IOC Jacque Rogge and the First Olympic Youth Games Coming to Singapore

The Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame got under way today in Olympia, Greece, with the lighting of the flame at an official ceremony outside the famed Temple of Hera.

Using the sun’s rays and a parabolic mirror, a holy priestess lit the flame before entering the Ancient Olympic Stadium and passing the torch to the Journey’s first torchbearer, Apostolos Koutavas, who will represent Greece in trampoline at the Youth Olympic Games.

 Watch the lighting of the flame

http://www.olympic.org/en/content/YOG/YOG-news-face/YogNewsContainer/yog-enter-history-in-Ancient-Olympia/

 In the 22 days leading up to the first-ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, some 2,400 torchbearers will take the flame to all five continents in a journey designed to promote the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect among the youth of the world.

 The Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame, under the initiation of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, will arrive in Berlin on 24 July before moving on to Dakar (26 July), Mexico City (30 July), Auckland (1 August) and Seoul (4 August). A six-day torch relay beginning 5 August is planned for the final destination, Singapore, where the Youth Olympic Games will take place from 14 to 26 August.

 “It is a proud and special moment to have witnessed the Youth Olympic Flame being lit for the first time,” said International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge. “It is our hope that young people around the world will feel the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games, symbolised in the Journey of the Flame and embrace its message of friendship and respect.”

 Also at the lighting ceremony were Singapore 2010 Chairman Ser Miang Ng, IOC Coordination Commission Chairman for the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games Sergey Bubka, Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos, Youth Olympic Games Ambassador Yelena Isinbaeva, and others.

 “It is an honour to witness the birth of a new initiative for young people,” Mr Ng said. “Although the lighting ceremony dates back more than 2,000 years, the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect that the flame represents are still relevant today.

 “We hope the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame will connect young people around the world to the Olympic Movement, and inspire them to live by its values. And we look forward to welcoming the world to Singapore in August for the first Youth Olympic Games.”

 The Youth Olympic Flame will be used to light the cauldron to start the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games on 14 August.

The British Open at St Andrews brings with it a reminder of the greatness of golf through the ages.

           “Would you like to see a city given over,

            Soul and body to a tyrannising game?

            If you would there’s little need to be a rover,

            For St Andrews is the abject city’s name.

           “It is surely quite superfluous to mention,

            To a person who has been here half-an-hour,

            That golf is what engrosses the attention,

            Of the people, with an all-absorbing power.

                            RF Murray, 1885

In St Andrews, the march of time and golfers goes hand in hand.

Throughout the year, the starter will call a fresh party of players to the tee every ten minutes – and send them on their way round a links course where the game has been played since the early 1400s.

It was in 1457 that what had started out as a “popular pastime” took hold to the point where King James II had to call a halt. His people were being drawn away from their archery practice and he was understandably worried about the defence of the realm.  In golfing vernacular, play over the Old Course was suspended before starting up again in the 1500s when Archbishop Hamilton granted the citizens the right to play all games – including golf – over the links.

The Open Championship came to St Andrews for the first time in 1873 – too late, alas, for Old Tom Morris and Young Tom, the town’s most celebrated golfing sons. Between them, they had seized as many as eight of the first 12 Opens, all of them at Prestwick on Scotland’s West coast. Young Tom, when he won three times in a row, starting in 1868, captured the Championship Belt outright and prompted a one-year hiatus before winning the newly-minted Claret Jug.

There will be those who have triumphed at St Andrews without having any great depth of feeling for the venue, but many more will have found an almost divine inspiration in the old grey town and its heroes.

Bobby Jones playing St Andrews

That legendary amateur, Bobby Jones, who won a total of 13 amateur and professional Majors, was one of those for whom Sir Walter Raleigh’s quote, “Hatreds are the cinders of affection,” could not have rung more true.

When Jones came to the Home of Golf for the 1921 instalment of the Championship, he gave up at the 11th hole of his third round after failing to escape Hill Bunker. Before he left, he made his dislike of the Old Course abundantly clear.

Such was his remorse that, when he returned for the 1927 Open, he was armed with an attitude so positive that he holed putts from everywhere, including six of over 100 feet in the opening 68 which contributed to his runaway win. Three years later and this great American was back to win The Amateur Championship, at that stage the title he wanted above any other.

