Déjà Vu

I was out the door early today. My plan went this way: COSTCO Gas, COSTCO, Saw Shop, Chick-Fil-A for lunch, Drug Store, Safeway...all so I could get home to the Ancestral Digs and do a little baking before things heated up too much.

Too late... it was hot when I left...but when I returned it was 93°F.

As I was getting ready to leave, I strode down the driveway to get a clear view of the sky and I was struck instantly with a sense of the ol' déjà vu. I could feel the sun's heat on my skin, it's heat reflecting up from the driveway, and I smelled wood smoke...my encoded memories took me south of the border...all the way to Los Cabos, at the southern tip of Baja.

That's how it felt...Tropical, though the relative humidity was only 22%, and not a breath of wind.

That smell of smoke is coming from the newest wildfire to settle into my consciousness, the Morgan Fire, on the southeast flanks of Mount Diablo.

As the crow flies, the Morgan Fire is the same distance east from the Ancestral Digs, as San Francisco is flying west from the Digs. It takes 30 minutes from the Digs to go through the tunnel, across the bridge, and into The City. It's funny, Mt Diablo seems so much closer...I guess it's a human thing...almost everytime I go anywhere out of town, there's Mt Diablo towering over everything. It takes almost an hour, given the tiny neighborhood roads to get to the South Entrance to Mt Diablo State Park from the Ancestral Diggs.

KirkVallus and I made the trek up the Devil Mountain in 2012 to see a stage of the Amgen Tour of California Pro Bicycle Race.

The last time Mt Diablo burned was in 1977. At that time I lived in Walnut Creek with a buddy. We could see the peak from our kitchen window. Back in '77, I was at the kitchen sink when I saw lightning strike Mt Diablo's southwestern flank. It burned for three days.

I did Chick-Fil-A for lunch because their parking lot has a panoramic view of the mountain...there were no spaces that faced Mt Diablo, so I headed south and pulled into one of the many alleyways between small businesses, found a shady east-facing spot, and had lunch.

The mountain looked fully engulfed...at least the backside did from my vantage point. Even the North Peak had a pall of smoke rising up from behind it. As I took in the scene, a commercial-sized aircraft came into view as if it came from the Livermore Airport.

It flew high above the fire, and just past the summit, it turned 180° and dove towards the southern ridgeline. It was a huge jet air tanker, and it laid a line of pink fire retardant just west of the ridgeline. That swath was nearly a half mile long!

I recorded a video of the whole thing...sadly my vantage point was through a bunch of powerlines and the camera's auto focus had trouble coping. However, I found a photo from the backside of the mountain capturing the same drop! Thanks Twitter!

By the time the 5 O'clock news came on, the almost 800 firefighters on the line and the air attack had really tamed things up on the mountain. The near lack of wind helped a bunch too!

Once I got cooled off in the pool, I settled in for some Giants Baseball pre-game radio blather, and I went online...fired up twitter and searched #MorganFire.

Through the magic of twitter, i was treated to an almost continuous stream of tweets loaded with photos, news and views. Much less dramatic that Sunday night, when photos from AT&T Park showed the towering plume of smoke over the East Bay Hills!

I found out the big jet air tanker is called a VLAT DC-10 that is, it's a DC-10 widebody, converted into a Very Large Air Tanker. You gotta love government-speak...

Last I heard it was 'some kid doin' illegal target practice in his yard' that sparked the thing off. At 8PM Monday night, CalFire is reporting the Morgan Fire stands at 3,718 acres and 20% containment.

Reports from Reno/Stead Airport, home of the Reno Air Races say the unlimiteds have arrived, speed trials are underway...and oh yeah, the smoke from the Rim Fire has dissipated!

My next shot at an America's Cup race (and my first trip across the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is Thursday, so I won't be in the Valley Of Speed until Friday morning.

This Sunday afternoon photo covers all the bases...so to speak...

The whole story: America's Cup recer, new Bay Bridge, Morgan Fire pyre.

More later...

Greased Grooves

            I can almost hear John Huston, The Narrator in 1982’s ‘Cannery Row’ intone: “Once again the World was spinning in greased grooves” now that the All-Star Break is over and Major League Baseball is being played in ballparks from coast to coast! #GoGiants

            The happy, warm all over feeling I got when Giants’ starting pitcher Chad Gaudin mowed down the Diamondbacks’ first three hitters, and the Giants’ leadoff man Gregor Blanco got to first on a walk, only to be knocked in by a big Buster Posey double in the  first inning…priceless! Our Week-Long National Nightmare is over! Hooray Baseball!

