So long as John Cusack and the Mayans are wrong.
London 2012 Olympics
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Image of the day
Today...
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| The boyos before the start of the Irish Open |
Previously...
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| With last years US Open winner Graeme McDowell in Portrush Photo: Belfast Telegraph |
And previously still...
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| Guinness Clarke's two sons in background |
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
And you thought Nascar was for hicks
Businessmen are also welcome.
Pastor Joe Nelms' opening prayer at Nascar Nationwide in Nashville Tennessee included the following heart felt lines...
"Thank you [Lord] for the Dodges and the Toyotas. Thank you for the Fords and most of all thank you for Roush and Yates partnering to give us the power we see before us tonight. Thank you for GM performance technology and RO7 engines. Thank you for Sunoco Racing Fuel and Goodyear tyres that bring power and performance to the track."
Smoking hot wife?
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Everyone's new favourite cyclist: Johnny Hoogerland
So he was in a group of 5 riders leading the race by 5 minutes and in with a chance of a stage victory.
Then there was the crash...
Which led to this...
and this...
and this.
But Hoogerland was back on his bike and somehow he finished the stage...
... and tearfully picked up the King of the Mountains jersey (and the combativity award) which he won over the stage. (He won four mountain climbs on the stage.)
Finally, everyone's new favourite cyclist gave an interview which oozed class, poise and maturity.
JH. What a hero.
Then there was the crash...
Which led to this...
and this...
and this.
But Hoogerland was back on his bike and somehow he finished the stage...
... and tearfully picked up the King of the Mountains jersey (and the combativity award) which he won over the stage. (He won four mountain climbs on the stage.)
Finally, everyone's new favourite cyclist gave an interview which oozed class, poise and maturity.
JH. What a hero.
Wouter Weylandt?
Pictures coutsey of the Australian, the Age and Daylife.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Bradley Wiggins out of the Tour
What a differnce a day makes. Yesterday Sky (the only UK based team in the Tour) won their first stage of the Tour de France.
But today Bradley Wiggins (Sky's team leader, who looked a shoe in for a top 5 finish overall) crashed and was forced to abandon the Tour with a collar bone injury.
Really unfortunate, hope he can recover and come back next year.
It's up to Cavendish again to fly the flag for the UK.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
The Mountain Bridge
There was only one classified mountain on stage 3 of the Tour: a bridge.
And what a bridge.
A group of five riders broke away from the peloton in a bid to claim the solitary point on offer for the King of the Mountains jersey at the "summit" of the mountain... er bridge. (See video below)
At 66m the bridge (Côte du Pont de Saint-Nazaire) split the peloton in two but the crosswinds did not prevent the stragglers from rejoining the pack and finishing the stage with a bunch sprint.
Mark Cavendish is in the spotlight once again: he won the peloton's sprint for the intermediate green jersey spoils but came in contact with current yellow jersey wearer and main contender for the green, Thor Hushovd. (Click for video)
Later Cavendish was bumped and forced off his racing line in the build up to the finish. The stewards decided to punish both Cavendish and Thor Hushov for the argy-bargy by taking back the points they accumulated on the stage. No doubt there will be appeals galore tomorrow.
The stage was won by Tyler Ferrar who became the first American to win a Tour stage on 4 July.
In spite of puncturing his rear tyre at the halfway point, Nicolas Roche finished safely in the pack with the same time as all the top finishers.
Tour de France 2011: Cavendish punished as Farrar wins (BBC)
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Loudest Tennis Points
Grunting reaches new levels.
Definitely a gap in the market for ear plugs at Wimbledon.
Nicolas Roche blogging, vlogging and occasionally cycling
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| Roche after the crash which forced him to retire from the Critérium du Dauphiné. Not ideal preparation three weeks before the Tour de France! |
Just as he did last year, Nicolas Roche is keeping a daily diary in the Irish Independent following the thrills and spills of the peloton. Check out the first entry.
Here's a snipet from the diary where he descibes his injury after his first race back.
It was my first race back after a crash in the Criterium du Dauphine had left me looking like something you'd see hanging in a butchers window. Battered and bruised, I had cuts running literally from my shin to my finger tips and they're only beginning to heal now. I needed an operation to repair a hole in my elbow and two stitches in my chin. Having banged my head off a concrete road bollard I was in a daze for almost three days afterwards and had to take five days off the bike because I could hardly walk.
