Tag: sports

Have you ever been told you do something like a girl? Or told someone they were “doing that like a girl?” Have you ever considered the implications of that? Now consider this

BRISTOL, Conn. — Female pitcher Mo’ne Davis led her team into the Little League World Series, throwing a three-hitter Sunday to lead Taney Youth Baseball Association Little League of Philadelphia to an 8-0 victory over a squad from Delaware.

Davis struck out six in the six-inning game in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship game.

The 13-year-old will become the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series in 68 years.

A girl playing with the boys, out throwing them and out playing them. It is time to rewrite what it means to do something “like a girl.”

It’s time to end the sexist term the negates the worth of girls and women.

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Well you could call it a Sprint because most of the usual suspects were involved less André Greipel who fell on a roundabout 3.5km from the finish and Marcel Kittel who dropped out of the leading group on the Monts du Lyonnais.  The commentators keep talking about how frustrated Peter Sagan must be without a stage win but seriously, how frustrated can you be when you’ve been wearing Green for so much of Le Tour and your point position is so dominant that you could practically walk to the Champs-Élysées and still win the class you’ve chosen to compete in and not some wienie also-ran honor like most stage victories or Youth rider?  As far as I’m concerned Sagan has run a near perfect multi-stage race to date, you don’t get a fancy Jersey just because you cross the line first on any given day.

Yesterday that rider was Alexander Kristoff who’s Katusha team was able to deliver in a way that Cannondale could not.

Three withdrawls since the rest day, Fabian Cancellaria, Andrew Talansky who gave us that gutty ride on Tuesday (turns out he has a respriatory infection too), and David De La Cruz Melgarejo who had a specatcular crash out and was sent to the hospital.  Flaming chunks of twisted metal I tells yah.

On the stage there was certainly a bunch with 60 riders finishing on the lead time.  The actual leaders were Alexander Kristoff, Peter Sagan, and Arnaud Demare.  In the General Classification Vincenzo Nibali, Riche Porte closest (2:23), and Alejandro Valverde BelMonte (2:47).  Romain Bardet (3:01), Thibaut Pinot (3:47), Tejay Van Garderen (3:56), and Jean-Christophe Péraud (3:57) round out those under 4 minutes behind.  Bauke Mollema (4:08), Jurgen Van Den Broeck (4:18), Jakob Fuglsang (4:31), and Michal Kwiatkowski (4:39) make up those under 5 minutes away.  Geraint Thomas (5:17) and Rui Alberto Costa (5:34) are less than 6 minutes back, Mikel Nieve Iturralde (6:03) and Pierre Rolland (6:47) 7.  Christopher Horner (7:33) and Laurens Ten Dam (7:42) under 8; Haimar Zubeldia Adirre (8:01), Leopold Konig (8:25), and Tony Gallopin (8:57) under 9; Cyril Gautier (9:12) under 10 minutes.

Why so deep (21 riders) into the GC ek?  It’s the Alps and 10 minutes is not so far behind.

For the Green Jersey, same as it ever was.  Peter Sagan has a commanding lead (341), Bryan Coquard (191), Alexander Kristoff (172), Marcel Kittel (167), Mark Renshaw (118), André Greipel (117), Greg Van Avermaet (100), Vincenzo Nibali (95), Tony Gallopin (87), and Samuel Dumolin (80).  In the Climbing competition Joaquim Rodriguez (51), Thomas Voeckler (34), Tony Martin (26), Vincenzo Nibali (20), Alessandro De Marchi (18), Blel Kadri (17) and Thibaut Pinaut (16).  Everyone else is at least 4 points behind.  Between the Teams it is AG2R, Astana (3:19), Belkin (4:25), and Sky (4:56).  Everyone else is over 21 minutes behind.  In Youth competition it is Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot (:46), and Michal Kwiatkowski (1:38).  Tom Dumoulin is 14:16 back, Peter Sagan (your prohibitive Points leader) is 38:07 behind.  Everybody else is about an hour or more off the pace.

And we come to the big hills.  123 miles, only 3 climbs.  We start off with a gentle Category 3, 90 km of  bumps and flats, mostly descending, then a Category 1, Sprint Checkpoint after the descent, and an uphill finish to a Beyond Category at Chamrousse.

Once again, looks are deceiving.  Overall Col de Palaquit is rated at 6.1% but it has 3 sections at 10% gradient or better.  Likewise Montée de Chamrousse which has 2 sections at 10%+ but is very long, though it levels off to a mere (mere?  Merde!) 3.1% at the top.

