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ah, the things guys will do to impress women! laughs...
i think any bike is dandy, and i could do a beach cruiser too, but a lot of times when im on a bike im like Jeffrey Goldblum from Jurassic park and independence day---"must go faster!"
i just saw this---hard to tell if its real or just a really good simulation, but if its real, my goodness!
and apparently inspired by paul newman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7WCuNSNZCU
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wxq2T...?feature=share
Hah!
That guy had to go Superman. He brought a fixed-gear track bike to a road race.
I thought the cool part about the Paul Newman clip was that he didn’t need to impress the girl. She was already in the mood and headed for the hayloft. But Sundance decides to take a few more laps on the bike because he’s having so much fun. It says a lot about how much fun it is to ride a bike, eh?
Watched some of the women’s cycling from Paris today.
I think that's a great point about the joy of bike riding.
I watched a replay of the mens Olympic TT yesterday. it was pretty good---one small tragedy made it kinda more exciting, a british rider got a flat and had to do a bike change, and he missed the bronze medal but only a couple seconds.
there are plenty of things I like watching women do (sports wise that is), cycling usually isn't one of them.
yays:
swimming, track and field (and other running), diving, gymnastics, tennis, softball, volleyball, weightlifting, golf and bunches of others.
maybes:
wrestling
nays:
basketball, cycling (possible exception for some track events), hockey, football, boxing and mma.
a belated tdf clip:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a7YYrZ3mdsY (apparently they caught the guy and he got into some trouble)
a response to your beach cruiser thoughts:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/q1Ry8B0O8xU
baseball bonus!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qn64u_r8IbM
Samurai is probably Shohei Ohtani’s grandpappy.
Yeee-haw! As for the mountain biker — Legend! What’d he get in trouble for? Being awesome? I gotta say, that clip pretty much sums up the difference between the personalities of Mountain bikers vs Road cyclists.
apparently mtn bike jumping over the tdf is a thing. all the years ive been watching NBC's coverage they never showed that.
I don't remember where I saw the initial article, but a little search brought me this vagary:
"Valentin Anouilh, a mountain biker from Cantal, gained fame by jumping over the Tour de France peloton in 2019. However, this also attracted the attention of French authorities for unspecified reasons. His repeated stunts, including in 2019 and again in 2023, may have caused issues with the Tour de France officials and French authorities. While the specific details of Anouilh's problems with French authorities are not available, it's clear his bold behavior and spectacular jumps have raised concerns and tensions with Tour de France and local officials."
and the awesome photo:
Haha. The man has found his calling.
As for the authorities, pshaw, who hasn’t had a run in with the “authorities” from time to time?
I’m picturing Eddie Murphy here — “Is there a problem officers?”
I wonder if phil liggett would approve of such things?
meanwhile, somehow I stumbled upon this which I think is worth watching, perhaps inspired by bob knight:
https://youtu.be/Xez7kGgEg-U
and I sometimes love watching volleyball:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zM5cJ...?feature=share
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SY57e...?feature=share
Haha. Sports sometimes brings out the best in us. And sometimes it don’t.
I watched the end of the road race in Paris today. Evenepoel was a good minute out in front of the chase group and increasing the lead. The commentators were saying — well, the only thing that can take the gold from the leader is a mechanical… And then he flatted. Pulled it out though. What a ride!
I’ll bet Phil would be pretty matter-of-fact about the mountain biker. I remember a few years ago when some moron tossed a bunch of carpet tacks on the road in front of the peloton, Phil took it stride. I also remember it brought out the sportsmanship of the cyclists. Once all the flats were fixed, they managed to reorder themselves as best they could to make it the way is was before the incident.
I like the women’s beach volleyball event. If I watch it though, the wife will roll her eyes and leave the room, commenting on the way out something like — Hmm-hmm.
I skimmed through to the last ~30k of the Olympic road race. evenepoel was amazing. it'll be interesting to see if he can improve his climbing enough to contend for grand tour wins---or if the organizers add more time trialing to accommodate his strengths.
I might have mentioned this years before. I have a friend who ran into phil liggett and paul sherwen in an airport and he asked to get photos with them. they were wonderfully obliging.
on the topic of kicking tail---watch femke bol (who is also a major "girl next door" cutie):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imsNmnaSszU
your beach vb experience made me think of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4xRFodcPB0
Oh man. Bol killed it, a world class athlete masquerading as a regular person. I gotta say the women have been inspiring in these games. Watched Kirsten Faulkner win the road race yesterday, amazing. She picked her moment and destroyed the field.