            Final Score- SF Giants 2 Arizona Diamondbacks 0 We gain a game on them too!

            In another greased groove across the Big Pond, Le Tour de France  reaches Paris Sunday… some champagne will be enjoyed by the maillot jaune’s  team as they wend their way around the Champs-Élysées, before the final field sprint, and the Podium Ceremony. After three weeks, it’s been a brilliant 100^th Tour.

            This July, I didn’t really have a horse in the race…yeah, I was pulling for Andy Schleck who was still short of the form needed to win the Tour after a Spring of injuries and set-backs. As a dispassionate observer of Le Tour de France this year, I noticed a new, disturbing trend on the roads and byways of France (and Corsica, too.)

            “Traffic Furniture”, the quaint term the British Tour Commentators use to define Traffic Roundabouts, Median Strips, Curbs and Gutters, almost took out the winner of Thursday’s Iconic Stage 18 near the bottom of the second  L’Alpe d’Heuz climb. Christophe Riblon following Tejay Van Garderen had to “Bunny-Hop” a roundabout that came as a surprise as they snaked through the packed roadway. Luckily, Riblon escaped without crashing or suffering a flat tire, and went on to win the stage when Van Garderen “hit the wall” just 3KM from the finish line.

            It’s bad enough that roundabouts have multiplied like überfetid bunnies, infecting seemingly each and every scenic French village, town and city center…but what is the deal with the multitude of Speed Bumps? Do they come along post-roundabout infestation? Don’t the Tour de France Organizers have enough pull to have these motoring menaces removed for the Tour…if only on the Finishing Straights? I almost get Motion Sickness from the LIVE footage when the MotoCameras go over these outsized Traffic Furniture interlopers.

            Dear Readers, it’s not too late to take preventative action! Attend and speak at your City Council or Public Works Committee meetings! Stop this insipid virus before it infects your whereabouts! Roundabouts are the camel’s nose under our tents…once a populace surrenders to the tyranny of the roundabout fascists, the speed bumps will follow. Roundabouts are the first slippery step that removes some of the hard earned situational awareness that keeps American drivers on their toes, and off other drivers fenders!

            Look at the French speed bumps, they’re tall enough to need their own Elevation Signs! Freedom loving Americans will NEVER acquiesce to outsized traffic tyranny such as the outsized French bumps!  This rush to be more like Europe will hurt Americans, lower our productivity, and raise our insurance premiums!

            Perhaps I’m a little too sensitive on this subject because of something that happened a couple of weeks ago…I was driving over to the SturgeUrge Compound in the neighboring town. SturgeUrge’s place is on a little private road off a crooked,  major thoroughfare. The main drag is loaded with nearly blind corners, hidden driveways, overhanging shade trees, and speeding, inattentive drivers. SturgeUrge’s power goes off almost monthly when somebody takes out a telephone pole along this road. Stopped traffic in front of his road is common, just a one mile backup from downtown.

            So I was coming downhill and made the left onto SturgeUrge’s road and BAM! I ran over a new ‘curb’ along the major thoroughfare’s shoulder…coulda been trouble for my teeth or tongue…or wheels and tires! This new curb is six inches wide and a good four inches tall!  A triangle shape that really rocked me, and all but impossible to see coming out of a spot of bright sunlight into the shady intersection!

            Urge said he’s already called the City’s Public Works Guy, and they’ve been out and made a few ‘modifications’…yeah…big deal, it’s still a dangerous speed bump making said intersection more dangerous. This modification is not done to the usually specified  Workmanlike Standard of “Best Practices” If these roads were new construction, there’d be a swale on Urge’s road to keep rainwater from running across the main drag…What’s a swale? Think gutter, a nice soft gutter that doesn’t knock your fillings out!

