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Posted by: Bradley McDonald

Bill Simmons, of espn.com's Page 2, has posted an Idiots Guide to the NHL Lockout that helps clear up a lot of issues for us non-hockey fans.

He covers such questions as:

What was the point? What was gained?
What's the coolest part of the deal?
What's the worst part of the deal?
How will the quality of play be different?
If you're an NHL goalie, should you be frightened right now?

And many more insightful inquiries.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

My sister and I drove to Dallas this past weekend to attend my cousin's wedding, which lasted about 10 minutes. My kind of wedding right there! The bridge and groom aren't going to learn anything they don't already know during the ceremony, so there's no need to try to teach them about love. Say "I do", and let's go eat! That's my motto! :)

Tour de France
Lance has done it. His last ride in the Tour de France was essentially a victory lap, as he won his unparalleled seventh consecutive victory in the race. The cancer survivor will now walk away from the sport on the top of his game. I wonder if Armstrong will miss the competition, like Michael Jordan, and decide to come back. I think not, because the competitive fire that fuels Lance may be the very thing that keeps him away. He knows he will slow down with age, and I don't think he could bear to see the decline. He couldn't tolerate the defeat that would inevitably come if he kept racing.

NFL Training Camp
Training camp is under way in the NFL and, to me, that means it's time to go buy a Fantasy Football magazine. Fantasy Football is one of my favorite hobbies and anyone who's participated in a league knows how addictive it can be. My girlfriend remarked today that "Jaime" season is officially over now that football season is here. I do spend way too much time looking at stats, etc. but there are key decisions to be made and each one could cost me a victory! I'll put a post up soon explaining how Fantasy Football works, for those of you who don't know.

Ricky Williams issued an apology to his teammates and fans and he's trying to fit in with the Miami Dolphins now. I think most of his teammates will accept him back with open arms, but only because he'll help with that 4-12 record from last year!

Baseball
There are some interesting races already in Major League Baseball. The Yankees, who were in last place earlier this year, are back in a familiar place as they stand only a game and a half back from the first place Boston Red Sox.

The upstart Washington Nationals are tied for first with the Braves in the NL East. Nobody gave much hope to the Nationals this year, who are in a new home after moving from Montreal.

And, of course, the Astros are back in the hunt now. After getting swept by the Cardinals to open the second half of the season, Houston has won 8 of 9 games. The 'Stros stand only a few games out of the wild card lead and I like the way things are going!

The Cardinals and the White Sox are still the class of the league, by far. They are the only two teams who have a winning percentage of over .600.

Some deals will probably go down within the trading deadline (only 5 days left) as these teams that are still in races try to find a way to get better. There are usually one or two big names that trade teams this time of year. Last year, the Astros pulled in Carlos Beltran, who helped them come within one game of the World Series.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

A while back, I posted this about Ricky Williams:

Ricky Williams is trying to return to football after abruptly retiring days before training camp last year. He claimed he had no more passion for football and his "lifestyle" didn't fit. Apparently, his "lifestyle" consisted of doing many drugs, since it was revealed that he failed three drugs tests and was going to be suspended for three games. Of course, the $8.6 million dollars that the Dolphins claimed Williams owed them might've had a little influence on his decision to return to the playing field.

Well, according to this article, Williams is supposed to report to the Miami Dolphins' training camp on Sunday. It should be interesting to see how he's accepted by the players, if he does actually show.

The same friend says Williams possesses a love for the game, but no love for the business of the game. Nor is he in a hurry to become the post-NFL version of Earl Campbell, who like Williams, is a former Texas running back who won a Heisman Trophy, led the pros in rushing and now inhabits a body so battered and scarred that he struggles to walk. Campbell's condition, along with his own growing number of injuries, a fondness for marijuana, and the Dolphins' mopey offense, had a profound effect on Williams' original decision to quit, to be, as he said then, "finally free."

But it is business that forces him back into a Dolphins uniform. If he doesn't play, Williams is legally obligated to repay the team $8.6 million. Since it's tough to make that sort of coin practicing holistic medicine (Williams spent nearly seven months at a northern California school that specializes in the practice), or teaching yoga (Williams is a certified instructor after his recent stay in India), he has little financial choice but to return to a profession that nourishes his bank account, but not his soul.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

Please join the staff at 90&9 in congratulating our own Gabrigail VanBurden (of Dear Gabby fame) for reaching the grand total of 100 columns in her career with us. In her 100th column (posted this week), she is as ever graceful and elegant with her advice, which can be summed up in two words: "Respond Right."