I watched the last bunch of kilometers where it was the two chasers after the two in front and that's always fun to watch. and I agree with the "picked the moment" part for sure. she timed the attack really well---but my goodness the other three should be absolutely ashamed. as soon as Faulkner attacked, the other three just looked at each other, and worse, they continued to look at each other.
this was super exciting:
https://youtu.be/2sb32uxUO10
and in terms of "women inspiring", this is heart warming, almost maybe tear producing:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Mx_Z6...?feature=share
Just watching women football finale
US against Brazil
how was it?
US won but it was a narrow win. Both teams played very well.
For me one of the best images from the games was on the podium of the women’s artistic gymnastics. Gold went to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. Silver went to Simone Biles, and the Bronze to Jordan Chiles, both from Team USA. There’s a joyous Andrade, arms in the air, while Biles and Chiles pay tribute. It’s fantastic:
https://www.newscenter1.tv/news/simo...fa22998d4.html
Thanks for metioning it, Sancho, :) you can imagine how this scene got viral here. And it seems that Rebeca at a time wanted to give up because of her knee surgeries and it was Simone Biles that encouraged her to go on. She is not only the best, she is very generous too.
All applause for these hard working girls!
I didn’t know that part of the story, and it makes it even better. The whole thing epitomizes good sportsmanship, which sometimes is lacking in a win-at-any-cost sporting event.
I’m sure you saw the picture of surfer Gabriel Medina levitating above the wave with his surfboard.
i haven't paid close attention to the news but there was some judging/scoring controversy in women's gymnastics that has made a mess of things.
Sancho, normally ive been trying to reserve Wednesdays for a mid-week visit to litnet, but im peeking in today in case you see this in time and might be interested. I just joined the Vuelta a espana fantasy site and made my first ever fantasy team.
if you are interested in joining in on the fun:
https://fantasybytissot.lavuelta.es/#/game/play
i had to make a tough choice between sepp kuss and adam yates, and wout van aert and Mathieu van der poel and had to do some switching in and out to make my budget.
im pretty happy with my team. i was hoping to pick mads Pederson but the site doesn't have him presently listed as being in the race. if he becomes available, that might throw a monkey wrench into my line-up.
i might have shared this site with you before. if you want to join, it could help you with your selections:
https://www.procyclingstats.com/index.php
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race...2024/startlist
You are right, Sancho, good sportsmanship is half of it. And US still remains at the top and deservedly, because the athletes are trained and become support since they are kids. In Brazil there usually is only government sponsorship for male football. The other athletes have to rely on private sponsorship and their own efforts. I remember one gymnast complaining that they didn´t even get a sandwich. And Brazilians that don´t compete in elite sports like sailing and horse riding are usually very poor.Even so, miracles are always expected at the Olympics(Brazil is very good at expecting miracles).Quote:
Originally Posted by Sancho
For Brazil these Olympics weren´t so brilliant. Even so, the most important medals were brought home by women, it was a women's Olympics. And yes, I saw the famous feat of Gabriel Medina. It seems they got frightened at him, because at the endgame they were very small and tame.
The Olympics were awesome beyond belief. Got terrible eyestrain from watching the TV so much. But it was worth it to see both basketball teams win gold and to see the girls gymnastics. Suni Lee is such a big hero to everyone here in St Paul and South St Paul where she grew up.
I didn’t have a chance to watch a lot of it, but what I saw I enjoyed. I guess I prefer the races as opposed to the judged events. On the track, in the pool, on the bike, the first one across the line gets the gold. I understand those sports.
You know, Danik, I’m no expert but I don’t think the athletes get any government funding here, except secondarily through school sports programs. I’ve seen a few news stories about which colleges “won” the Olympics. Also there have been a few stories about how past legislation in the US Congress effected the games for US athletes, specifically Title IX of the Education Act. Title IX is anti-discrimination legislation for any schools receiving federal funding. Nowadays it’s become shorthand for women’s sports. Colleges can’t just take all the government bucks and roll them into the football team, they gotta put some of the money into the softball team too. Title IX was passed back in the 70s and evidently it’s having some effect. As in Brazil, the women here brought home more medals than the men did this time.
As for the sports that aren’t commonly supported by colleges, archery, badminton, breakdancing (Go Raygun!), and the like, I get the sense the athlete’s parents are draining their 401k accounts to support their child’s dreams. (A 401k is a tax-advantaged retirement account.)
