I'm tired
Long day, first back at Uni.
I'm tired now so I'm going to bed.
Goodnight
Rants and raves from the always ordinary Peter Fletcher
He's done it! Cadel Evans has taken second place in the Tour. What a legend. If you haven't seen the time trial there's some great video footage at SBS where you can see one of the grittiest, gutsiest rides to hold out Levi Leipheimer for second place. Evans is now part of Australian cycling folklore and is sure to inspire lots of young riders to get on their bikes and get fit.
Cadel, we salute you.
Could the Tour de France get more fascinating - or more farcical? Firstly Alexandre Vinokourov has been expelled from the race for failing a doping test, and now the leader, Michael Rasmussen, has been sacked by his own team for breaking team rules and lying to them about his whereabouts during a time he was to have submitted to a drugs test. Rasmussen must be feeling shattered! Two years ago he had a time trial from hell in the penultimate stage of the Tour which cost him a place on the podium. And now, with the yellow fleece glued firmly to his back, he's been sacked, costing him an almost certain win in the most prestigious bike race in the world.
Now all that remains is to see if Cadel Evans can bridge a gap of just under 2 minutes in the final time trial of the Tour. If Evans stands on the podium in Paris, it will be the best result by an Aussie ever. C'mon Cadel, you can do it!
Well, what a surprise, the Federal Police are now being asked how Doctor Haneef's diary got to read like a who's-who of global terrorism. As usual, the doctor is protesting his innocence, but his reputation is now in tatters. The weekend leak of a suggestion that he was involved in a plot to blow up buildings in Queensland was quickly, and conveniently, rebutted by the Fed's, but not before alarm bells were ringing for the good folk of the sunshine state. In the meantime Doctor Haneef will need a new bladder, after being used a political football for the past few weeks. Where's Labor I hear you ask? Obviously the polls are saying the matter hasn't gained sufficient traction for it to be worthwhile taking a punt (pardon the pun).
Is Haneef to become our next Hicks?
If you've got 10 minutes to spare this YouTube video is well worth watching. It starts out a little slowly, as many African safari videos do, but there's an amazing twist. Hang in there. Well worth while.
How good is Cadel Evans?! Now only 1:14 seconds from having the leader's yellow jersey on his back after a magnificent time trial, where he finished second, Evans now has a real chance of winning the Tour. If he can do well in the Pyrenees over the next few days we may be seeing an Aussie on the podium in France.
And congratulations to SBS for a the terrific coverage of every stage live. It's great to see some of the worlds great athletes battle it out in one of the worlds most grueling sporting events.
Well here's some news that's about 12 months too late. Chris Connolly has resigned as the coach of the Fremantle Dockers - and not before time. I'm sure Chris is a great guy but his performance at the helm of what should be, one of the best football clubs in the AFL has been poor. With the list he's had at his disposal including Black, Pavlich, Hedland, and Tarrant, Connolly should have been crushing all before him. Instead, he's allowed the Dockers to slip out of contention of finals football this year. As much as it's a poor reflection on his skills as a coach, it's also a poor reflection on the executive of the club, who persistently tolerate honorable losses and excuse poor performance.
The Dockers are high on passion, but poor on performance. It's time they stopped their pretense at being an AFL club and gave their loyal supports a finals dividend.