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Yesterday all the action took place at the back of the race as Andrew Talansky (team leader of Garmin from the USA), the very last rider, struggled against back injuries caused by 2 crashes, one in Nancy and one on the Gérardmer descent Saturday, to avoid the broom car, so called because it picks up riders unable to continue, and time disqualification, on this day 37 minutes from the stage winner, Tony Gallopin.

After a a solid 4 minutes on the side of the road talking with the team manager and unkinking his back, he remounted and struggled to the finish a mere 32:05 behind.  It was, as the French say, an outstanding example of cran, guts, and whether he starts today or not he did not quit and that is a quality so admired that about half the (French) TV coverage was devoted to his effort and they stayed with it long past the normal post stage wrap up.

Otherwise it was a breakaway day with a pack of about 36 riders including most of the top contenders slipping away into the hills at the end and Tony Gallopin, the maillot jaune on La Fête Nationale, capturing the finishing sprint for the stage victory.

So the the results for Stage 11 look something like this.  On the stage it was Tony Gallopin with John Degenkolb in 2nd and Matteo Trentin in 3rd.  In all 35 riders scored the lead time including most of the usual suspects, an additional 10 riders were within a minute of the lead.  Nothing much changed in the General Classification with Vincenzo Nibali leading, Riche Porte closest (2:23), Alejandro Valverde BelMonte (2:47), Romain Bardet (3:01), Tony Gallopin (3:12), Thibaut Pinot (3:47), Tejay Van Garderen (3:56), and Jean-Christophe Péraud (3:57).  Bauke Mollema (4:08) leads a group of 4 riders at under 5 minutes behind, Gerant Thomas 2 at under 6, and Mikel Nieve Iturralde 2 at under 7.  Everyone else is farther back than that.  In Points Peter Sagan has a commanding lead (301), Bryan Coquard (164), Marcel Kittel (157), Alexander Kristoff (127), André Greipel (111), Mark Renshaw (110), Greg Van Avermaet (100), Vincenzo Nibali (95), and Tony Gallopin (87).  Everyone else is over 11 points behind.  In the Climbing contest Joaquim Rodriguez (51), Thomas Voeckler (34), Tony Martin (26), Vincenzo Nibali (20), Alessandro De Marchi (18), Blel Kadri (17) and Thibaut Pinaut (16).  Everyone else is at least 4 points behind.  In Team competition it is AG2R, Astana (3:19), Belkin (4:25), and Sky (4:56).  Everyone else is ove 21 minutes behind.  For the Youth contest it is Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot (:46), and Michal Kwiatkowski (1:38).  Tom Dumoulin is 12:42 back, Peter Sagan (your prohibitive Points leader) is 38:07 behind.  Everybody else is about an hour or more off the pace.

I hesitate to stick a fork in it with both the Alps and the Pyrenees to come, but with over 50% of Le Tour complete were I a betting man I’d start putting my money on stage wins, place, and show.  It’s starting to look very America’s Cup/Formula One.

Today’s stage is about 115 and a quarter miles and is another one of those ‘hilly’ sections that encourages breakaways instead of bunch sprints.  The Sprint Checkpoint is early (40 km) and uphill after a little dip and there are 2 Category 4s and 2 Category 3s with the finish on the flat after a descent.

Now tomorrow there are only 2 climbs, but we are in the Alps for sure.  One is Category 1 and the other is Beyond Category.  Things could still change so stay tuned.

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

So 2 of the 3 favorites are out.  Alberto Contador broke is leg in a crash on the Col du Platzerwasel 5 days after Chris Froome was forced to withdraw with a broken wrist and without question this makes Vincenzo Nibali who won the stage the prohibitive favorite to win it all.  Not that strange things can’t happen, that’s why they race.  His chief competitors now are Richie Porte (2:23) who has taken over as leader of the Sky team and Alejandro Valverde (2:47).  What brought down Contador?

Speaking with Agence France-Presse, he said he had taken his hands off the handlebars to reach for an energy bar in his back pocket when his front wheel hit a pothole. Along Monday’s route, there were several small potholes and larger sinkholes on a number of descents. Most were ineffectually marked with orange spray paint that all but faded away in the fog and the on-and-off rain.

But everybody knows that, the surprise this morning is that Fabian Cancellara is out too so he can prepare for the World Championships, leaving Trek with just 6 riders.