Thanks for the links, bounty. I’m afraid I’m too much of a casual fan to be any good at picking a fantasy road cycling team. My first pick - Dave Stoller.
our government doesn't directly fund our Olympic athletes but there are some fungible things that go on where its not quite right to wholly say they are not involved either.
title ix has been a very mixed bag and the interpretations of it very problematic. casual readers are familiar with the explosion of girls and women's sports subsequent to the law's passing. what often gets lost (and football shares some blame here) is that the implementation of the law has caused thousands of mens programs at the college level to disappear and tens of thousands of men opportunities to be lost (something which continues to this day). I can elaborate if anyones interested.
im pretty excited about the fantasy league and im happy with my team. so the watching was going to be fun already, paying attention to how my riders are doing during (or finding out afterwards) is going to add to the excitement.
ive got three "leaders" (kuss, skjelmose and riccitello), two "all-arounders" (van aert and juaristi) and three "climbers" (paret peintre, Ciccone and vergalitto).
initially I went with adam yates but I ran out of money so I had to "downgrade" to sepp kuss, which is okay because for home-country prides sake i wanted some americans (the other is riccitello who should be in the hunt for the "best young rider" jersey) on the team anyways.
they have a feature where you can designate each stage's winner from your team. today im going with wout van aert and since its a time trial, I can earn bonus credits by guessing the time. I just entered 13:29.
I look forward to stopping in a couple times a week to share the news...
mama mama---the Italians are coming!
Dad: What is this?
Mom: It's sautéed zucchini.
Dad: It's I-ty food. I don't want no I-ty food.
Mom: It's not. I got it at the A&P. It's like... squash.
Dad: I know I-ty food when I hear it! It's all them "eenie" foods... zucchini... and linguine... and fettuccine. I want some American food, dammit! I want French Fries!
Mom: [to the cat] Oh, get off the table, Fellini!
Dad: Hey, that's my cat! His name's Jake, not Fellini! I won't have any "eenie" in this house!
Dad: [to the cat] Your name's Jake, you understand?
my favorite part with the father was how he spent the whole movie being a hard guy but then at the end when the little 500 is going on, he's sitting in his car at the dealership listening on the radio, getting really into it, and steering the wheel back and forth while making grimace faces and then he starts the car and tears off to the track to watch in person.
im in 9394th place in the Vuelta fantasy league! laughs...
unfortunately I don't know how many people are playing, so that might be not too bad. but it doesnt sound too good. I was looking at some of the leaders teams and they made some good choices I didn't make, but I went heavy on the climbers who don't tt well, so im hoping to improve as the race goes up.
I welcome the explosion of women's sport, but the men shouldn't lose opportunities because of that.
By the way the few golds won by Brazil where all won by women.
I didn't know that. I thought there was government funding because US is always doing so splendid.Here in Brazil, athletes that don't compete in elite sports like sailing or riding are as a rule very poor and their families too. In some colleges there is sport but no special preparation for the games.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sancho
i dont know that anyone ever written a book or article about it danik, but Sancho hinted at it if not outright hitting directly on it---unlike the rest of the world the usa has an extensive and pretty deep athletic programs at the college level. much of the American success at the international level is related to that.
if you want to know how it was that mens opportunities disappeared, id be happy to elaborate.
i moved up 210 places to 9184th in the overall Vuelta league and 11 spots to 328th in the smaller lidl-trek one.
if only the riders knew I had them on my team, maybe they would do better! stop slacking there sepp!
Say, 9184 ain’t bad! No really. I mean there’s gotta be at least 9185 in the competition. Maybe 9186.
So, the highest paid guy at a big American university is usually the football coach. Second is the quarterback. Joking, joking. (Psst, I’m not really joking. Ya just gotta keep the QB thing on the down low.) Anyway that’s one reason I like baseball. MLB doesn’t use the higher education system as a minor league. They already have one. It’s called Minor League Baseball, or the farm system. Colleges have baseball teams, but a baseball player who really wants to make it to the show gets there through the farm system (or the Dominican Republic). Years ago I had an on-again/off-again job in central Louisiana. I used to love to ditch work and go to an Alexandria Aces game. They were an AA team in the Texas/Louisiana League. The bleachers at their park were a rickety wooden contraption that had been built in the previous century. Everybody was certain that sooner or later the bleachers would collapse and cause the death of a number of stray dogs and the spillage of much beer. Ah well, the Aces were disbanded before that ever happened.