No Rolex timepiece can have attracted closer scrutiny than did Jones at the end of a final in which his rhythm had been well-nigh perfect as he defeated Roger Wethered by seven and six.  O.B. Keeler, who devoted himself to recording Jones’ feats, said of the spectators who hoisted him aloft on the 12th green, “They apparently wanted to take the new champion apart to see what made him tick.”

For another example of what St Andrews can do for a man,  Densmore Shute went from the nadir of his career to its zenith after attending a moving ceremony on the eve of the 1933 Open in which the visiting Americans laid wreaths on the graves of Old Tom and Young Tom. Having lost the Ryder Cup for his country the week before when he took three putts on Southport’s 18th green, Shute was seemingly in a state of grace as he won his Open title.

So as the starter calls for the first man to tee up in this 2010 Open, the 150th anniversary edition, the player concerned will feel nerves peculiar to the first tee on the Old Course. The player will likely check himself “You feel honoured to be there and, at the same time, you are acutely aware of the pressures to come,” said Colin Montgomerie, the 2010 Ryder Cup captain and a Rolex testimonee, the long-time patron of the Open. “You can’t help thinking of how all the greats in the game, from Tom Morris onwards, have hit down that famous fairway.”

Great scoring bursts will go up on the on-course leader-boards but, just as surely, they will spread through the town.

Nothing has changed from that day in 1929 when everyone was out on the course watching the final of the British Women’s Amateur Championship between America’s Glenna Collett and Britain’s Joyce Wethered.

The streets were deserted apart from a postman who had picked up on the fact that Wethered was five down while servicing the road leading to the links.

When finally he bumped into someone – a visitor heading for the cathedral – he felt compelled to pass on the gloomy news.

“She’s five doon,” he advised in his Scottish brogue.

The visitor looked at him blankly.

For just about the only time in his life, the postman had accosted someone in St Andrews to whom such tidings were utterly meaningless.

The first three stages through the Pyrenees  haven’t yielded the clear leader most of us were hoping for. Instead, the 31 second lead held by Andy Schleck has been erased, and Alberto Contador now holds an 8 second lead. Since my last post, both Denis Menchov  (2 minutes back) and Samuel Sanchez (2 minutes 13 seconds back) have been able to close the gap on the leaders.  (See full results at www.letour.fr) As the two leaders play cat and mouse with each other, they just might leave the door open for Menchov or Sanchez to close the gap.

Stage 17 should be a great showdown between Contador and Schleck. With the stage ending on the top of the Col du Tourmalet, the 2 should battle it out at the top. Schleck’s anger at being left behind with a mechanical failure, and Contaador’s desire to prove he is the best, should lead to a great showdown at the top after Wednesday’s rest day. If Schelck is to win the overall race. he needs to put a least  1 minute 30 seconds into Contador. And after the way Schleck was treated, don’t expect him to wait for anybody.

 At the British Open, it pays to stick to the rules – as Ian Woosnam famously learned the hard way in 2001.

Ian Woosnam (r)

Though not too many rounds of golf will ever have erupted into fisticuffs, this most gentlemanly of games needs its rules no less than the most rudely physical of sports.

Golf’s first rules, the Thirteen Articles, were devised in 1745 by the Company of Gentlemen Golfers, now the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Some of the originals have scarcely changed, with particular reference to the 12th Article – “He whose Ball lyes farthest from the Hole is obliged to play first.”

Across the centuries, the number of regulations has grown to 34. The 30^th Revision of the Rules of Golf, the most recent revision of these sacred sporting laws, was completed in 2004.

It is one thing to revise the rules, another to spread the news to the millions of players and fans around the world. In 2008, Rolex supported the publication of four million copies in English, while foreign golf unions affiliated to The R&A reproduced their own copies under licence in 25 or more other languages including Arabic and Mandarin. Copies of each edition have been filed for posterity at the headquarters of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

Every trio of players setting out in a modern Open Championship will be accompanied by a fully-qualified rules official whose work starts well before he leaves the first tee.

First and foremost, he will make sure that he is in possession of his copy of the Rules of Golf. He will then double-check that he has a list of the local rules, along with a radio to be used in the event of a contestant wanting a second opinion. As for the rest of his refereeing paraphernalia, that will include a measuring device which will be brought out on those occasions when it is not immediately obvious who has the longest putt.