He's also keeping a video diary which is basically a brief chat about the previous stage. First video below.
Allez Nico!
Links
YouTube Channel
Diary on Indo site
Diary on Nico's site
AG2R La Mondiale Facebook page
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Spectator causes crash at the Tour (Stage 1 Results)
With 8km in what looked like a fairly tame opening stage of the Tour de France, a stupid spectator caused a crash which has exploded the race for the yellow jersey.
Of the contenders for the GC, Alberto Contador was worst affected by the incident. To his misfortune Contador was caught up in yet another crash some 3km from the finish line. In the end he lost 1 min 20 sec on the stage winner, Belgium's own Philippe Gilbert. (The Belgians are hooting their horns in celebration in Brussels. Gilbert's form has been unmatched this year so he's certainly in with a shout of winning.)
Ireland's Nicolas Roche was in a crash at the start of the stage, but managed to avoid the carnage thereafter, finishing with the leaders and crossing the line in 19th spot.
Here's the top 30.
Results Stage 1 - Passage du Gois → Mont des Alouettes (Tour de France official site)
Contador booed by public at Tour opening
That's the French in a gladiatorial amphitheatre for you...
Contador won the Tour de France last year but failed a doping test during the event. Bizzarely the hearing has been postponed again and again will not be held until August.
Should he be found guilty Contador faces a two year ban and the stripping of his 2010 victory. But he's still riding and is the hot favourite to win the Tour again. (It would be his 4th victory in 5 years.)
Confused? So is Stephen Roche who articulated as much in a Eurosport interview yesterday.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Utter lunacy: the Williams sisters' worst outfits
Venus warming up for match on her eponymous planet.
Serena in a Cameroon football kit... as you do.
At the US Open playing tennis. Not scuba diving.
??
????????????
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Oh for God's sake!
AND Venus has a fashion degree. Très haute couture no doubt.
Further Reading (if your eyes can stand it)
Venus Williams graduates with fashion design degree (Williamssisters.org)
The 10 craziest Williams sisters outfits (Oddetorium Blog)
Anyone for lattice? Venus and 'the worst outfit ever seen on a tennis court' (Daily Mail)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tour de France 2011
This Saturday, on the west coast of baguette-land, 208 riders will set off in the world's greatest cycling race.
This year's Tour de France will take over 3 weeks to finish and the gruelling schedule allows for only two rest days. In total the riders will have to cover nearly 3,500 km before they finish in Paris on 24 July. Last year the average speed of Alberto Contador, the winner of the 2010 Tour, was 39.5 km/hr.
All Irish eyes will be on Ireland's Nicolas Roche who rides, just as he did last year, as team leader for the French based AG2R La Mondiale team. 2010 saw Roche finish in 15th place having bagged a few top ten finishes along the way. If he hadn't been betrayed by his teammate John Gadret on Stage 15 last year he could have finished even higher. Here's hope Roche will perform just as well, if not better, this year.
When it comes to the yellow jersey and the overall winner for 2011, the ones to watch are of course Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank Sungard) and Andy Schleck (Team Leopard-Trek). The next rider in the betting is 25/1 so basically it's a two horse race. Schleck has a remarkably strong team behind him with three former wearers of the yellow jersey (Jens Voigt, Stuart O’Grady, Fabian Cancellara) and his brother Andy (former stage winner) to count on. However most people seem to fancy Contador to win again, though everyone hope there will be not repeat of Chain-gate this time around.
Surely Mark Cavendish (Team HTC – Highroad) will manage to win the sprinter's jersey this year. He's been the best sprinter in the world for two or three years but somehow fate has conspired for him to fall short of the mark. Plus Mark "Headbutt" Renshaw returns to his team as his main lead out man.
Predictions
Yellow Jersey (general classification): Alberto Contador
Green Jersey (points classification): Mark Cavendish
Polka-dot Jersey (king of the mountains): Alberto Contador
Team Classification: Team Leopard-Trek
Also watch out for...
Jurgen Van Den Broeck: Flying the flag for the Belgians and in with a shout for a top 5 finish in the general classification, he's a steely competitor.