As I recall, Dave Stohler’s Dad closed out the movie. He’d had a health scare earlier, which was why Evelyn was trying to get him to eat zucchini instead of French fries. Well after the Little 500 the movie snaps forward to the fall semester. Moocher has moved to Chicago with his pregnant girlfriend. Mike probably wound up getting a job as a cop with his brother. Cyril…who knows? He’s probably bagging groceries at the A&P. Dave is enrolled as a freshman at the college. We see him strike up a conversation with French girl who is looking for the Bursar’s office. He tells her how much he admires the French cyclists. Then we see him and her riding their bikes through campus when Dave’s dad comes riding by on his new bike. He’s evidently made some healthy lifestyle changes in addition to the zucchini. They wave to each other and Dave yells, “Papa, bon jour!” There’s a freeze frame on the dad’s here-we-go-again facial expression. Roll credits. Great movie.
i love in M*A*S*H how klinger is a stout defender of the toledo mudhens.
hah! i heard from the organizers who said they weren't allowed to tell an exact number but there are around 28,000 participants. so im sitting not too shabby in the top 1/3rd and feeling a whole lot better about myself! laughs...
despite my picking the stage winner and getting double bonus pts, I ended up coming in about 10,000th place today, lost some places overall and now im 9490th in the Vuelta leaguel and 327th in the lidl-trek league. tomorrow is a more serious mtn stage with a summit finish on a cat 1 climb. im hoping my sprinting delinquent team are ready to go!
a great ending to the movie and yes, a great movie.
by the way---bills/steelers over this past weekend---Russell Wilson looks weird in a steelers uniform.
Well, hey, you’re in the top half. Above average is good. It’s always been a goal of mine. I’m not there yet.
The ballpark for the Tacoma Rainiers, who are the Triple-A team for the Mariners, is not too far from my house. They’ve got a loyal following around here, but I hardly ever go to their games because it’s not easy to get a ticket and it’s about the same price as a Mariners game. So, my thinking is, why go to a farm game when you can go see the show. There’s a High-A team for the Mariners up in Everett, The Aquasox. I’d like to see them play, but it’s a bit of a hump to get to Everett for me. Ah well.Quote:
And that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.
odd that a triple a game would cost close to as much as a mlb game. theres a triple a team in buffalo (the bisons), and I just checked, tickets are between 17-21 dollars.
I just found myself wondering how the mariners have succeeded where the pilots failed.
I had my best showing in the fantasy league today, attributable to wout van aert finishing 2nd and one of my guys spending most of the race in a breakaway.
I banked against primoz roglic and went with sepp kuss, but so far roglic is doing really well.
I like to think top 25% is a good goal. if I can move up a couple thousand places id be happy with that.
Hey! We might get a Series matchup between the Bronx Bombers and Dem Bums this year. (Got my money on the Bums, thank you very much, or should I say domo arigato)
Ohtani vs Judge... tough call... going with the Yanks :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Both division series are all tied up as of last night. Who knows? Still a strong possibility though. It feels like the Dodgers’ year to me. So, you’re on, Tailor. What are we putting up?
Hmmm... Living in the SF Bay Area in the past made me anti-Dodger... Ohtani is the only reason I'm following them this season. The NYY were my first love as a fan in the days of Mantle, Maris, etc. before my family located to the Bay Area (from NW Seattle) and I've followed them, and the Giants and the A's (until recently), and maybe the Phillies (since Harper). I haven't a plug nickel to wager and lean toward not betting anyway (yeah, I'm the life of the party, lol). Ideas ?
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Haha. Yankees and Dodgers. Two of the most beloved teams in all of baseball, also the two most hated.
Hmmm, how about this: the loser of the bet owes the rest of us an ode to the winner of the series, original work, posted on this thread. By “ode” I only mean it has to be a laudatory poem. Any form is okay — a couple of couplets, a sonnet, a limerick (my fav), a ballad, or maybe if Shohei figures prominently in the win, a haiku. This would be way more valuable than money, in my humble opinion.
Also the thought of writing an ode to the Yankees makes me wanna puke.
Lolololol ! ... I've already written one on the Yankees... it's somewhere in these here pages. I might feel the same about the Dodgers, so I'd limit it to an homage on Ohtani :) Ok... Yankees and Dodgers do your magic :)
Done.
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
if they both make it, i'll look forward to the reading.
also, will benny "the jet" rodriguez be making an appearance as a pinch runner for the dodgers??