Having checked that he himself is properly equipped, the official will turn his attention to the players.

Once he has introduced himself, he will make a gentle query as to whether they have checked on the number of clubs in their bags.

There was a time when the golfers would be more than mildly irritated at being asked something so elementary but attitudes changed following the 2001 Open at Lytham. That was the year when Ian Woosnam discovered that he had a 15th club – one more than the permitted 14 – in his bag.

Woosnam, who had been tying for the lead after three rounds, was on the second tee on the Sunday afternoon when he made the grim discovery which would cost him a two-stroke penalty and a huge psychological blow. Prior to his round, he had been wondering which of two drivers to take with him and his caddie had left the discarded club in the bag instead of returning it to the locker-room.  For the record, the Welshman finished in a share of third place.

With this year’s Open being held at St Andrews, David Rickman, The R&A’s Director of Rules, suspects that the most oft-repeated rules query will concern the local directive about the status of roads and paths.

At many venues, players will be granted a free drop from such hazards.

Not so at St Andrews where these areas have traditionally been seen as an integral part of the course.

The busiest road of them all – in terms of bouncing, skidding golf balls – will be the one at the back of the 17th. With the hole having been lengthened to combat today’s longer hitting, the professionals will once again be going for the green with the more accident-prone longer irons.

In such circumstances, officials can expect to find themselves presiding over shots such as Jarmo Sandelin’s cleverly improvised chip in one of the old-style medal-match-play events on the links. With the wall behind the road preventing any kind of a backswing, the Swede turned round and hammered his ball into its stony face. The missile rebounded to within inches of the hole and Sandelin walked off with the most improbable of fours.

Such is the savagery of the gorse in July at St Andrews that Rickman is expecting Rule 28 – the Unplayable Ball Rule – to be invoked on a fairly regular basis, especially at the 12th where the left side of the fairway is flanked by a particularly prickly – and painful – species of the shrub.

In keeping with the Rolex sponsorship, there are several time-related rulings, these including the five-minute search for a ball.

When Mark O’Meara won The Open in 1998 at Royal Birkdale, he had a lucky escape at the sixth where he thought he had lost his drive in the rough. Conscious of the players waiting behind, O’Meara asked to be ferried back to the tee to hit another ball under penalty, only for someone to find his original before the statutory five minutes were up.

Since O’Meara could not by then get back to identify the missile within the time-frame, there was some confusion as to what should happen next.

In the event, he was allowed to play ball No. 1 on the grounds that the chief rules’ officials on either side of the Atlantic had earlier come to an agreement on what should happen in just such a situation. The little addendum, that extra time should be allowed, was written into the next edition of the Rules.

One of the more exciting timing regulations – at least from the crowd’s point of view – is the ten-second ruling, Rule 16-2.

“When any part of the ball overhangs the lip of the hole, the player is allowed enough time to reach the hole without unreasonable delay and an additional ten seconds to determine whether the ball is at rest.”

Hardly surprisingly, there have been some thrillingly theatrical moments in which a ball has waited till the eleventh hour or, rather, the tenth second, to disappear.

If it tumbles after the ten seconds are up, as happened to the 2002 Ryder Cup captain, Sam Torrance, in the 1990 English Open at The Belfry, he will be adjudged to have had an extra putt.

Torrance, for the record, thought he had made an eagle at the 10th as his ball finally made the effort to tumble into the cup. As it was, the Scot was adjudged to have waited a few seconds too many – and eventually lost the Championship on a play-off to Mark James.

No less surely; he had been beaten by the clock.

Who will hoist the prized Claret Jug come Sunday?

Can Tiger Woods return to golf glory by winning his third consecutive British Open title at St. Andrews? Is Ian Poulter poised to earn his first major title? What about Lee Westwood or Ernie Els earning the crown of the sport’s oldest major championship? Will Tom Watson or Nick Faldo come from yesterday for one more hurrah? These storylines and more begin playing out Thursday when the British Open tees off at the home of golf in Fife, Scotland.

St. Andrews is host to the 150th Anniversary of the Open Championships

The par 73, 6638 yard Old Course draws all the world’s best for a shot at golf immortality. This will be the 28th Open Championship held at the Old Course at St. Andrews, the most by any venue for any major (except the Masters) and while the range of opinions about the course vary, what is commonly shared is the view that winning The Open at St. Andrews is just about the biggest honor one can score playing the game at the highest level. This sentiment has been expressed by Jack Nicklaus who has achieved just about every honor the sport can offer.