I'd like to also bring your attention to a fellow apostolic blogger out there in cyberspace. Richard Masoner has an excellent blog pertaining to general biking. He seems to be regarded as an expert in the area, because two nearby newspapers called him to get his comment on a biking issue. He also has an excellent analysis of what will happen to the biking industry once Lance retires.

Richard also sent me a heads-up on a feisty Australian in the Tour de France who tried to keep another rider from pulling ahead by headbutting him! Now THAT'S the kind of bike race I want to see!

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Check the comments for a link to the video.)

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

What better "summer" reading than The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn? I just finished this book and it's an enjoyable read for any baseball fan. I'd give it a 6.7 on a scale of 10 (I grew up a librarian's son, so I'm kinda stingy).

Kahn recounts his days of growing up in Brooklyn with a father who loved baseball and passes the love on to his son. The book does a great job of showing how a sport can build a special bond between father and son.

But while the stories of Kahn's youth are touching and often-times humorous, the most interesting part of the book comes when the author describes his days as a young reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. He lands a dream job covering the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 50's, when the team had Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, and Roy Campanella.

He paints a vivid picture of the players of that era and allows the reader to see them as he got to see them every day - as real humans. The Dodgers were on the forefront of racial integration when Jackie Robinson became the first black major league player, and Kahn writes a good deal about the hardships Robinson had to endure. It's amazing what Robinson had to go through and, as Kahn explains in the book, a lesser man probably couldn't have done it.

The book ends with the author visiting the players long after their baseball careers are over with. It's weird to read about them out of the game as they try to find their way in the "real world." Age has forced most of them into a mundane existence as they are forced to take jobs as businessmen, laborers, and even bartending. Tragedy has also stricken many of their lives.

After I had finished the book, I read that Kahn had gotten the title of his book from a Dylan Thomas poem. The whole line reads, "I see the boys of summer in their ruin." Kahn saw the players in the glory days, but he also saw some of them in "ruin" after their playing days were over.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

I guess you could say the changes Tiger Woods made in his swing have paid off. Tiger dominated the field at the British Open and won his second major tournament of the year this weekend. (He also has a second place finish in the only other major this year.) It was the first time in 32 years that someone led the tournament from start to finish. Woods had a pretty strong answer for those who said he was in a slump and questioned his swing changes.

"I've been criticized for the last couple of years. 'Why would I change my game?' This is why," Woods said. "First, second and first in the last three majors. That's why."

The win also gave Tiger a total of 10 wins in majors in his career, which is the third highest of all-time. Jack Nicklaus, who played his last major this weekend at St. Andrews, holds the record with 18.

For those of you who aren't golf fans - there are only four major tournaments each year: The Masters, US Open, PGA Championship, and British Open. With so many professional golfers in the game today, the odds are incredible to win even one of the majors. Everyone thought the record of 18 by Nicklaus was unbreakable until this Tiger kid came along. Nicklaus was 32 when he won his 10th; Tiger is only 29.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

Well, the Astros won't get home field advantage in the World Series. :)

The American League continued their dominance in the All-Star game, winning by a score of 7-5 last night. The National League hasn't won the contest since 1996 (there was the infamous tie in 2002). However, the AL's supremacy in the All-Star game generally doesn't mean a World Series victory - the NL team has won a respectable 4 out of the last 10.

The game wasn't as close as the score suggested and I found it to be fairly boring. There were a few runs scored, but by the sixth inning the game was pretty much decided, since the American League had a 7-0 lead. The only factor left to be resolved was whether or not the NL would get shut out. They scraped together a few runs at the end of the game and made the score look respectable, but there wasn't much drama throughout.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

The Major League Baseball All-Star game is tonight and although the players have fun, it's a little more serious than say, the NBA All-Star game, because the outcome of this game has meaning. Bud Selig, the commissioner, change the format 3 years ago so now the winning league gets home field advantage in the World Series. Whether you think this is a good idea or not, it's still a fun game to watch.

The home run derby was fun to watch last night. These guys can hit a little bit. Bobby Abreu of the Phillies put on a show, connecting on 24 shots in the first round alone! To put that in perspective, the previous record was 15. He hit a couple over 500 feet, including one that was measured at 517 feet! It would take me about 5 hits to get one that far.

The Astros, who won 28 of their last 40 games and are above .500 for the first time in a LONG time (good thing I called them up and gave 'em that pep talk), are well represented at the All-Star game with four players: three pitchers and Morgan Ensberg, who replaced Cardinals third-baseman Scott Rolen after he dropped out with an injury. I like to think Rolen realized that Ensberg was WAY more deserving and he felt ashamed to be in the game with a .251 batting average and only 5 homers. Shame on all you St. Louis fans for voting for him in the first place! :)

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

I got all worried when I heard that Lance Amrstrong no longer had the lead in the Tour de France, but apparently it's part of the plan. It appears that this bike race is a little different than the races I participated in around the neighborhood when I was a kid. They have strategy and everything! Our only strategy was to clip the back tire of the kid in front of you to make him fall.

