of hardware this year and none of it is from Basso) and with the way he’s looked so far this season (both fit and confident) I’d look for good things from him. It would also open the door a little wider for the most exciting GC rider of them all, Alexandre Vinokourov. That’s a double plus bonus.

Armstrong backs Landis in attacking French lab - Cycling

This is why I wish the B sample was tested by another lab. It doesn’t add any clarity if people believe in incompetence (or worse) from the French. Honestly, with what Armstrong went through nothing would surprise me in terms of conspiracy theories being proven true. I can see an easy scenario where Landis winning, and continuing the America streak, was the back breaking camel straw and sent some lab worker over the edge.

Of course, Occam’s Razor tells me that’s not likely, but because of the French lab doing the B sample test the door is still open for that sort of conjecture. An American lab would have been a better choice.

And on a non-doping note (and honestly it’s been a fun season minus the lingering doping stories), it was fun watching David Rebellin take the Fleche Wallonne today. That’s a cool race. cycling.tv rocks and will completely suck my time away from proper work during the Giro and La Vuelta this year…

Football

European football that is…

Who the hell is going to be the unlucky slob to follow Sir Alex Ferguson as manager of Manchester United? Obviously being the manager of one of the sport’s premier clubs is a good thing, but following Ferguson is going to be completely thankless.

This, of course, is spurred on by United’s excellent run this season. As of this writing they’re up 3-2 after a stunning first leg of their Champions League semi versus AC Milan, they’re leading the Premiership over a Chelsea team that looked poised to run away with another championship at the beginning of the season and they’re set to take on that same Chelsea squad in the FA Cup final in May. If they win out it will be the second treble of Ferguson’s career and, to my mind at least, a surprising result for a year where maybe not so much was expected from United (mostly owing to the perceived strength of Chelsea.)

(American) Football

I am absolutely jacked for the draft. I’ve never been so excited for a draft ever. Why? The Patriots have had such a great off-season already and with two 1st round picks they’ve got a chance to get even better. I can’t wait.

I’ve been meaning to go to a Revolution game for the past couple of years (once I realized how close I now live to Foxboro) and now with the ability of the MLS teams to sign select high priced stars it’ll make it even more appetizing. Beckham, of course, is already here, but if someone the caliber of Robbie Fowler ends up playing at every team it’ll make for a lot of interesting match-ups, even if the point for me is to just say “Yeah, I saw player x play live”

It’ll also be interesting to see these guys, seasoned Internationals and veterans of the greatest leagues in the world, playing in the small pond of the MLS. Talk about a rejuvenating switch…

Fowler in talks over US transfer

I’m switching my entire sporting attention to a blend of cycling and proper football. At least until Baseball’s opening day. To that end, here are some links readers of this blog from the United States might find useful:

Manchester United Official Web Site

Official Site of the F.A. Premier League - Barclays Premiership News, Fixtures & Results

Juventus: notizie ufficiali, foto, biglietti e gadget; i comunicati stampa (although, reallly, I’m just waiting for them to resurrect themselves after the demotion/scandal)

Lega Nazionale Professionisti

IVANBASSO.IT

Alexander Vinokourov - Official Website

Official website Robbie McEwen

Tour de France : bienvenue sur le site officiel

Gazzetta - Giro d’Italia 2007

FOX Sports - England - Wenger: Beckham alone can’t lift U.S. soccer

“David Beckham alone won’t transform soccer in the United States. It will take an influx of other European stars to make a real impact.

“That’s the view of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, one of the most successful coaches in the English Premier League.”

I saw somewhere today that Beckham is the highest salaried athlete in the world. For that kind of money he better be able to do something. Personally, I’m thinking Wenger is right, there needs to be a proper influx to raise the level of the game overall in order to make a real difference. Individually, someone more obviously creative like Ronaldinho would have more of an impact. I bet you could put one of those Ronaldinho highlights reels on for even the most anti-soccer American and you’d get positive reaction.

Here’s one now:

“The most recognized player on the planet — fashion icon, tabloid fixture, marketing giant and husband of a former Spice Girl — is taking his game and fame to Tinseltown, and he’s going to be earning an estimated $250 million for the five years of his contract.”

50,000,000 a year? That’s in USD? Not Yen? That’s fucking insane. Completely and utterly insane. The entire MLS can’t make that much money annually, can it? I’m guessing they think this will break soccer in America. I wish them all the best, obviously, but I just don’t see him being worth $50,000,000 a year.

ESPNsoccernet - MLS - Coming to America: Beckham to sign with Galaxy

“Ooh! Aah! Cantona!

The world’s most dysfunctional club

“If you were asked to name the most dysfunctional soccer club in the world, which would you choose?

La Liga’s Real Madrid would be an obvious candidate. Not a day goes by without some bizarre story coming out of the Santiago Bernabeau. You could almost swear it was Michael Jackson’s Neverland… ”

“… because instead of fighting for each other, Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were fighting each other. It’s almost of unheard of for teammates to square off on the pitch. The question is just how do teammates end up in fisticuffs when the team is flying high?”