            Get this! As the situation has been playing out, Urge found out that the City got some Federal Stimulus Money that they wanted to use to put in a roundabout somewhere that it isn’t needed downtown. Wiser heads prevailed and the roundabout was nixed, freeing up the cash for a myriad of little street “improvements”

            I had a bad feeling that these “Traffic Nanny” roundabouts have become a chic status symbol for the Municipality Set…I can’t wait to see “Chapter Three” of the Swale Saga unfold…

Dopey - Thoughts On The Passing Scene

           Here we are on the 18^th Stage of Le Tour de France, Gap to L'Alpe d'Huez. Team Sky’s Super Domestique from the 2012 Tour, who shepherded Brit Bradley Wiggins to victory, Chris Froome has been wearing the Yellow Jersey for 10 days now. 
           In honor of the 100^th running of the Great French Spectacle, the Organizers decided to ‘Double the Pleasure’ of the Tour’s most Iconic Stage, so the riders will climb L'Alpe d'Huez…twice in a single day…Brutal

Throw in millions of party-hardened Tifosi clogging the roadside and you have a scary spectacle unlike any other. No other Pro Sport allows the fans onto the field of battle. I saw one bare ass mooning the motorcycle cam in this morning’s LIVE coverage. It went by so fast I couldn’t resolve whether it was a male or female moon…suffice it to say it wasn't the most "heavenly body"...                

           
It seems like there’s more schlughs in costume running alongside the bicyclists, patting them on the back and somehow staying upright every year.

“Schlugh” (pronounced schloog) is the derisive term coined by former TdF competitor and NBCSN TdF Commentator, Bob Roll for the common sense-challenged TdF Fans who get just a little too close to the action, given their blood alcohol levels and apparent sleep deprivation. Today one schlugh waving a Japanese flag nearly upended Ritchie Porte  who was pulling leader Chris Froome up L'Alpe the second time.

Stage 18 was won by Frenchman Christophe Riblon from Tejay Ven Garderen who broke away together at the bottom of the first climb of L'Alpe d'Huez. Tejay had a mechanical on the Über-Scary descent of the unknown (and un-raced until this June’s Critérium du Dauphiné) Col de Sarenne, the back way off L’Alpe.

Amongst the kaleidoscopic background of the SchlughFest, I saw a few homemade signs that said simply: “Froome ?” Since Froome first pulled on the yellow jersey, there have been questions…Is Chris Froome doping? Froome says no, but the signs are in the galleries, and the questions are asked daily.

Today, Team Sky released Froom’s Power stats from 2011, 2012, and 2013…same power output each year. Today the peloton is PED-Free, and that’s a good thing…it took 90+ years to rid the Tour of doping, yet the spectacle is no less thrilling.

Tuesday was the MLB All-Star Game at the New York Mets’ CitiField. Monday they held the Home Run Derby, won by the Oakland A’s Yoenis Céspedes, another slugger with a God-given swing that’s as pretty as it is devastating.

In the aftermath of the game and derby, the internet became heavy with steroid talk…again. Sportswriters, the self-appointed “Protectors Of Baseball” are harping on again about the Home Run Records since Henry ‘Hank’ Aaron’s record. In fact they’re bypassing Hammerin’ Hank for Roger Maris’ iconic 61 when talking about the “Next Big Thing”  who might give the HR Record a run, ignoring Mark McGuire’s and Barry Bonds’ records…yeah, the Royal Order Of The Asterisk is on point again to “save baseball”

Bonds and McGuire both came into the Big Leagues with awesome swings. Steroids won’t give a hitter a good swing. Steroids help build muscle mass and speed muscle recovery after heavy use damage…one could argue that steroids benefited the pitchers facing the sluggers more than it helped the hitters.

Baseball at the Major League level is an Entertainment that grosses billions of dollars annually. Players make millions once they’ve established themselves as stars. Who among us wouldn’t be tempted to take PEDs if they could keep the million dollar paychecks coming for a few more years…ball players have kids, mortgages, families, all that benefit from the game’s largess…

The last time I spent a week in Truckee, I read Tyler Hamilton’s Tour de France Tell-All tome, “The Secret Race” in two sittings.

Tyler’s book chronicles his fall into doping while a teammate of Lance Armstrong in the “Glory Years” where Armstrong won seven straight TdF Titles in as many years.

I remember the stages like they were yesterday…”The Look” that Armstrong gave fellow doper Jan Ulrich climbing L'Alpe d'Huez, the breakaways, the time trials, all dope-driven.