That makes 19 drops-

Stage 10

• HAYMAN Mathew, Orica
• KING Edward, Cannondale
• CONTADOR Alberto, Tinkoff

Stage 9

• GARCIA ECHEGUIBEL Egoitz, Cofidis

Stage 8

• FRANK Mathias, IAM
• DE CLERCQ Bart, Lotto

Stage 7

• VAN POPPEL Danny, Trek
• ATAPUMA John Darwin, BMC
• CLEMENT Stef, Belkin

Stage 6

• RICHEZE Ariel Maximiliano, Lamprey
• HERNANDEZ BLAZQUEZ Jesus Alberto, Tinkoff
• SILIN Egor, Katusha
• ZANDIO ECHAIDE Xabier, Sky

Stage 5

• FROOME Christopher, Sky

Stage 4

• SCHLECK Andy, Trek
• HENDERSON Gregory, Lotto

Stage 2

• MODOLO Sacha, Lamprey
• CAVENDISH Mark, Omega Pharma

The results from the 10th Stage look like this, Vincenzo Nibali, Thibault Pinot (:15), Alejandro Valverde BelMonte and Jean-Christophe Péraud (:20), Romain Bardet and Tejay Van Garderen (:22), Riche Porte (:25), Leopold Konig (:50), Joaquim Rodriguez (:52), and Mikel Nieve Iturralde (:54).  Twelve more riders finished within 2 minutes and an additional 3 under 3.  Leaders of the General Classification are Vincenzo Nibali, Riche Porte (2:23), Alejandro Valverde BelMonte (2:47), Romain Bardet (3:01), Tony Gallopin (3:12), Thibaut Pinot (3:47), Tejay Van Garderen (3:56), Jean-Christophe Péraud (3:57), Rui Alberto Costa (3:58), Bauke Mollema (4:08), Jurgen Van Den Broeck (4:18), Jakob Fuglsang (4:31), and Michal Kwiatkowski (4:39).  Ten other riders are under 10 minutes behind.  In Points competition Peter Sagan at 287 is waay ahead of the field.  His closest competitors are Bryan Coquard (156), Marcel Kittel (146), Alexander Kristoff (117), Mark Renshaw (101), André Greipel (98), Vincenzo Nibali (95), and Greg Van Avermaet (87).  Everyone else is over 11 points behind.  In the Climbing contest it is Joaquim Rodriguez (51), Thomas Voeckler (34), Tony Martin (25), Vincenzo Nibali (20), Blel Kadri and Alessandro De Marchi (17), and Thibaut Pinaut (16).  Everyone else is at least 4 points behind.  Team times look like this, AG2R, Astana (3:19), Belkin (4:25), and Sky (4:56).  Everyone else is over 20 minutes behind.  In Youth competition it is Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot (:46), and Michal Kwiatkowski (1:38).  Everyone else is over 12 minutes behind.

To call today’s 116.5 mile stage, Besançon / Oyonnax, hilly is only by comparison.  There are plenty of bumps and 4 rated climbs, 3 Category 3 and 1 Category 4.

The Sprint Checkpoint is after the first big bump but after a rest day and a flat run up you may see the sprinters try to contest except for Peter Sagan’s overwhelming lead in points.  The finish is down hill after a descent so you will probably see some tight racing, but I doubt it will be a bunch sprint.  Tomorrow is another hilly day and then we hit the Alps where there won’t be many climbs, but they will be very steep indeed.

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

The 9th Stage of Le Tour was defined by a breakaway.  Tony Martin was part of a 20 rider group that seperated from the peloton about 20 km in while descending the Col de la Schlucht, the first climb.  They broke away decisively ascending Le Markstein (5th on the stage, first of 17 Category 1 or beyond classification climbs) in decidedly damp conditions.   Now Martin is best known as a Time Trialer and on the flats after the last descent (of 6) he drove away from the lead group finishing 2:45 ahead.  The main contenders in the General Classification were content to stick with the peloton and finished 7:46 behind.  That extra 5:01 was enough to remove the maillot jaune from Vincenzo Nibali’s shoulders and put it on Tony Gallopin’s (he was part of the breakaway group).  So we have a Frenchman in the lead on La Fête Nationale for only the second time in a decade (the last was Thomas Voeckler).