 Woods has garnered two 4^th place results in this year’s first two majors, but Tiger has now gone winless in six straight majors, the third-longest stretch in his pro career. That could very well end here as it would be unsurprising that he lifts the Claret Jug Sunday with yet another St. Andrews Open victory.

 But who are the other leading …and not so leading contenders that will fight Woods for the coveted Jug?

 Playing the first two rounds of the British Open with Woods will be Justin Rose of England, one of the hottest players in golf with two PGA Tour victories in his last three starts. Despite has never having played The Open at St. Andrews, the 16^th ranked Rose is hoping to be the first Brit since Nick Faldo in 1992 to win this event.

 Phil Mickelson, who along with Tiger Woods, are the only two players with Top 10 finishes in each of the season’s first two majors. However Lefty has not fared as well overseas with only one top-10 finish in 15 appearances as a professional at the Open Championship, and he missed last year’s Open to tend to his ailing wife.

 Graeme McDowell, the winner in last month’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, will be taking aim at his second consecutive major tournament victory. The odds are not good but there is a precedent involving Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. Since 1960, only three men have won both the U.S. Open and Open Championship in the same season: Tiger Woods, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino. Two of them — Woods and Watson — won their U.S. Open at Pebble Beach with Tiger pulling off the Pebble Beach/St. Andrews double. McDowell tied for 5^th when the Open was last held at St. Andrews in 2005. McDowell, who also won the Wales Open, is in the same group with two other U.S. Open champions, Geoff Ogilvy and Jim Furyk.

 Both Ogilvy and Furyk have the game and patience to do well on this course and could very well be in the mix among the leaders on Sunday afternoon as the crunch time on the back nine comes into play.

Former Open Champion Ernie Els Is a Leading Contender to Win It Again

Defending British Open champion Stewart Cink will be paired with Ian Poulter and former champion Ernie Els so this year’s winner could come from this group. Els finished second to Woods at the 2000 championship at St. Andrews and has a dozen Top 10 British Open finishes. The colorful Poulter came in second at the 2008 British Open to Padraig Harrington at Royal Birkdale.

Harrington, a two-time British Open champion, enters this event with five Top 10 finishes this year.

The highest ranked European in the event, Lee Westwood at number three in the world, is also a player to watch out for as the tournament winds down. Though the Englishman did tie for third last year, Westwood blew a golden opportunity when he bogeyed the 72nd hole to finish one stroke outside the playoff. Still, a strong motivation and having all the tools make him a good pick to be in the winner’s circle.

Retief Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open champion, has seven top 10s in the British Open, including a T-5 at St. Andrews in 2005. His distance off the tee will serve him well at the Old Course. Combining that driving distance and accuracy with his talent as one of the world’s best mid-range pressure putters, which is something that will certainly be an advantage on the massive greens that average nearly 18,000 square feet, the South African has the game to win it all.

A long-shot at age 60, but likely a sentimental favorite is five-time British Open champion Tom Watson. He stunned a few last year with a second place result at Turnberry. The tough competitor is looking for another shot at Father Time.

An improbable, but no doubt very popular victory by Watson would be “one for the ages” as the British Open celebrates its 150^th Anniversary.

The sorting continues in the Alps with only 2 riders left within 2 3/4 minutes of the lead. Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador shattered the rest of the contenders on the final climb of the day. Though they did not sprint for the stage win, the two caught the breakaway within a kilometer of the finish, leaving all the other contenders spread across the mountain. Cadell Evan’s, who started the day in yellow, lost over 8 minutes, not only ending his hope for a victory, but probably ending all hope for a podium finish.

Barring a crash or other bad event, only 2 remain in contention for the overall victory. Schleck now leads Contador by 41 seconds, less than the amount of time Contador beat Schleck by in the very short prologue. So, Andy Schleck and Team Saxo Bank now need to look for opportunities to put time between Andy and Alberto Contador. Watch for Andy Sclheck and team Saxo Bank to play the cross winds before the Pyrenees if the opportunity arises. Barring that, Schleck’s next chance is to try and drop Contador in the high climbs of the Pyrenees, and hope Contador can’t close the door in the final time trial.