The midnight trips to obscure hotels away from the Tour for transfusions of their own blood (known today as ‘Blood Doping’) Dope schedules away from the big tours, all for an edge that calcs out at 1%...maybe 2%-3% at most…

I don’t support PEDs in sports, pro or amateur…but I understand the very human reasons why it’s so hard to rid sports of the scourge. This week, there’s several MLB ball players waiting to find out their fate after they were revealed to be doping recently…including some huge stars like A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez of the NY Yankees, once the highest paid baseball player in the world.

All their asterisk records were all products of their times. Armstrong never failed a drug test, ever. He’s in trouble now because newer standards and tests were unleashed on his blood samples from back in the day. Paula Dean has lost her livelihood because of a racial slur she admitted making 30 years ago, in the Deep South, because she’s been judged by today’s Politically Correct  standards.

How soon before we strip actresses of their long ago Oscars because they had a nose job or breast enhancement? Think about it…they’re the same thing. I believe that this is one arena where a “More Nuanced” outlook is long overdue.

The Grand Tours survived the early years of amphetamine abuse (if not all competitors did) Baseball will always be the most “Human” of sports….yes, sportswriters manning the battlements to “save baseball” are Human too…

Niche Sports Apocalypse

The view from over my Gin&Tonic tonight is troubling. Somehow I've lost pace with my cozy little world of niche sports this spring. May flew by comfortably enough, in fact I don't think I even looked for Mt Everest News. Dare I say Everest has become 'So Last Century'?

I'm used to the dearth of Indianapolis Motor Speedway news now. The daily records and breathless headlines of speed are quaint memories from the Pre-Split IndyCar world. Which is not to say the Indy 500 is passé...au contraire the 2013 Indy 500 was very exciting, with double last year's record lead changes, leading to a very popular victory for Tony Kanaan, who's been a bridesmaid twelve times at the Speedway, but never the bride until this year.

The 'new' IndyCar Series has settled back into it's boring slate of 1-1/2 Mile Ovals, Temporary Street Circuits where the only overtaking is done on Pit Stops...too many Saturday races...IndyCar is trying double headers this year, Saturday and Sunday on the same circuit...I prefer my motorsports to be ennui-free...

June brought back the 'June Swoon' for my World Champion San Francisco Giants. The Giants starting pitchers suffered from one blow-out inning in each outing, while the Giants hitters slumped as a group spectacularly...MLB's worst team batting average for June...fewest home runs in the Majors for June...

Did I mention the injuries? Center fielder Angel Pagan pulled a hamstring, nursed it for a month, then tore it in earnest during his first 'rehab game' with the Class A Advanced, San Jose Giants farm team. Starting RHP Ryan Vogelsong broke the pinky on his throwing hand when hit by a pitch back on May 20th, he's due back sometime in August.

The Giants moved long reliever Chad Gaudin into Vogelsong's spot in the starting rotation where he made two quality starts before struggling in his third outing (attributed to 'Dead Arm Syndrome' by Giants' broadcaster and pitching guru, Mike Krukow) Gaudin was back to form on his fourth start when he was hit...twice! by batted balls.

The first hit bounced off Gaudin's butt, Gaudin picked it up and threw the batter out. The second time the line drive hit Gaudin on this pitching arm just below the elbow, on his forearm. Gaudin was unable to continue, and has in fact missed his next two scheduled starts.

The Giants acquired Gaudin to fill in for long reliever Santiago Casilla who was lost to a cyst in the bone of his lower leg. Casilla had the cyst removed and went on the 15 Day DL (Disabled List) He's been rehabbing with the San Jose Giants and should return this weekend vs the Dodgers at AT&T Park.

Another Giants' Hit Batsman, 2nd baseman Marco Scutaro suffered a dislocated pinky on his glove hand, missed six games and is back playing with his new splint protecting his 'mallet finger'

Future Gold-Glove shortstop, Brandon Crawford jammed two fingers on his throwing hand sliding into second base and missed a couple of games, until his replacement Joaquin Arias pulled up lame with his pulled hamstring...see where I'm goin' here? 

Slugging All-Star MVP 3rd baseman Pablo 'Kung Fu Panda' Sandoval did a stint on the 15 Day DL for a foot sprain, and apparently left his bat behind...he's batting just .152 since returning...

The Giants fell all the way to the cellar in the NL West, displacing the hated Los Angeles  Dodgers...this past week, at least all the other teams in the NL West fell of their barstools too...it's a long season, as they say...