On the stage it was Tony Martin with Fabian Cancellara and Greg Van Avermaet leading a group of 18 riders 2:45 behind.  In front of the General Classification is Tony Gallopin, Vincenzo Nibali (1:34), Tiago Machado (2:40), Jakob Fuglsang (3:18), Riche Porte (3:32), Michal Kwiatkowski (4:00), Alejandro Valverde BelMonte (4:01), Pierre Rolland (4:07), Alberto Contador (4:08), Romain Bardet (4:13), Rui Alberto Costa (4:46), Bauke Mollema and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (tied at 4:36), and Cyril Gautier (4:44).  Everyone else is over 5 minutes behind.  In the Points competition it is Peter Sagan (267), Bryan Coquard (156), Marcel Kittel (146), Alexander Kristoff (117), Mark Renshaw (101), and André Greipel (98).  Everyone else is over 11 points behind.  In the Climbing contest the leaders are Tony Martin (18), Blel Kadri and Alessandro De Marchi (tied at 17), Nicolas Edet (12), and Joaquim Rodriguez (11).  Everyone else is at least 3 points behind.  Team competition has tightened up considerably- Astana, Belkin (:22), AG2R (:53), Sky (5:31), and Omega Pharma (9:31).  Everyone else is over 10 minutes behind.  Among Youth the leaders are Michal Kwiatkowski, Romain Bardet (:13), Thibaut Pinot (1:06), and Tom Domoulin (4:08).  Everyone else is over 16 minutes behind.  There was one withdrawl- Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel.

Today’s 100 mile+ stage, Mulhouse / La Planche des Belles Filles, is Mountains for sure with 7 categorized climbs- 4 Category 1, 2 Category 2, and a Category 3.

Col des Chevrères is even tougher than its rating since about half of it is an 18% grade.  La Planche des Belles Filles is no picnic either with quite a bit @ 11% and the uphill finish @ 20%.  The Sprint Checkpoint is quite early which is a good idea since it’s doubtful we’ll have many sprinters around at the line.

Astana (Nibali’s team) is discounting yesterday’s finish as a choice to prepare for today.  Contador is not saying much of anything.  In any event the riders will be looking forward to their rest day Tuesday, as will I.

This is the second time that Germany and Argentina have met in the World Cup Finals. In 1986, their first match ended with Argentina winning 3 – 2 against then West Germany. Four years later, West Germany took home the cup with a 1 – 0 win. Today is anyone’s guess, both are strong teams but Germany seems to be the more aggressive and dominated the ball in most of their games. Yet, many are optimistic about an Argentina victory.

World Cup final: Argentina won’t buckle like Brazil, says Pablo Zabaleta

by Owen Gibson, The Guardian

• Full-back says side is too strong to suffer same fate as hosts

• Confidence untouched as team prepares to face Germany

Argentina will learn the lessons of Brazil’s World Cup humiliation and maintain the steely focus that has taken them to the brink of a historic victory in their neighbour’s backyard, according to Pablo Zabaleta.

As Alejandro Sabella’s agent revealed to an Argentinian radio station that he planned to step down after the World Cup final, Zabaleta vowed to ensure their coach went out on a high against Germany .

The Manchester City full-back echoed the surprise of the rest of the footballing world at Brazil’s “strange” capitulation in Belo Horizonte but said his robust and resolute Argentina side would not make the same mistake if they lost an early goal.

“Even if you concede some goals before 15 minutes or 20 minutes you need to keep calm and keep playing in the same way as we have been doing for these six games,” said Zabaleta, whose tears of relief and battered, bruised face after their semi-final victory over Holland seemed to sum up their scrappy, resolute run to the final.

“A football game is just about 90 minutes. If you concede some goals and you try to score as soon as possible, you concede space at the back and you are finished. It was a lesson for us, the Brazil game.”

Joachim Löw can steer Germany to World Cup glory against Argentina

by Zico, The Guardian

The way Germany crushed Brazil makes them favourites in the final but don’t count out some Lionel Messi magic

So here we are: Germany and Argentina, two traditional football nations, will decide the 2014 World Cup and no one can say they don’t deserve to be within one game of the trophy.

While demonstrating different profiles and styles, both negotiated passage through one of the most competitive tournaments in history and we are in for a very special game at the Maracanã. I have the feeling it will be more like chess than the festival of sprints we have seen throughout this World Cup but it should still be memorable.

Just don’t expect a goal festival like Germany v Brazil. In fact, the drubbing delivered to the hosts by Thomas Müller and co was one of the main reasons the second semi-final was such an anticlimax in comparison. Argentina and Holland both entered the game with a risk-averse plan and played pretty tight. Argentina knew they needed to sort out their defence after multiple scares in the group stages but they finally did with the arrival of Martín Demichelis who, alongside Ezequiel Garay, formed a very reliable centre-back pair.