Armstrong wanted to yield the yellow jersey, but only to a rider who he knew didn't have the legs to be a real podium threat. It took longer than Discovery would have liked, but when the right combination of riders went off the front in a breakaway, Discovery got what it wanted.

Former mountain bike world champion Mickael Rasmussen attacked just 1.2 miles into Sunday's race to solidify his lead in the King of the Mountains competition, and a group of six riders, including Voigt, broke away and took up the chase. Voigt is a powerful rider but lacks the time trialing and climbing prowess to be a Tour champion. Discovery knew that if Voigt's move succeeded, he could take the yellow jersey without ultimately threatening Armstrong's shot at the overall title.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

This guy (Jim Caple) gets paid to travel around and cover events such as the World Wife Carrying Championship. And he got to compete in it! I'm trying to figure out if I'm jealous or not.

SONKAJARVI, Finland -- I'm less than halfway through the World Wife Carrying Championship course when steroids suddenly make a lot of sense.

Everything is going fine until my wife and I hit the water hazard. It's 3 meters deep, about 30 feet long and there is a fireman in scuba gear standing by in case of emergency. By the time I wade its length, I'm so exhausted that we do not so much step from the pool as evolve out of it, like the first amphibians to leave the oceans and crawl onto land.

We switch from the traditional piggyback carry to the fabled Estonian Carry; but as I lift my wife onto my back, only one thought goes through my mind: When did I marry Oprah? The longest stretch of the 253½-meter course remains, but I'm so tired from the water hazard that I feel like I'm not only carrying my wife on my back, but my mother-in-law as well.

Maybe I should have trained for this.

My Lost in Translation Tour of European sports and Page 2's SportsOFFCenter series has brought me to the farming village of Sonkajarvi, six hours north of Helsinki, for the World Wife Carrying Championship. At first, I'd planned simply to cover it; but when the organizers offered to let me compete as well, I leapt at the chance.

Sure, it might be wife carrying, but how often does anyone get the chance to compete in a world championship?

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

I hope everyone had a nice holiday! I also hope that everyone took some time out of barbeque and fireworks to remember what the holiday is all about. Lee Ann, our July blogger for "A Month in My Life", sums up my feelings pretty well:

I'm thankful for a country that recognizes the Creator and that is founded to give men and women a chance to pursue these unalienable rights.

I'm also thankful for the many brave patriots who have defended America in centuries past, and I'm reminded now of the soldiers currently on foreign soils. Today I received a prayer request from a mother who found out her son has been wounded in Falujah. I feel for her and the many others whose loved ones are in harm's way to protect us. Let us pray for our troops on this day and always. God bless America!

A few sports notes from the weekend:

• This one's for the 'Bizarre' section: Takeru Kobayashi, an 144 pound Japanese man, took down 49 hot dogs in twelve minutes to win his fifth straight hot dog eating championship.
  
• Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick to win his third straight Wimbledon title. Now, at 24, Federer is already being mentioned among the game's all-time greats. Time will tell if he really belongs, but if he maintains his level of play, it's almost a certainty. Venus Williams took home the women's title by coming from behind to beat Lindsey Davenport. Venus, seeded 14th, was the lowest seed ever to win the tournament.
• Lance Armstrong has taken the lead in the Tour de Lance, as he aims for his seventh straight victory in this race.
• I'm happy to report the Astros have won 8 out of their last 11 games and have moved up to third place in the NL Central. Hopefully, they can continue the good play up to the All-Star break, which is this weekend.
  

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

Any tennis fans out there? Tennis has become one of my favorite sports to play. It's not a team sport (unless you're playing doubles), so you get all the blame or all the glory, but unlike golf, you are in direct competition with an opponent. And, besides that, it's great exercise.

The grandaddy of all tennis tournaments is going on right now - Wimbledon. If you've kept up with tennis in the least, you know that Roger Federer is the guy to beat these days. He has won the last two Wimbledon titles and has won 35 straight matches on grass. He advanced to the finals once again by beating Lleyton Hewitt yesterday. "I've got no doubt that I feel like I'm the second-best player going around right at the moment," Hewitt said. "It's just that the best player going around is pretty bloody good."

Federer will take on the winner of Thomas Johansson and American Andy Roddick, but I don't think it will matter. Federer is just that much better than everyone else.

On the women's side, top-ranked Lindsey Davenport advanced to her first major final in 5 years. She will meet Venus Williams, who took out media darling Maria Sharapova in the semifinals.