The other overall race will be for third, with three competitors sitting between 2 minutes 45 seconds and 4 minutes off the lead –  Sanchez, Menchov and Leipheimer. Look for this race to be tight right up to the final time trial.  Leipheimer, who has finished third before, is my pick for third. Leipheimer  has better time trial skills than the others, and has shown the ability to go the distance through the mountains.

The 2010 MLB All Star Game

By Randy Williams

Baseball’s Midsummer Classic returns to Anaheim Tuesday for the third time since the All-Star Game began in 1933, but the event has changed quite a bit since the city first hosted the exhibition (in 1967 when the NL won in dramatic fashion on a Tony Perez home run in the 15^th inning).

Situated not far from America’s show business capital, the 2010 version is filled with multifaceted entertainment events leading up to the game.

Like it was in 1989 for Anaheim’s second All-Star Game (where Bo Jackson’s monstrous lead off homer led the AL to a 5-3 victory),  the popular Home Run Derby is back, but this time it is surrounded by a varied lineup of contests involving non-roster players as well.

In addition to the Fan Fest (first introduced in 1991 when Toronto was host) which includes memorabilia displays, loads of merchandise and interactive skills contests for the whole family, there is a JR. RBI tournament featuring eleven and twelve year-olds; a charity 5K run; a Futures Game of top young minor league prospects; a softball game featuring former All-Stars pitted against celebrities from the television, film, modeling and music industries; and in keeping with a showbiz flavor, a new wrinkle has been added to the day of the game.

Taking a page from the Academy Awards or a major Hollywood movie premiere, there will be an All-Star Red Carpet Show where marquee players like New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Albert Pujols will be paraded in open cars through Anaheim and into Disneyland finishing along Main Street USA before heading for the stadium.

All this glitz and glamour, including the league providing makeup and fashion experts for the players’ wives for their Red Carpet appearances, perhaps masks something a bit deeper concerning actual star power.

While purists will argue about the merits of using the game to determine home-field advantage in the World Series and since the 2002 embarrassing tie in Milwaukee the contest has remained competitive, a look at the rosters from each of the years that Anaheim has hosted the All Star Game is revealing in terms of the quantity of quality players, whether chosen by the fans or league.

Which Anaheim All-Star Game has had the greatest gathering of talent?

Yes some of the 2010 All-Stars are just building potential (Tim Lincecum) or are in the middle of, Hall of Fame careers (Derek Jeter), but it is highly doubtful they will match the crop of baseball greats that were part of the 1967 game or even 1989.

The All-Star game twenty-one years ago featured the following players who’d go on to the Hall of Fame: Mike Schmidt, Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken Jr., Ozzie Smith, Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs and Nolan Ryan.

That is a pretty good nucleus, but even that star pool pales in quantity of quality to the 1967 group who gathered in Anaheim.

Baseball is a game of numbers and here is one that is most impressive. The 1967 National League All-Star roster alone included THIRTEEN future Hall of Famers!

Tony Perez hit the game-winning homer in the 1967 All-Star Game

From pitchers like Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver and Don Drysdale to infielders Tony Perez and Ernie Banks, the National League All-Stars-turned-Hall-of-Famers boasted a starting outfield of Hank Aaron, Lou Brock and Roberto Clemente leaving Willie Mays on the bench!

Anaheim's 1967 All-Star Game included future Hall of Famrs Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron

When you add Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Al Kaline, Rod Carew, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski and Mickey Mantle from the American League team of that year, in building a squad of the all-time Anaheim All Star team it would be easy to see that the majority would come from the city’s inaugural event. Any argument?

In the end however, by and large, relatively speaking, the game’s best are competing at the All-Star Game. And it is still important in terms of what it does for the sport as a wonderful way of showing off all that is good about baseball, right in the middle of the season.