On the Dutch side Louis van Gaal adopted the same strategy and that helped bring about a stalemate. Neither team gave the other space and, while Holland managed to keep Lionel Messi quiet, the Argentinians neutralised Arjen Robben.

Besides the controversy over the costs, construction of the stadiums and ticket scalping scandals, FIFA is also taking criticism over their lack of concern for player safety. UNlke the NFL, FIFA has disregarded the dangers of repeated concussions and returning to play soon after a head injury. They and the fans are far more concerned over the players practice of “diving,” pretending to be injured to draw a foul, as explained in this article from The New York Times.

Shouting About Diving, but Shrugging About Concussions

World Cup 2014: Injuries to Mascherano and Neymar Demonstrate Poor Medical Care

When Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano cracked heads with a Dutch player during a World Cup semifinal last week, millions of soccer fans saw it. [..]

Spectators didn’t need a medical degree to realize that he had hurt his head, and probably his brain, and that someone with a medical degree should properly evaluate him.

But then came yet another example of the dysfunction of FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, and how it is apparently indifferent to player safety, given what it has shown at this World Cup: Mascherano spent about two minutes on the sideline before returning for the rest of the match. That’s about four or five minutes before he should have returned, if he had received a proper neurological evaluation to determine the extent of his injury. [..]

Mascherano’s injury came about a week after the Brazilian star Neymar took a knee to the back in a quarterfinal match and fell to the ground, writhing in pain and saying he couldn’t feel his legs. Medical workers went to him without a backboard and instead rolled him onto a stretcher. Then they jogged off the field with him jostling around and crying out with every step. One person even slapped his right leg several times.

Once again, no medical degree was needed to see that it wasn’t the best treatment of someone who might have just sustained a serious spinal injury. Neymar, as it turned out, had a fractured vertebra.

It’s a wonder what medical protocols FIFA enforces – if it enforces any at all – when the world is not watching. But it’s a good bet that the federation would have snapped to attention if any of those players had faked an injury.

It’s obvious that FIFA needs to catch up with 21st century medical protocols.

Meanwhile, in Italy, there was some speculation on any friendly rivalry between Pope Francis, an Argentinian, and Pope Benedict XVI, a German, since their home country teams are rivals:

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, who has fielded soccer questions this week with a chuckling amusement, doubted the two men would watch the game together, or at all. He noted that Benedict, a scholarly theologian and author of a multipart meditation on the life of Jesus, has never been much of a soccer fan, “though he clearly understands that it’s important to many people.” (In March 2012, Benedict did greet the German star Miroslav Klose at the Vatican.)

The first Latin American pope, Francis is unquestionably a fan, who as archbishop of Buenos Aires cheered for San Lorenzo, a local soccer club. After San Lorenzo won the Argentine championship last year, a small delegation of managers and players came to the Vatican in December to present Francis with a trophy and an inscribed team jersey that read, “Francisco Campeon,” or “Francis Champion.” [..]

And will the pope be watching on Sunday night?

Father Lombardi said the pope “sent the Argentine team his best wishes before the tournament,” but added that Francis watches very little television, “and especially at that hour.”

“Above all,” he added, “I think they both want the best team to win. They’re above partisan passion. In this, they are united.”

There is still time to get yourself some snacks and drinks to get you through to the end of the match. One of the drinks concocted to commemorate the games is the German 71, in honor of the score of the Brazil – German match:

The German 71

1 ounce Monkey 47 gin

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup

2 ounces Dr. L Sparkling Riesling

Lemon twist

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, gin, lemon juice and syrup.

2. Pour into flute or cocktail glass, chilled if you like. Top with sparkling wine. Add lemon twist.

Note: To make simple syrup, combine 1 teaspoon of sugar for each ounce of water. Microwave until hot. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool before mixing drink.

The article suggest not pouring a new drink with every goal if the Germans are on their game again today. Like the team. the drink is more potent than it looks. I do doubt many Brazilians will be toasting the winner with that.

One last note, today is the anniversary of the first World Cup in 1930. The first venue was in Uruguay and the first two matches were played simultaneously on July 13. Those games were won by  France and USA, who defeated Mexico 4-1 and Belgium 3-0 respectively. The first World Cup was won by the host country, Uruguay who defeated  Argentina 4-2 in Montevideo before a crowd of 93,000.

I have no favorite, although this would be Germany’s first cup since the unification and they have shown themselves to be quite formidable. So, may the best team win.  

