Taking steps for mankind AND winning 7 Tour de France titles? That guy was AWESOME.

Read it, don’t read it, I don’t care…just needed to get some things off my chest.

In no particular order of chronology or importance…

On the clock.  Work break.  20 minutes.

Let’s turn and burn.

1)  ESPN Mag had “predictors” for all NFL teams this year.  They matched up pretty right on of my personal breakdown of the schedule of my boys.  They tabbed them at 12-4.  That sounds about right, figuring in better than average chances of dropping games at Denver (yes, Bronco fans.  I just said that.), New York Giants, Dallas, and Baltimore, with a worse case scenario of dropping two more iffy games.  I got them at 10-6 worse case, assuming they have enough players to line up on each side of the ball.

1a)  Regarding that last comment, I was saddened yesterday to hear that their 1st round pick, guard David Decastro, tore his MCL.  Great, their weakness last year?  O-line.  They can’t afford to lose ANYONE on that thing.

2)  Yay.  College football starts up this weekend.  I have a hard enough time in stopping myself with JUST baseball going, let alone with two more sports about to start up.  Great problem to have, and the dog days of summer are just about over.

3)  I am sure idiot Skip Bayless would blame it on PED’s, but Jeter had a couple nice defensive plays over the weekend.  Dude can still flat out play, and would probably be tracking for the MVP if Mike Trout wasn’t having pretty much the greatest year for a first timer…of ALL TIME.  Problem is this, Mike.  Those numbers are robust, but I am giving the MVP to someone in the playoffs if they have ANYTHING close numbers-wise.  Sorry.  Have your teammates ramp it up a little, bro.

4)  My colleagues laugh at me renting tiny, tiny cars when on work trips.  Bottom line is this.  Eleanor, my Jeep Cherokee, has high visibility.  These fancy mid size cars do not, and I am not about to risk a wreck with just basic insurance on the road.  The tiny cars?  Big windows and lots of viewing area in towns I am not familiar with.  I got to rent that fancy car with the foreign chick commercial a couple months ago.  Aside from the irritating new shifting thing, it was fun.

5)  Very cool, Adrian Gonzalez, who did not waste any time in saying hello to the Dodgers fans by clocking his first home run in his first AB.  Nice work.

6)  Great.  Here we go.  Roger Clemens looked “sharp” in his Skeeters debut.  The Astros probably need one more showing like that and we will have a media frenzy galore.  Ugghh.

7)  Lance Armstrong has come out and said “no one needs to cry for me.”  Unless I am missing something, and unless I am a young cyclist that he was a hero for, I don’t think anyone IS.

8)  Japan wins the LLWS by demolishing the Tennessee team 12-2.  I am not surprised.  It looked pretty much the entire tournament that they were the best team.

8a)  In the semi on the American side, a kid had 3 HR’s and 9 RBI’s.  That dude raked.

9)  Lydia Ko, 15 years old, and someone I personally thinks already looks 50, won the LPGA tournament this weekend.  Here is one more look at a youngster that I can already visualize what her twilight years will be like.  https://www.google.com/search?q=lydia+ko+youngest+photo&hl=en&prmd=imvnsuo&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=8L87UJLuEo6ByAHAnoDICQ&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1440&bih=799

10)  Sunday morning, and for the first time ever I think, I was tired enough to actually turn OFF A Few Good Men’s last 30 minutes.  I was pretty impressed with my motivation of turning it off to jump back in bed to show NO motivation.

11)  There are only so many NFL roster spots.  I get that.  I still think that if they miss any FG’s in any playoff games this year, we will remember yesterday when the Ravens took a chance on a young guy and cut an experienced veteran in Cundiff.  I hope that missed field goal is against the Steelers in the AFC Championship.

12)  The Dallas Cowboys have set STRICT rules and assigned 3 security people to WR Dez Bryant.  He can’t drink, can’t go to strip clubs, has to have the team CLEAR as club when he wants to go to one, and has a midnight curfew at all times.  Damn.  He must really be tearing it up at practice, because that is a HELL of a lot of manpower to keep a young dude out of trouble.

13)  I am pretty sure I am one of 7 people worldwide that owns a Kip Winger solo CD…and LIKES it.

14)  A shout out to all the Einsteins who mixed up Neil Armstrong, Neil Young, and Lance Armstrong in their weekend tweets.  Neil Young is still alive, NBC, and for everyone else, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, but he is safe from being stripped of any cycling titles.  Flow chart needed, people.

15)  I know it is just a glorified practice, and I know I wrote about this last week, but the Jets are sure pulling a joke on EVERYONE if their offense ISN’T as bad as it has looked thus far.

16)  Russell Wilson will be the starter for the Seahawks.  Sure, He looked good in the last game.  However, a rookie starter not for necessity is what it is, Matt Flynn is semi-proven, and you have a squad built for right NOW, not three years from now.  Not sure what you are doing up there in the Pacific Northwest.

17)  It might not be the Tour de France, but going to a professional cycling thing is fun as hell.  Lindsey and I checked out the US Pro Challenge about three blocks from our apartments, and the energy level is awesome.  Stand next to a guy on a bike who knows what the heck is going on is what I personally recommend though.

18)  The Colts “serious” trade I guess was CB Vontae Davis from Miami.  They got better on defense for a high price in draft picks, but it is still not exactly riveting if you ask me.

19)  The Pats extend Aaron Hernandez’s contract.  Between him and Gronk, I would say that Tom Brady has LOTS of motivation to stick around a while.

20)  I wouldn’t have believed it a week ago, and I evidently had NO idea of what the movie’s premise was or was ignoring it, but I watched Hunger Games last night and LOVED it.  Pretty crazy stuff going on in that movie, in a MUCH better quality delivery than what I was ready for.

21)  For those who took one of the dual threat RB’s from Carolina in your fantasy football draft, I hoped when you flipped the coin that it ended up being DeAngelo Williams on your team.  Jonathan Stewart is already hurt.

22)  Get better, Rick Majerus, the St. Louis basketball coach taking a year off from health problems.  You are a great basketball mind and great coach, but your health is way more important.

23)  If you want to work track and field events, stay away from the javelin area.  I always wondered if this happened from time to time, and a German worker died at a school event over the weekend from getting hit by one.

24)  Time’s up.  Off the clock and back to work.  Will I blog tomorrow?  That is a CLOWN question, bro.  Peace.