Independence day was Opening Day on San Francisco Bay for The America's Cup Regatta. After a fatal training accident and the subsequent pause to re-evaluate the safety protocols of the scary-fast AC72 catamarans, there's some static background noise of possible litigation of the new safety rules possibly delaying the racing...stay tuned as they say...

The 2013 Formula One Season has been excellent so far. I'm having a little trouble adapting to the new US Broadcaster NBC SportsNet however...gone are the live streaming sessions of Free Practice 1 and FP3. NBCSN does air FP2 and Qualifying LIVE, except during Le Tour de France (read the month of July, plus the last weekend of June, or another way to say it, the British and German Grands Prix)

The F1 season has been a gearhead geek's delight so far, but things looked like they were falling off the rails when a series of high speed tire failures began on Lap 7 of the British GP at Silverstone, when favorite son, Mercedes' Pole Winner Lewis Hamilton's left rear Pirelli disintegrated at 100+ MPH!

Two more Pirelli tires suffered a similar fate during the race, as well as one during Saturday practice. all were fitted to the left rear. No injuries or crashes resulted from the failures, and the racers soldiered on fearlessly.

The silver lining? It looks like the FIA will again allow the teams to test during the season. Germany's GP comes Sunday July 7th at the Nürburgring...it should be exciting...to say the least!

Finally, July is the time for my favorite sporting event, Le Tour de France. I was looking forward to entering a couple of Fantasy TdF Games, but my favorite places were gone! I found a new spot, this one from Great Britain and began boning up on the Start List.

Where is everybody? American sprinter Tyler Farrar didn't make the Garmin-Sharp Tour Team...Norwegian World Champion sprinter Thor Hushovd...MIA, last year's winner Brit Bradley Wiggins is unable to defend with a knee injury...I gave up...plain and simple...

NBCSportsNet's TV coverage has been as good as ever. This is the 100th running of Le Tour, and the organizers have outdone themselves...more mountains, a team time trial, and get this, they climb L'Alpe d'Huez...twice...in the same stage! Stage 18 Gap to L'Alpe d'Huez, Thursday July 18th.

Today is Stage Six...as is customary, the first week of Le Tour has been mostly about the sprinters...with the attendant high speed crashes, and drama. One fellow is already soldiering along with a hairline pelvis fracture. American Christian Vande Velde was caught up in Stage 5's contretemps and hit the road hard enough to loosen some surgical screws in his collarbone...Vande Velde is still racing today.

One more thing is bothering me about this year's Tour. Being that this is the Centennial Tour, there's lots of Tour History, which for American TV means Lance Armstrong's history. Admitted PED user, this is uncomfortable in the main, but PEDs in competitive cycling is not a Black & White story. Performance Enhancing Drugs have been part of Le Tour since 1903 the first Tour.

I'm not excusing Armstrong's deeds. I'll have more to say in a later blog.

Thanks for reading...

More Loose Ends

Embedding the Wind Tunnel Videos has been real cranky this morning, so I split today's screed in half...I'm too tired to fight it this morning (I got up at 0430 to watch the Singapore Grand Prix, where the Formula One cars raced under the lights. It's a spectacular race venue!



Alex Zanardi Newz:
Wind Tunnel has been keeping an eye on ex-IndyCar Champion Alex Zanardi who won two Paralympic Gold Medals in the 2012 London Paralympic Games, and my be headed to the Indianapolis 500 next May. Enjoy Zanardi's Wind Tunnel interview:

Full

I'm sure everyone is weary of me referring to myself as "A Glass Half Full" guy. So sue me...

I saw an old favorite racecar driver's name in my Twitter timeline this morning. Then this photo appeared on my Tumblr:

Alex Zanardi won the Men's Road Handcycling Individual Time Trial Gold Medal Wednesday at the London2012 Paralympics

Zanardi is NOT a "A Glass Half Full" guy. Zanardi's glass has always been Full! Full of Sunshine...if you ask me...

Back during the 1996 American Open Wheel Racing Split, where Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Tony George "had a better idea" and carved the IndyRacingLeague out of CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams), Zanardi was the big deal in IndyCar racing.

Zanardi came to CART after four years of Formula One racing for second-tier teams. Racing for CART's Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex scored the Pole in his second race, won three races, and finished the season as CART Rookie of the Year, tied for Second Place in the Championship with Michael Andretti.