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Certainly for Stage 8 you can pretty much forget anything that came before the climbing though Simon Yates had a big breakaway and maintained it almost through the first climb, Col de la Croix des Moinats, when Blel Kadri and Sébastien Chavanel started the charge of the mountaineers with a breakaway of their own.  At this point conditions were pretty miserable and it didn’t really stop raining for the rest of the stage.  Speaking of the Mountain men it was the day Alberto Contador started to make his move and I would have expected something more decisive than a 2nd place finish a mere 3 seconds ahead of Vincenzo Nibali in 3rd.  Another interesting story is Sky’s Richie Porte.  Second to team Leader Chris Froome who is now of course out, he had a really good ride, finishing 4th on the stage and is now in 3rd place in the General Classification 29 seconds ahead of Contador.

Andrew Talansky crashed again, this time after tangling with Sky’s Geraint Thomas (along with Yates the only 2 British riders left).  Mathias Frank of IAM did not start and Bart De Clercq of Lotto did not finish.

As always the first day in the Mountains shakes things up a bit.  On the stage it was Blel Kadri for the first French win, Alberto Contador (2:17), Vincenzo Nibali (2:20), Riche Porte (2:24), Thibaut Pinot tied with Jean-Christophe Peraud (2:28), Alejandro Valverde BelMonte (2:36), Tejay Van Garderen (2:40), Romain Bardet (2:48), Sylvain Chavanel (2:54), and Bauke Mollema (2:55).  There were 16 riders between 3 and 4 minutes behind.  In the General Classification it is Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang (1:44), Riche Porte (1:58), Michal Kwiatkowski (2:26), Alejandro Valverde BelMonte (2:27), Alberto Contador (2:34), Romain Bardet (2:39), Rui Alberto Costa (2:52).  There are 7 other riders less than 4 minutes behind.  In the Point competition Peter Sagan (267), Bryan Coquard (156), Marcel Kittel (146), Alexander Kristoff (117), Mark Renshaw (101), and André Greipel (98).  The next nearest (Vincenzo Nibali) is 23 points behind.  In the Climber contest it is Blel Kadri (17), Cyril Lemoine and Sylvain Chavanel (6), Simon Yates (5).  For the Teams it stands at Astana, Belkin (5:23), and Sky (5:31).  Everyone else is over 10 minutes out.  The Youth competition is Michal Kwiatkowski, Romain Bardet (:13), and Thibaut Pinot (1:06).  Everyone else is over 9 minutes behind.

Today is Mountains for real, about 106 miles of them.

The Sprint Checkpoint is after the 2 Category 2s and 2 Category 3s and is uphill on a Category 1.  Pretty tough sprint if you ask me.  They finish flat after a descent so there might be some opportunity there for speed if a rider has kept up to that point.  On La Fête Nationale tomorrow they spend their last day in the Vosges and Tuesday is a rest day.

This afternoon Brazil will try to salvage its World Cup with a win in the Third Place Match against Netherlands (Holland).

Semifinal Losers Will Vie for Third Place, Like It or Not

World Cup 2014: Brazil and Netherlands to Play for Third Place, a Game No One Wants

Brazil lost its World Cup semifinal match to Germany by a devastating 7-1 score. The Netherlands lost its game against Argentina in a penalty shootout after 120 minutes of tense scoreless play.

After each match, the losing players wandered off the field, glassy eyed, crushed that their World Cup dreams had ended so close to the final.

The last thing any of them wanted to think about for a long time was soccer.

But their World Cup is not over. Instead, the losing semifinalists have had to haul their tired bodies and their dashed hopes to Brasília, where they will compete one more time on Saturday, for third place.

The third-place game is an oddity that many coaches, players and fans wish would fade into history. Netherlands Coach Louis van Gaal minced no words about the game.

“I think that this match should never be played,” he said. “The worst thing is that there is a chance you are going to lose twice in a row. And in a tournament in which you have played so marvelously well, you go home as a loser.”

C’est la vie, M. van Gaal. The man needs to stop whining about who went first and why.

Van Gaal remains convinced, though, that the World Cup was set up to favour Brazil. “I will stick to the facts,” he said. “The facts are that Brazil started first. And Brazil again has played first again and we played a day later.

“These are the facts. I am not going to beat around the bush. Then you know what the implications are if that is the case. The question is why? I think Scolari should think about that if he wants to do that and is allowed to do that.”