Anaheim’s All-Star Lineups

2010 AL Starting Lineup          1989 AL Starting Lineup          1967 AL Starting Lineup

C   Joe Mauer                          C   Terry Steinbach                  C   Bill Freehan

1B Justin Morneau                    1B Mark McGwire                   1B Harmon Killebrew  

2B Robinson Cano                   2B Julio Franco                        2B Rod Carew

SS Derek Jeter                         SS Cal Ripken Jr                      SS Rico Petrocelli

3B Evan Longoria                     3B Wade Boggs                       3B Brooks Robinson

OF Josh Hamilton                     OF Bo Jackson                        OF Tony Conigliaro

OF Ichiro Suzuki                      OF Kirby Puckett                     OF Carl Yastrzemski

OF Vladimir Guerrero              OF Ruben Sierra                      OF Tony Oliva

Reserves

C John Buck                            C Mickey Tettleton                   C Paul Casanova

C Victor Martinez                     1B Don Mattingly                     C Andy Etchebarren

1B Miguel Cabrera                   2B Steve Sax                           1B Mickey Mantle

2B Dustin Pedroia                    3B Gary Gaetti             1B Don Mincher

2B Ian Kinsler                          3B Kelly Gruber                       3B Max Alvis

2B Ty Wigginton                      SS Tony Fernandez                  SS Jim Fregosi

SS Elvis Andrus                        OF Jose Canseco                     SS Dick McAuliffe

3B Adrian Beltre                      OF Mike Greenwell                  OF Tommie Agee

3B Alex Rodriguez                   OF Devon White                      OF Al Kaline

OF Jose Bautista                      DH Jeffrey Leonard

OF Torii Hunter                        DH Harold Baines

OF Vernon Wells

DH David Ortiz

Pitchers

Clay Buchholz                          Chuck Finley                            Dean Chance

Trevor Cahill                            Mark Gubicza                          Al Downing

Fausto Carmona                       Mike Henneman                       Steve Hargan

Neftali Felix                              Doug Jones                              Joe Horlen

Phil Hughes                              Mike Moore                             Catfish Hunter

Cliff Lee                                   Dan Plesac                               Jim Lonborg

Jon Lester                                Jeff Russell                               Jim McGlothlin

Andy Pettitte                            Nolan Ryan                              Gary Peters

David Price                              Greg Swindell

Mariano Rivera             Dave Stewart

CC Sabathia

2010 NL Starting Lineup          1989 NL Starting Lineup          1967 NL Starting Lineup

C  Yadier Molina                      C   Benito Santiago                   C  Joe Torre                

1B Albert Pujols                       1B Will Clark                           1B Orlando Cepeda

2B Chase Utley                        2B  Ryne Sandberg                  2B  Bill Mazeroski

SS Hanley Ramirez                   SS  Ozzie Smith                        SS  Gene Alley

3B David Wright                      3B  Howard Johnson                3B  Dick Allen

OF Ryan Braun                        OF Eric Davis                          OF  Lou Brock

OF Andre Ethier                       OF Tony Gwynn                      OF  Hank Aaron

OF Jason Heyward                  OF Kevin Mitchell                    OF  Roberto Clemente

                                                DH Pedro Guerrero

Reserves

C Brian McCann                      C  Mike Sciosia                        C  Tim McCarver

1B Adrian Gonzalez                                                                  C  Tom Haller

1B Ryan Howard                     1B Glenn Davis                        1B Ernie Banks

2B Brandon Phillips                  2B Willie Randolph                   2B Tommy Helms                    

2B Martin Prado                      3B  Bobby Bonilla                    3B Tony Perez

SS Jose Reyes                          3B  Mike Schmidt                    OF Willie Mays

SS Troy Tulowitzki                   3B  Tim Wallach                       OF  Pete Rose

3B Omar Infante                       SS  Barry Larkin                      OF  Rusty Staub

3B Scott Rolen             OF Vince Coleman                   OF Jimmy Wynn

OF Michael Bourn                    OF Andre Dawson

OF Marlon Byrd                      OF Von Hayes

OF Corey Hart                         OF  Darryl Strawberry

OF Matt Holliday                                                                    

OF Chris Young

Pitchers

Heath Bell                                Rick Reuschel                           Bob Gibson

Jonathan Broxton                      Tim Burke                                Don Drysdale

Matt Capps                              Mark Davis                              Mike Cuellar

Chris Carpenter                        John Franco                             Ferguson Jenkins

Yovani Gallardo                       Orel Hershiser                          Tom Seaver

Roy Halladay                            Jay Howell                               Juan Marichal

Tim Hudson                              Mike Scott                               Denny Lemaster

Ubaldo Jimenez                        John Smoltz                              Claude Osteen

Josh Johnson                            Rick Sutcliffe                            Chris Short

