A couple of hours ago, the UCI sent out a press release announcing a change to the racing schedule for the Cyclo-Cross World Championships.Here’s the reason: Forecast data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) project that high water levels in the Ohio River will cause Beargrass Creek to flood the low lying areas of Eva Bandman Park in Louisville, Ky, in the early hours on Sunday morning and that water level will continue to rise for the next 48 hours. As a result of this forecast, the UCI decided to reschedule the Sunday races for Saturday. Racing begins ...
World championship cyclo-cross course designer: it sounds like the most awesome job in the known universe.You get to be outside telling people what to do while plotting sinister traps for the racers. You and you alone are responsible for the success of the race and your design is the test that selects a world champion.This is what I was thinking as I walked the course at the 2013 UCI World Cyclo-Cross Championships two days before the event. What devious mind came up with these off-camber straightaways that I can barely walk on? Who devised these seemingly normal steps that rise ...
The Louisville Courier-Journal ran an article last Sunday informing residents that "River Road...will be closed until Feb. 5 to accommodate two cyclo-cross events." River Road runs out of downtown Louisville along the Ohio river.As I drove around this morning picking up bits of cold weather gear and some fat pens my gloved hands wouldn't drop, I chatted with a dozen or so locals about the event. Everyone knew about the event and they all referred to it in some fashion as "that bike race that's closing River Road." When I told them that it was a pretty big shindig, ...
Former Diamondbacks broadcaster and MLB alum Mark Grace has been sentenced to four months of work-release jail time and three years of probation following a second DUI conviction in just 15 months.Grace was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on Aug. 23, 2012; exhibiting a blood-alcohol content of .095, in excess of the .08 legal limit. At the time, however, he pled not guilty to the charges against him.The Diamondbacks suspended Grace following his August arrest and confirmed on Oct. 4, 2012 that Grace and partner Daron Sutton would not be returning to Arizona in 2013.Barely two weeks later, ...
Lance Armstrong, shamed ex-Tour de France winner and all-around snake, is on a public relations campaign to save what is left of his name. Armstrong, who finally admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs, blood doping and a whole amusement park full of bad behavior, recently appeared in an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey where he admitted to most of his malfeasances with the contrition of a lion dining on an elk. Or as my mother would say, “He wasn’t sorry; he was sorry he got caught.” Armstrong is just another in the disturbingly long line of so-called role models and celebrities ...
Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, finally admitted what everyone on the planet already knew. And the sports world is apoplectic. The accusation from posturing sports puritans reads thus: Lance is a cheater, he used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) while racing in the Tour de France, he doesn’t deserve his trophies, and he warrants only our scorn. You can’t swing a bat in the sports media without hitting someone with this opinion. What rubbish. The sports world’s hypocrisy and double standards are notorious. Wife beaters, dog fighters, alcoholics, racists, spit-ballers, thugs and myriad other deviants have, over the years, been ...
An upscale midtown restaurant in New York City engulfed by the stench of success and nestled among prominent banks and law firms served as an appropriate environment Thursday for Constellation Wealth Advisors LLC and the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS) to hold their press conference on a new athlete study.Constellation conceptualized the idea for this research project after working with countless athletes who have built solid foundations for success in their retirement years.As academic chair of the NYU-SCPS Tisch Center, Robert Boland anticipates that the findings from their research will resonate with athletes as they approach their transition out ...
What do Michael Vick and Barry Bonds have in common?The answer is, not too much.Michael Vick has been convicted of harming defenseless animals. Barry Bonds has been accused of harming the legacy of baseball.Michael Vick has gone to prison for his crimes. Barry Bonds has not. But when it comes down to it, Barry Bonds is probably more hated by the common sports fan than Michael Vick.Why? Because we think he cheated.Let's think about that for a moment. First of all, we only think he cheated. We don't know for sure, but let's table that for now.There are dozens of convicted ...
And then they were four. The NFL playoffs continued this weekend and fans were treated to an exhilarating Divisional Round. The field of eight teams were cut down to just the final four. These are the best teams in the league and two of them will have a shot at the Super Bowl. This weekend, we saw blowouts, wild finishes, historic outings and crazy comebacks. Everything great about the NFL was manifested in these four games. But, in every game there were winners and losers and only the cream of the crop can live to continue the journey to New Orleans. Which teams are the best ...
Sex helps sell sports. But when the topic of sex leaves the world of racy beer commercials and sideline cheerleaders, to touch the lives of individual women pursuing their sporting dreams, things get a little more personal and the debate gets a good deal more fierce.Enter the Canadian women's rugby team, one of the world's very best. Shortly after the introduction of Rugby Sevens to the summer Olympics was announced, beginning with the 2016 games in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, Canada's women's team decided to pose for an annual calendar to help raise funds and promote awareness of their cause. ...