Van Gaal’s annoyance has clearly been heightened by the fact that Brazil have had another day to prepare for the third-place play-off. “We have one day less than Brazil,” Van Gaal added. “We have to get into shape in two and a half days, which physically is hard.”

Although much of the protesting has slowed, the corruption and political controversy of the game continued:

World Cup 2014: Executive Is Called Fugitive in Ticket-Selling Case

by Seth Kugel, The New York Times

A police investigation into an illegal ticket-selling scheme at the World Cup took a cinematic turn as one of the suspects slipped out of an employee entrance of the luxurious Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro just minutes before the police arrived to arrest him.

The suspect, Ray Whelan – an executive with Match Services, the company contracted by FIFA to sell match tickets and hospitality packages – can be seen on security footage casually following his lawyer, Fernando Fernandes, out an employee entrance of the hotel on Thursday afternoon. Police officers arrived minutes later with an arrest warrant. Whelan had been arrested earlier in the week and then released by a judge after a habeas corpus request. [..]

The police have been investigating an alleged Ticket Mafia, as the Brazilian press has called it, that supposedly acquired and sold World Cup match tickets and packages for well above list prices. The Rio de Janeiro police have recorded 50,000 phone calls, including around 900 calls between Whelan and Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, an Algerian who officials said was the mastermind of the operation, the police investigator Fabio Barucke told The Associated Press.

Investigators have accused 12 men of charges including ticket scalping, criminal conspiracy and, in three cases, bribing police officers in a sting operation. All but Whelan and José Massih, who assisted investigators during his initial arrest, are in police custody.

Brazilians Grumble and Take Stock After Crushing World Cup Loss

by Simon Romero, The New York Times

The hosting of the World Cup has been politicized from the moment FIFA, the scandal-tarred organization that oversees global soccer, awarded the tournament to Brazil in 2007. Back then, the economy was booming and the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, viewed the Cup as an opportunity to celebrate Brazil’s achievements on the global stage.

Now the economy is sluggish, in its fourth consecutive year of slow growth. While the feat of lifting millions out of poverty over the past decade remains intact, Mr. Lula da Silva’s handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, has grappled with widespread protests over political corruption and spending on lavish stadiums.

Just last week, a survey suggested that Brazilians were softening in their views of the Cup, buoyed by a series of stunning matches and a lack of major problems in the hosting of the tournament itself. Antigovernment protests had dwindled substantially, even though discontent continued to smolder over the public financing of stadiums when other large-scale projects remained unfinished.

On the lighter side, if you liked the Lego movies and videos, The Guardian has an on going series of videos that highlight the best and worst moments of global sports, called “Brick by Brick.” The last several have focused on the 2014 World Cup starting with the first game between Brazil and Croatia to Suárez playing hero and villain, poster-boy Neymar’s injury and Brazil’s humiliating exit

The coverage for today’s game is on ESPN with pre-game hype starting at 3:30 PM EDT and kick off at 4 PM EDT.

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Flaming chunks of twisted metal!  You could hardly ask for better weather or roads than you got in Stage 7 and still you had massive, race altering crashes.  So much for your theories about cobbles, or rain, or ‘selfies’.

‘Selfies’! even my activist brother who admits he can’t watch 15 minutes of Le Tour without falling into a coma of boredom repeated that laughable excuse.  Folks, spectators have been crowding the road and even dashing into the middle of the course to take pictures since the invention of the camera, which is to say basically forever.  I wonder what the tough guys of the first Tour would have to say about these whiny ass pretty boys when they rode cobbles almost every day and had to deal with flash powder explosions?

Stef Clement, Belkin captain, withdrew after a crash at km 40 (dead flat and dry), but then again he wasn’t expected to even start.  Mathias Frank withdrew early in the stage and Danny van Poppel at km 120 leaving Simon Yates, who scored the Climbing point for Côte de Maron, the youngest rider left at 22 years old.  Shortly after Tejay van Garderen who fancied himself a contender in the General Classification at (2:11) was involved in a crash and ended up losing 1:03 on the day and taking out his team mate Darwin Atapuma.  

In the last km there was another crash when Andrew Talansky went down during the final sprint and it looked like Peter Sagan would get his first stage win only to be aced out by Matteo Trentin in a photo finish.

