1. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Caisse d’Epargne 4:36:07

6. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto 0:01

14. Carlos Sastre (ESP), CSC at 0:07

21. Damiano Cunego (ITA), Lampre 0:07

And the top American rider, Christian Vande Velde is in 18th place.

Valverde’s 1 second lead over Cadel Evans obviously isn’t a lot, but it means Valverde’s team will be controlling the race tomorrow. This is a good position strategically and wil be interesting to see if Valverde’s team can keep him in yellow.

We already have a trio of MVP candidates in Ryan Braun, Kevin Youkilis and Ian Kinsler.  And now comes word that a future Hall of Famer may be considering joining the team.

According to the Daily News, Alex Rodriguez has taken up Jewish Mysticism. Mazel Tov!

“This all started with kabbalah,” said the friend. “Alex told Cynthia that he’d discovered that he’d been looking for his soul mate. And now, he said, he’d found her.”

Sure, it’s broken up his marriage and forced him into the arms of an aging pop star, but Arod is Jewish now!

Follow our flawless schedule for a patriotic and awesome 4th of July:

9am PT (12 ET) - Kobayashi tries to regain the hot dog eating crown at Coney Island.

10:30am - The Jaws marathon begins on AMC (yes, all 4 of them in a row). I hope this doesn’t scare you from swimming at the beach this summer.

1pm - Barbecue perhaps?

4pm - Break out the bocce balls

8pm PT - US Olympic Swimming Trials: Michael Phelps flexes his guns and intimidates swimmers around the world.

9pm - Go light some fireworks (but don’t start any more forest fires in California).

10pm - Watch out, the cops will be on the prowl to bust you for drinking and driving. Take the back roads home.

The doping investigations have been devastating for the Tour de France. Many of the favorites during Armstrong’s era have faded, retired, or are serving suspensions. The Tour has also failed to crown a new favorite or find a new rivalry to get fans excited. Today the WSJ called the race, a “Mystery Tour“.

With the race beginning on Saturday July 5th, who’s going to win? and heck, who’s even racing?

- Cadel Evans, the Australian runner up by :23 seconds in 2007, would like to take the yellow jersey home. He is a former Mountain Bike World Cup winner and will definitely finish on the podium this year. Evans is a consistent rider but is at risk of explosive contenders looking to shut him down.

- Alejandro Valverde, the 28 year old who won Dauphiné Libéré last month is a serious podium contender, and could definitely upset Cadel Evans. If Valverde can break away from Evans in the moutains and win the time trials, he will win the race.

- Denis Menchov, who finished 5th at the Giro de Italia last month, has the experience and stamina to ride a terrific tour. But he is also known for having an ocassional horrible day, which will destroy his tour hopes if he has one this year. Menchov needs to get up front early and avoid a bad day. If he can do that, he’ll land on the podium.

- Damiano Cunego skipped a number of the spring races becaue he’s betting on the Tour and the Olympics. Will his training schedule pay off? He will try a win a few stages, and if successful early, could wear Yellow (but unlcear for how long).

- Team CSC has Carlos Sastre and the Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank, who are all top cyclists in the peloton. Teams struggle witout a clear leader, and with three potential podium contenders it will be hard for any of them to get the full support of their teammates.

Here is who we see on the podium in Paris:

1. Valverde

2. Evans

3. Cunego

4. Sastre

The Tour de France begins July 5th in Brest. You can watch it on Versus or read the following sites for coverage: http://tour-de-france.velonews.com and http://www.pezcyclingnews.com.

I really only know one thing about Oklahoma City, and I don’t think the fans will be able to get behind a franchise called “The Oklahoma City Bombers.” 

So, let’s learn together, with help from our friends at wikipedia.

What was once a city known as a regional center of federal agencies and energy exploration has expanded and diversified to include sectors such as biotechnology, information technology, services, health services,

Can we call them the “Oklahoma City Biotechs”? Probably not.  Let’s move on

Oklahoma City has a severe weather season from March through August, especially during April and May. Tornadoes have occurred in every month of the year. Oklahoma City has been struck by more tornadoes than any other metropolitan area in the United States.^{[citation needed]} It suffered one of the most powerful tornadoes on record, an F-5 on the Fujita Scale, with wind speeds topping 320 mph (510 km/h). Parts of southern Oklahoma City and nearby communities were devastated by the tornado on May 3, 1999.

The “Oklahome City F5″ may actually work.. though, once again, the victims may not be happy.  So, back to wiki

Oklahoma City was settled on April 22, 1889, when the area known as the “unassigned lands” was opened for settlement in “The Oklahoma Land Run”. Some 10,000 homesteaders settled what is now downtown Oklahoma City and created a tent city in a single day. Within 10 years the population had doubled in what became a permanent settlement and the future capital of Oklahoma.

This is probably the direction they’ll go in. The Oklahoma City Landrunners or Homesteads. Unless there’s some sort of animal that lives near there, which would throw this whole study right out the window.

During his XM radio show yesterday, hocky scribe EJ Hradek says the rumor actually began with him.  Apparently, he decided a reunion in Pittsburgh would make sense for both sides, so he started making some calls.  Other reporters found out that there had been chatter, they started asking about it, and all of a sudden jagr was rumored to be talking to the Pens.  It was a case of the media feeding its own need for information

With his homerun last night, Arod moved within 1 of Mickey Mantle on the all-time list.  

I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but something about the all-time Yankee icon being passed by a guy who simply can’t get a foothold with New York fans seems like its going to be a problem.  If he hits the homerun in the Bronx, will there be some boos mixed in with the applause?   It’s worth keeping an eye on this weekend.

It’s not that he can’t play anymore. Favre proved last season that he’s still capable of outperforming nearly any QB in the league.  It’s just that everyone is sick of this story already.  It’s like steroids or Terrell Owens or horse racing.  The media decides it’s the most important news of the day and covers it to death. Meanwhile, sports fans don’t care. Come on Sportscenter, I just want to see some damn WNBA highlights! I mean baseball. Seriously, I meant baseball. 

Plus, I’m tired of seeing him cry all the time.  After the 2006 season, he cried as he walked off the field, seemingly signaling the end of his career.  Then he came back. Next came the press conference at the end of last season. Again.. tears.  At some point the ironman quarterback who plays through injuries in the coldest city in America is just going to become that whiny pussy you can’t control his emotions.  Maybe he’s going to keep playing, just to push off his hall of fame induction speech. If Favre ever stays retired long enough to get into Canton, that podium is going to end up underwater.

So, in conclusion, ENOUGH ALREADY. Jeez.

In this Wednesday’s blog post from Chris Cooley, he talks about his renewed interest in collecting cards. That brings back fond memories of when I use to hit up every card show at a school or Knights of Columbus. The thrill of opening a pack hoping to find a Michael Jordan or Ken Griffey Jr reminds me of what it was like to be an innocent child. But those days are long gone, but reading Cooley’s post makes me want to pull out the boxes of old cards I have back home at my parents house and just look at them. I haven’t bought a pack of cards in so long, so I don’t know what they run; but next time I do see a pack I will be sure to grab one.