"The Pass" as it's now known, of race leader Bryan Herta, on the last lap at Laguna Seca, featured Zanardi taking to the off-track dirt apron entering the Corkscrew, blowing by Herta in a cloud of dust for the win...legendary stuff.

Zanardi originated the Post Win display of tight donuts at the Start-Finish Line in a cloud of tire smoke. He'd already been given his nickname, "Pineapple Head" for his ebullient, prickly style. I'm not positive, but I think the nickname was coined by Zanardi's Race Engineer, Mo Nunn.

In 2001, Zanardi was nearly killed in a ChampCar race at the former East Germany's Lausitzring circuit. Zanardi's legs were amputated when he spun onto the track exiting pit lane and was speared by Alex Tagliani who couldn't avoid Zanardi's car. Zanardi lost 3/4 of his blood at the track and was saved only by the grace of God (and CART's crack medical team)

I remember vividly watching the accident on TV. I was weirdly numb, to tell the truth...I only saw "highlights" of the accident on Mexican television while SturgeUrge and I were on a fishing trip to San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur. I wouldn't see the race on tape until we returned to the States a few days later.

My numbness was due to the race being run on September 15, 2001...just four days after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Throw in a close encounter with a hurricane that developed overnight, and kept us off the water, and I'd spent far too many hours watching unedited footage from Lower Manhattan via Mexican TV.

Zanardi rallied almost immediately after his hospital stay, embarking on an ambitious rehabilitation program, designing his own prosthetic legs with an eye to returning to the cockpit, and getting back in the racecar in 2003, completeing the 13 final laps he missed at the Lausitzring race in a ChampCar fitted with hand controls.

Zanardi went back to Professional Racing in the FIA Touring Car Championship racing for BMW. He tested a BMW-Sauber Formula One car at Valencia, Spain in 2006 saying: "Of course, I know that I won't get a contract with the Formula One team, however having the chance to drive an F1 racer again is just incredible."

Zanardi began handcycling in 2007, grabbing 4th place in his class at the New York City Marathon after only four weeks of training. He set his sights on making the Italian team for the 2012 Paralympics, winning the Venice Marathon in 2009, Rome City Marathon in 2010, and in his fourth attempt, the New York City Marathon in 2011.

Read about Zanardi's Gold Medal TT at ESPNW

Well done, Pineapple, well done...and thanks!

Lance Armstrong's Monkey Trials

It's a day off for me, but News Never Sleeps, and this story alarms me.

Today's American Spectator weighs in with the Back Story on Lance Armstrong's surrender to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)

The piece is food for thought...here's some snippets:

If you're not familiar with USADA, its website describes the agency as follows: "The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency… is the national anti-doping organization for the Olympic movement in the United States. The U.S. Congress recognized USADA as 'the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic sport in the United States.'" It also claims to be a "non-governmental agency," but it will probably not come as a surprise that it is funded in part by your tax dollars. You will also note, by the way, that USADA's description of its mission ends with the words "in the United States." As this suggests, it isn't immediately obvious that the agency's jurisdiction gives it the authority to revoke titles awarded in a European bicycle race.

This is a distinction that was not lost on the International Cycling Union (UCI), the governing body for international sports cycling and the entity that administered doping tests while Armstrong competed. Knowing that he never failed any of these tests, UCI has indicated that it is not prepared to merely rubberstamp USADA's precipitous action: "Article 8.3 of the WADC [World Anti-Doping Code] states that where no hearing occurs the Anti-Doping Organisation with results management responsibility shall submit to the parties concerned (Mr. Armstrong, WADA and UCI) a reasoned decision explaining the action taken. Until such time as USADA delivers this decision the UCI has no further comment to make."

Last time I checked, we still live in America...under the Constitution...right?

Doped

This doping deal has gotten to me...the 2012 Vuelta a España finished it's first week Friday, without TeamCorduroyPlanet playing along in a Fantasy League. Lance Armstrong, facing a New Salem Witch Trial, said Uncle. Alberto Contador's doping suspension is over and he's contesting for his home Tour. I guess I'm just turned off...

I was slacking when the Tour de France wrapped up and the Olympics showcased British Cycling...I may say something about it once my  "Doping Allegation Receptors" heal a little...

There's still one more week of Formula One's Summer Break. The cars will fire up next Friday for the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps, and I can hardly contain myself! There's no doping in motorsports...at least no "performance enhancing drugs" A NASCAR driver flunked a drug test a couple of weeks ago...methamphetamine, "speed" Oh the Irony...