On the stage it was Trentin and Sagan followed by 25 other riders who scored the same time as the leaders.  In the General Classification it is still Vincenzo Nibali followed by Jakob Fugslsang (:02), Peter Sagan (:44), Michal Kwiatkowski (:50).  Three more riders are under 2 minutes back, Tony Gallopin, Riche Porte, and Andrew Talansky and only 10 more under 3 minutes including Alberto Contador (2:37).  In Points competition the leader is Peter Sagan (259), Brian Coquard (146), Marcel Kittel (137), Alexander Kristoff (117), Mark Renshaw (85), and André Greipel (91); the next rider is 31 points behind.  In the Climber contest another static day, Cyril Lmoine (6), Blel Kadri (5), Jens Voigt and Nicolas Edet tied at 4.  Among the Teams it’s Astana, Belkin (4:18), Sky (6:31), BMC (7:08), and Trek (8:25).  Everyone else is over 10 minutes behind.  In Youth competition nothing changed, Peter Sagan, Michal Kwiatkowski (:06), Roman Bardet (1:27), Tom Dumoulin (1:41), and Thibaut Pinot (2:40).  Everyone else is over 11 minutes out.

Today’s stage is almost exactly 100 miles.  It starts out fairly flat though constantly ascending and the Sprint Checkpoint is at exactly 100 km.  After that the day goes up hill for the pure sprinters as we finish with 2 Category 2 climbs, Col de la Croix des Moinats and Col de Grosse Pierre, and in a Category 3 climb to the line in Gérardmer La Mauselaine.  This is the start of 6 more days in the Vosges which while not as tall as the Alps or Pyrenees are pretty steep and narrow.  We shall see in the standings start to change.

Coverage will be on NBC proper, not Vs. (or NBC Sports as it is now known) at 8 am ET.  Your usual schedule of constant repeats will be interupted by IndyCar racing and Outdoor shows though they will do the customary noon and 8 pm.

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Well, just to prove you don’t need wet weather and cobbles to make Le Tour dangerous (why yes, I am in favor of keeping the cobbles sections), yesterday on regular roads we had 2 huge crashes that injured 14 riders, more, may I point out, than in Stage 5 with the cobbles.  Three had to withdraw on course, Xabier Zandio of Sky, Jesús Hernández of Tinkoff, and Egor Silin of Katusha, and Stef Clement of Belkin will not start.  By contrast on the cobbles we only lost 2.

People are also grousing about the spectators getting too close to take ‘selfies’ but the fact is they have always been getting in the middle of the course and pressing in from the sides to take pictures so it’s really the same as it’s always been.  It was a bit damp, but it always is in Belgium, and there was a strong cross wind that broke up the main group of riders into 2 smaller groups which helped shape the race.

The fireworks came in the final kilometer when it became clear that Giant-Shimano had lost a little of it’s leg speed.  Though commentators initially blamed Kittel’s disappointing finish to a puncture he later admitted he had simply run out of gas.  Starting at the 1 km mark it looked as if the race was Michal Kwiatkowski’s but André Greipel attacked from the middle of the lead group and held off a very late charge from  Alexander Kristoff.  Once again Peter Sagan overcame a crash to finish a very respectable 5th.

So on the day it was André Greipel, Alexander Kristoff, Samuel Dumoulin, Mark Renshaw, and Peter Sagan.  Marcel Kittel finished 84th, 54 seconds back.  64 riders finished on the lead time including Jakob Fuglsang in 15th and Vincenzo Nibali in 18th.  Alberto Contador finished 20th.

In the General Classification it’s Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang (:02), Peter Sagan (:44), Michal Kwiatkowski (:50), and Fabian Cancellara (1:17).  There are only 3 other riders less than 2 minutes back.  In the Points championship the leader is Peter Sagan (217), Brian Coquard (137), Marcel Kittel (135), Alexander Kristoff (117), André Greipel (91), and Mark Renshaw (87).  Their nearest competitor is 32 points behind.  In the Climber competition not much has changed, Cyril Lmoine (6), Blel Kadri (5), Jens Voigt and Nicolas Edet tied at 4.  Team rankings are Astana, Belkin (4:18), BMC (6:05), Sky (6:17), Trek (7:22), Cannondale (9:03).  Everyone else is over 10 minutes out.  Youth competition has boiled down to 4 riders, Peter Sagan, Michal Kwiatkowski (:06), Roman Bardet (1:27), Tom Dumoulin (1:41), and Thibaut Pinot (2:40).  Everyone else is over 11 minutes out.

Épernay / Nancy is about 146 miles long.  It’s another mostly flat sprint stage with the Sprint Checkpoint about 2 thirds of the way through.  At the end of the stage there are 2 Category 4 climbs, Cote de Maron and Cote de Bofflers.  They expect showers on and off, we shall see.