Things that Robert is thinking about that keep him from accomplishing anything.

 
Fifty and Loving It
I finally broke through the 50 lb. barrier this weekend. I'm at 202.8 and have held it for 3 days, so it seems real. It'd be cool to be under 200 before my interview next week. Maybe I'll buy some tighty-whities to celebrate.

On the Tour de France: I'm happy for Lance to win, and I'm even happy for him to get all these endorsements, though as much tv as I watch I get more than my fill (and I don't even have cable/satellite). However, all this talk about how great six consecutive titles is is a bit much. In the race's 91 occurrences, four other people have won five titles, including the most recent, Miguel Indurain (91-95), who also won five consecutive. These five people account for 26 of the 91 titles. So, while it's unprecedented, it's not exactly earth-shattering. I can't help but think it's all about his cancer recovery. Would anyone but other cycling freaks really care about his achievement if he were just some guy who rides his bike and shaves his legs? I didn't think so.

The lesson we should probably draw is that well-financed teams tend to do really well and consistently so. We'll see what happens next year when the USPS is no longer the sponsor: it would be really interesting if Lance doesn't race and somebody new from the USPS team won next year. Of course, if Lance doesn't ride, maybe the new sponsors don't invest as much in the team, thereby improving other teams' chances and creating the self-fulfilling prophecy of "if only they had Lance."

As for Ricky Williams' retirement. It's nice to see somebody taking a stand for his belief in weed and freedom. Will this inspire the Portland Blunt Blazers drop out of the NBA?
posted by RSaunders at 10:09 AM ⇒