I don't think there's a drug problem in America's Cup Racing...Though who can forget the highly inebriated Ted Turner nearly falling off the stage and taking the podium with him after defending the Cup onboard "Courageous" in 1977?

It's almost NFL Football Season. The NFL has become the new Tobacco I fear. The hand-wringing do-gooders are after the sport the same way they went after "Big Tobacco"...with the determination of Pit Bulls.

The suicide of San Diego Chargers' superstar linebacker, Junior Seau in May has brought into the daylight Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), progressive damage to the brain associated with repeated blows to the head. No less a luminary than Conservative Pundit and Baseball Author, George Will addressed the problem in his column this month.

I'm not the Football Fan I was back in the 80s when my San Francisco 49ers began as Cinderella-Story SuperBowl Champs and built a Dynasty behind Joe Montana. The NFL Owners and the NFL Player's Union have brought myriad changes to the ol' Gridiron. The game is so different now compared to the game I loved as a kid watching YA Tittle throw the Alley-Oop to RC Owens at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium.

Many new rules protect the players (and the owners' investments in them), but many changes have diminished the deeper textures of the game for me.

Free agency is "Katy Bar the Door" now...so much that when a team does scale Olympus and hold the Lombardi Trophy overhead while the showers of champagne rain down, the following season almost always resembles a Community Rummage Sale as the newly crowned Football Stars move to other teams who's Salary Cap headroom allows a little  shopping for the High Priced Spread.

For me, this unfettered movement has killed the deeper rivalries. Oh, the NY Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles will always have a rivalry worthy of notice, but the rivalries between  individual players on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage never have a chance to develop today.

Before wide open free agency, teams in the same Conference played twice a season, plus potential playoff meetings. Season in and season out, opposing players would build a history with their opposite, rich with perceived slights, fakes, deference and disses...great stuff, now only memories.

Don't get me started on Instant Replay which has slowly dug in like a bloated tick sucking the life out of the game. 

NFL games are played mostly on Sunday afternoons...My Friday Nights during ski season. The extra half hour that Instant Replay has added to the games has proved fatal to my ability to stay awake until the end of the games. 

What about TiVo you ask? 

Truth? I'm too plugged in to avoid seeing the outcome before I watch the DVR'd games...same with motorsports...

I'd be remiss if I didn't remember Retired NAVY Aviator Neil Armstrong who passed away Saturday. I can still vividly remember standing out in the yard with my Dad looking up at the Moon after watching Armstrong step onto the Moon on TV. I remember thinking "how clever of NASA to land Americans on a Full Moon...

I guess it's been a bad day for Armstrongs period...however, Neil's family makes a simple request that brightens my heart:  

For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/97040/neil-armstrong-first-man-on-the-moon-dies-at-82/#ixzz24cG5sfIh

Doping

Today it's Lance Armstrong throwing in the towel. Professional Cycling has been after Armstrong since he was a Junior. When he started winning the Tour de France the French press lead the charge to discredit him. Chauvinism pure and simple.

Hat Tip: Dictionary.com
1865-70 Origin: French chauvinisme, equivalent to chauvin jingo (named after N. Chauvin, a soldier in Napoleon's army noted for loud-mouthed patriotism) + -isme -ism

I joined Twitter specifically to follow @lancearmstrong. He used Twitter to go around the European Cycling Press to speak directly to cycling fans and cancer patients and advocates. I can't tell you how many times Armstrong's first tweet of the day from the TdF began: "Good morning Doping Control! Now for some coffee and stage..."

Armstrong has been tested 1000+ times and never failed a test. That hasn't stopped the accusations. Cyclingnews.com has an index of Armstrong's Doping Allegations Over the Years online. That's some list!

Frankly? My mind is too fatigued to dig in to the story this week...doping's hit my San Francisco Giants hard this season too, and my "Doping Allegation Receptors" are just a little...overstimulated.

Giants left fielder Melky Cabrera was given a 50 game suspension from baseball after testing positive for testosterone.

In early May, Giants' long reliever Guillermo Mota was handed a 100 game suspension by MLB for his second failed drug test. Baseball found Clenbuterol in Mota's system. Clenbuterol was also the substance that caused the 2010 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador to be stripped of his title.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm against doping in all sports. But I'm also against witch hunts that trample personal liberties and due process. Armstrong seems to be in a "guilty until proved innocent" situation...under fire from an American Association in America where jurisprudence is governed by the United States Constitution. What's wrong with this picture?

