Over and Out

Well, I kinda figured the Giants would come back to Earth Friday, but I didn't think Matt Cain's first pitch would be hit outta the park! So much for breaking the consecutive scoreless innings record. The record stands tied at 36 scoreless innings...it looked like the tables would be turned on the SF Giants, and they would get shutout, but Pablo Sandoval knocked a solo home run out of the park in the 9th inning, sparing the team countless mentions on the Sports Wraps on local stations from coast to coast. So 5-1 trumps 5-0...

I think it was a natural letdown after four emotional shutouts, and more high stress games going back to last week's "Bay Bridge Series" versus the Oakland As. A Friday night crowd at AT&T Park couldn't make much noise...I said it was too quiet in there...our Facebook Giants Group was quiet...even Twitter was on the downlow. I think the Giants and their fans were just outta gas. Strange, no energy, almost no runs, no Melkmen...let's call it an off night...

There's plenty of ball left to play, the All Star Break is the halfway mark of the regular season, and the Giants were the hottest team in June. Over fifty years of SF Giants baseball has brought the "June Swoon" into baseball's lexicon, thanks to the Giants' tendency to tank in June...not this season!

I'm eying my alarm clock as I type...there's around four hours until the Tour de France begins. LIVE TV starts at 5AM PDT. The Prologue in Liège, Belgium is a short taste of what's to come over the next three weeks in France...and I do mean short! The prologue is a 6.4 km/4 mi Individual Time Trial. One rider, against the clock, the "Race Of Truth" as they say...

I've got my fantasy team together, but this year's Tour is pretty much wide open. Defending Champion, Australian Cadel Evans would be the favorite, and after Evans the field is wide open. Last year's runner-up (and my personal favorite) Andy Schleck isn't racing, he suffered a broken sacral bone of his pelvis in a crash in the Critérium du Dauphiné in early June.

Two of my three sprinters from last year's tour are focusing on the London Olympics. Manxman and übersprinter, Mark Cavendish has dropped 10 pounds (the better to climb mountain passes) with an eye to the hilly Olympic road race course. Reports say he's lost some top speed, but his coaches say he's as fast as ever. Cavendish is one of TeamCorduroyPlanet's sprinters, but he may call it a Tour after the first week, when the roads turn uphill and London 2012 nears. Thor Hushovd isn't racing in France this July, he's been dogged by a viral infection through much of the springtime Classics Season, and will race the Tour of Poland instead as his Olympic tune-up.

With Andy Schleck out, I don't have an emotional favorite to win in Paris. I have AMGEN Tour of California sensation Peter Sagan, though he's not a classement général threat. Brit Bradley Wiggins is on a tear this year, and Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, 2012 Giro d'Italia Champion has the Garmin-Sharp superteam behind him (with my other sprinter Tyler Farrar), though the Giro/Tour double is one of the toughest in sports...

I have no idea who will rise to the top in July, but I'm sure it's going to be interesting. There's fewer high mountain stages, no Team Time Trial, no L'Alpe d'Huez, but 100km of Individual Time Trial racing is enough to shake off the also-rans...yep, another TdF crapshoot!