Tim Lincecum                           Mitch Williams

Evan Meek

Arthur Rhodes

Adam Wainwright

Brian Wilson

Today was a sad day in the history of the Tour de France. Bad luck and age caught up with Lance Armstrong today to leave him 13:26 off the lead. (See Letour for full standings.) Compounding his trouble on the cobbles in stage 3, Lance fell 3 times today and at age 38, he just didn’t have the gas to rejoin the leaders. Regardless of the falls, Lance really didn’t have what it took to keep pace on the climb as teams Sky and Astana held a fast tempo up the high mountains. The other contenders, Contador, Evans, Schleck and Menchov were able to stay together. Notably, Lance’s teammate Levi Leipheimer was able to stay with the leaders, and leave team Radio Shack with a shot at the podium.

Monday is a rest day followed by more mountain stages in the Alps next week. Watch for Contador to try and make up time on Schleck and Evans, as Lance turns into a domestic to help Levi move up the standings.

On Sunday evening in Johannesburg’s Soccer City, one of the two greatest footballing nations never to have won the World Cup will be joining that exclusive club of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ as champions alongside Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina and France. That is correct, since the first tournament in 1930, only seven different nations have won the quadrennial event.

Number eight also guarantees that first time host South Africa will be the site of the first European team to win the World Cup outside of Europe.

Spain has the talent...can they put together a complete game?

Offensively Spain has been leaning on David Villa as Fernando Torres, reportedly not in top shape, has been relegated to a substitution role. Left winger Villa’s five goals have loomed large. Defensively, goalkeeper Iker Casillas has anchored the Spanish side and if the Final comes down to a penalty shootout, well he has had some good success in that realm, having earned victories with two saves against Ireland in the 2002 World Cup round of 16 and also when he kept out two to beat Italy in Euro 2008.

Dutch fans should be in for a treat

For the Dutch, while not the brilliant “Total Football” squad from the 70s that lost in two Finals (’74 and ’78), still they have advanced impressively by a strong multi-pronged approach. The Oranje storm into the Finals with a great tournament record. They have gone 6-0, including a fine comeback win over favored Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Speaking of Brazil, only the great Brazil side of 1970 won all of their qualifying matches AND their matches at the World Cup finals to lift the trophy. That was a total of 12 games – The Netherlands have won 14 games to reach the title match on Sunday.

Holland has done it through a balanced squad with active players all over the field

Overall I believe Spain has a deeper roster of talent, yet at times have been unfocused. That’s something that can be costly in World Cup play. Still they will win IF they play to their full potential. But Villa is going to need some help. Look for Puyol and Xavi to shine.

Dirk Kuyt has been a key to the Dutch run

In the end however, I will stick to my pre-tournament prediction that The Netherlands, led by that goal-driven troupe of Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Dirk Kuyt will become the 2010 World Cup champions.

The 2010 Tour de France had a rough and tumble couple of stages. Stage 2 wasn’t expected to be much trouble, but the slick descents caused Andy Schleck and Christian Vandevelde to fall and lose ground on the other GC contenders. In response, Andy’s teammate Fabian Cancellera slowed down the entire peloton and prevented the bunch sprint as a kind of protest against the tour organizers, and allowing Andy to rejoin the group. Christian was out a a result of broken ribs suffered on the fall.

 Stage 3 was another story, and the headline should be Cadell Evans takes the lead in the hunt for the overall win. In navigating the cobblestones, Frank Schleck fell as Fabian Cancellara and team Saxo-Bank rode hard to try and gain time for their team leader Andy Schleck, who was behind most of the major contenders as a  result of a bad prologue performance. Lance Armstrong initially made the break, but ended up losing major time as the result of a flat tire. Favorite Alberto Contador missed out on the initial break and fought back hard to lose only 1 minute 13 seconds to Andy Schleck and  Cadell Evans.

Lance's face says it all

At the end of the flat stages all of the major contenders should still be a position to be competitive.  Even Lance, who is 1′51″ behind GC leader Cadell Evans and 50 seconds behind Alberto Contador, should be able to rally back. Lance’s hard ride to keep from losing extra time after his flat, shows he still has the drive to win. The  rest of the tour will show if Lance’s  body is equal to that mind. The race is close enough that the sort out will still take place in the mountains, where minutes are to be made or lost, or on the final long time trail where the best man will win.

Standing after 4 stages