That's it...I don't have the appetite for anything more on this today...

Lazy Friday

I'm slacking for the second night in a row...all that sun and salt air on San Francisco Bay can take it out of a man!

There's too many distractions this month, that's for sure...

The Tour de France has moved into the mountains, and as always the Alps didn't disappoint! NBCSN's LIVE TV coverage started at 3:30AM on the West Coast, and I found some European LIVE streams online. Many are even in English! My fantasy TdF team is cellar dwelling again...

The video blogs about Sunday's British Grand Prix have posted. More new bits for most of the cars, and a fantastic race on the track...a dry track after record rains for the rest of the F1 weekend. I find it totally amazing how little wings at the front of the sidepods, and the shape of the bodywork can help steer the open, up-firing exhaust down to the car's floor, between the rear tires, and out through the diffuser to increase rear downforce.

I looked at the USS Iowa's Facebook Page, and it's a treasure trove! Lots of interesting comments from Opening Weekend Visitors as well as Iowa Veterans. From my tradesman's point of view, USS Iowa Volunteer, Acting USS Iowa Electrician and Gunners Mate, James Baca's comments are most appreciated! There's a link to a good LA Times Story on the battlewagon posted there too.

I'll be making the trip south to visit Iowa once the new decks are finished, and more of the ship is open to tours...another year or two. The Pacific Battleship Center says that 95% of the ship will be on display by 2015

As you can see, I'm awash in my Sea of Joy...but I'm more than a little concerned about Fire Season, especially in the West. It's cooled off plenty since SturgeUrge and I baked out on San Francisco Bay Wednesday...a good thing for the firefighters battling the Robbers Fire between Foresthill and Colfax.

Even with temps trending downward for the coming week, winds are up again...so let's be careful out there everybody!

Sweatin' to The Oldies

Nope, not exercise! Pappa don't preach...and you won't find Richard Simmons anywhere near here! It's after 2:12AM. It got hot today here in the Inland Valley, but as always my room didn't start smokin' until 7:30PM when the Sun starts sinking in the west and all those photons and infrared waves sneak beneath the redwood boughs and do their magic on the front walls and windows.

Once the Sun slips behind the hills, we open the drapes and windows up front and the sliding glass doors on the back of the house and fire up the fans...I never had a chance to look at a thermometer today so I can't know how hot it was, but when I was out in it, it wasn't oppressive.

Even at Mom's Church Social it was nice and cool...thanks to the brand new central air conditioning that just came online! Two luncheons ago the HVAC guys were installing the system, and I don't remember the early May soiree either way temp-wise.

So I should be sleeping...the alarm's getting me up at 6:30AM...after a month of trying, SturgeUrge and I are halibut hunting in the morning...once the sweat on my forehead dries, I'm jumping in the shower and closing the peepers for what's becoming customary this month...about three hours.

I actually got a full night's sleep last night...it was a "Rest Day" on the Tour de France, and there's another ten days until the next Grand Prix, though I'll be happy to lose some more sleep for the next two weeks...the Tour has been fantastic so far! With most of the favorites sidelined, the 99th Tour de France is wide open in every way. New stars are being born before our very eyes.

This year's sensation is 22 year old Slovak, Peter Sagan who's exploded into the Pro Peloton this year. Sagan won the first four stages of the AMGEN Tour of California this May, on his way to five stage wins in the ToC!

Fast forward to the French countryside, Sagan's won three of nine stages in the Tour's first week despite hitting the pavement at least once. Each time Sagan has crossed the finish line first, he's made an outrageous victory gesture, variously called the Chicken Dance (or chicken wing flap)...he pantomimed a jogger's arm swings which he said was his "Forrest Gump" as he couldn't stifle his joyous laughter, and lastly he did his "Angry Hulk" flex (from the Marvel Comics' Incredible Hulk franchise) crossing the line and keeping the sprinter's Green Jersey. Young Sagan is a whirlwind of happy, happy, joy, joy...and it's a shot in the arm for the staid old Grande Boucle!

What a great race the British Grand Prix turned out to be...but that's a story for a night I don't have to obey bedtime!

WooHoo! best Halibut Tides of the Year! Good morning!