Alessandro Petacchi and Thor Hushovd: Mark Cavendish's main rivals for the points jersey who can walk the walk and talk the talk. There'll be plenty of press conference hissy fits between these three if previous Tours are anything to go by.
Samuel Sanchez: The best descender of mountains in the peloton whose risk taking make the watching as exciting as it is terrifying.
Team Sky: If you're following the UK press or watching the Tour on British Eurosport you wont have to make too much of an effort to look out for them. Formed in 2009 with their fervent promise to "create the first British winner of the Tour de France, within five years", the UK team have their sights set on glory and will be heaping all manner of pressure on Bradley Wiggins to win the yellow jersey.
Lance Armstrong: Even though he's retired from the sport (again) he's sure to make some announcement or other. Armstrong and cycling is to Tiger Woods and golf: they dominate the sport whether they compete or not.
Links
The Tour de France (offical site)
Spare a Thought for Nicolas Roche
Tour de France: Alberto Contador vs Andy Schleck, to wait or not to wait?
Mark Renshaw headbutts Cyclist during 2010 Tour De France (Youtube)
This year's Tour de France will take over 3 weeks to finish and the gruelling schedule allows for only two rest days. In total the riders will have to cover nearly 3,500 km before they finish in Paris on 24 July. Last year the average speed of Alberto Contador, the winner of the 2010 Tour, was 39.5 km/hr.
All Irish eyes will be on Ireland's Nicolas Roche who rides, just as he did last year, as team leader for the French based AG2R La Mondiale team. 2010 saw Roche finish in 15th place having bagged a few top ten finishes along the way. If he hadn't been betrayed by his teammate John Gadret on Stage 15 last year he could have finished even higher. Here's hope Roche will perform just as well, if not better, this year.
When it comes to the yellow jersey and the overall winner for 2011, the ones to watch are of course Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank Sungard) and Andy Schleck (Team Leopard-Trek). The next rider in the betting is 25/1 so basically it's a two horse race. Schleck has a remarkably strong team behind him with three former wearers of the yellow jersey (Jens Voigt, Stuart O’Grady, Fabian Cancellara) and his brother Andy (former stage winner) to count on. However most people seem to fancy Contador to win again, though everyone hope there will be not repeat of Chain-gate this time around.
Surely Mark Cavendish (Team HTC – Highroad) will manage to win the sprinter's jersey this year. He's been the best sprinter in the world for two or three years but somehow fate has conspired for him to fall short of the mark. Plus Mark "Headbutt" Renshaw returns to his team as his main lead out man.
Predictions
Yellow Jersey (general classification): Alberto Contador
Green Jersey (points classification): Mark Cavendish
Polka-dot Jersey (king of the mountains): Alberto Contador
Team Classification: Team Leopard-TrekAlso watch out for...
Jurgen Van Den Broeck: Flying the flag for the Belgians and in with a shout for a top 5 finish in the general classification, he's a steely competitor.
Alessandro Petacchi and Thor Hushovd: Mark Cavendish's main rivals for the points jersey who can walk the walk and talk the talk. There'll be plenty of press conference hissy fits between these three if previous Tours are anything to go by.
Samuel Sanchez: The best descender of mountains in the peloton whose risk taking make the watching as exciting as it is terrifying.
Team Sky: If you're following the UK press or watching the Tour on British Eurosport you wont have to make too much of an effort to look out for them. Formed in 2009 with their fervent promise to "create the first British winner of the Tour de France, within five years", the UK team have their sights set on glory and will be heaping all manner of pressure on Bradley Wiggins to win the yellow jersey.
Lance Armstrong: Even though he's retired from the sport (again) he's sure to make some announcement or other. Armstrong and cycling is to Tiger Woods and golf: they dominate the sport whether they compete or not.
Links
The Tour de France (offical site)
Spare a Thought for Nicolas Roche
Tour de France: Alberto Contador vs Andy Schleck, to wait or not to wait?
Mark Renshaw headbutts Cyclist during 2010 Tour De France (Youtube)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
York's steely defence
York Council has built a fence through the football goals of a public park.
As is typical the BBC's reporting was authoritive:
"[The incident] has left local people who use the park to play football confused."The Council itself admitted it had scored "an own goal".
Photos via Daily Mail
York council builds fence through goalposts (BBC)
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