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Volume XXXII

I feared that I might get this to you belatedly, as I have been sitting around paying little attention to anything other than recuperating from quite the nasty sickness. (No, it wasn’t swine flu.) I’m feeling better today, and I’ve certainly had plenty to catch up on in the sports world. Considering I came home with a bottle of cold medicine on Sunday before noon here on the west coast and slept through ALL of the afternoon and night games from the NFL -- and that was the start of three days holed up sick from work and away from the computer -- it’s been an interesting journey. I barely could speak as a traditional sports fan at this point...

But that doesn’t mean I can’t come to you as a non-traditional sports fan, as there are no shortage of stories that are bubbling up precipitously over the pot and begging for attention, vying for space and time. It’s been one hell of a journey sifting through all the news bombarding me from around the globe. But if anyone is game to the challenge, I’m that guy -- a little time crunch never hurt me before. We’re quickly coming up on a new year, and fall will soon give way to a winter season that is sure to be interesting now that it is down one of its alpine heroes. Things are finally falling into place to see who gets to take part in the first African staging of the World Cup. And we already get to start fantasizing about the roads of France come July 2010. Rafael Nadal seems to have recovered from the bout of tendonitis that ruined his shot at history, just in time to near the end of the 2009 season and begin preparing for the all-too-soon start down under of the 2010 campaign. Nadal, battling sagely through the field to this point at the ATP Shanghai Masters, is looking to come to Melbourne on form when he defends his Australian Open title in January...

But there’s still plenty to discuss now, events actually taking place at the moment. With all this talk about what’s to come, it seems like this week’s edition is going to offer a healthy mix of the present and the future (and perhaps a little bit of rehashing the past for good measure). I’m back up and running, and even three days out of the loop can’t keep me from firing away. So sit back and enjoy the ride as I power back up to health traveling vicariously around this roller coaster we call planet Earth.

TOUR DE FRANCE OVERSHADOWS ACTUAL RACING

We’ll start in France , where there actually was a bicycle race happening this weekend. In the 103rd running of the Paris-Tours one-day classic, Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) outwitted countryman Tom Boonen (Quick Step) by attacking with 300 meters to go to the finish line. Taking the initiative, Gilbert did not wait for a three-up sprint that would have included Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil), a 29-year-old Slovenian who took Stage 6 at this year’s Vuelta a España and would ultimately stand on the podium in third place in Tours. Gilbert, on the top of the pedestal, basked in the thrill of defending last year’s title. The Belgian has shown some incredible initiative through his career. Along with his two Paris-Tours victories, Gilbert was a top-five finisher at three of this year’s spring classics: the Ronde van Vlaanderen (3rd), Amstel Gold Race (4th) and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (4th). It is funny how even a kilometer from the line a former champion can appear as the underdog -- Boonen looked set for victory until that finishing kick undid his bid.

But you could be forgiven if you missed the news -- even if you are an ardent follower of cycling as I am. Unless you actually had the benefit of catching the race, most of the press surrounding cycling these days centers around one event: the Tour de France. The UCI and French anti-doping authorities are still harping at one another with allegations of misconduct and slander concerning testing protocol observed at the 2009 Tour. The Astana team of champion Alberto Contador and third-place finisher Lance Armstrong is coming under increasing scrutiny; French authorities are looking to retroactively test medical equipment of both Astana and others saved along last year’s route for any signs of indiscretions. They hope, after no positive tests marred what was another exciting edition of the race, to find some funny business -- especially any of the supposedly flagrant mishandlings that they assert the UCI let slip through the cracks with its supposedly lax handling of the superstar Kazakh squad.

Yet even with this new quagmire of hearsay and finger-pointing, the fair-weather fans that flock to France for the slopes and sunflowers of July are engrossed with the freshly-unveiled route for the 2010 Tour. Beginning in Rotterdam , the race will pass along some of the cobblestone routes of the Netherlands , Belgium and northern France in the first week. For those who are lovers of the spring classics -- the Ronde van Vlaanderen, with its cobblestone hills rising at hellish pitches; or the bread-loaf cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, with kilometer after endless kilometer of the ancient roads rattling riders with every revolution of the pedals -- the 2010 Tour will be fun from the outset.

The race will hold just one long individual time trial this year aside from the opening Rotterdam prologue, a 51-kilometer ride from Bordeaux to Pauillac through the heart of the Gironde on France ’s Atlantic coast that will decide the final standings of the general classification on the day before what riders remain in the peloton hit the Champs-Elysees. Mont Ventoux is replaced this year by a summit finish up the always ferocious Col du Tourmalet just two days before the penultimate-stage time trial.

But before that happens, we’ve still got to close out this season. This Sunday will see the running of the Giro di Lombardia, the traditional finish to the season run around Lake Como in northern Italy . If you can find your way out of bed on Saturday morning, you will be able to find coverage of it here -- and it should be decided back in Como before the early college football games even kick off!

A LEGEND HANGS UP HIS SKIS ON THE CUSP OF WINTERTIME

Citing a desire to go out in good health, Hermann Maier choked back tears as he announced his immediate retirement from alpine skiing. The Austrian three-discipline star, whose thirteen-year professional career saw him surpass compatriot Franz Klammer in the hearts of his countrymen. Maier goes out second all-time in World Cup victories with 54, behind only the incomparable Ingemar Stenmark’s 86 total wins. And he has gold to show from both the FIS World Championships and the Nagano Olympics.

We’ve seen a lot of retirements recently in sports declared prematurely, but it is doubtful that we will see Maier again on the slopes in any competitive sense. Discovered later than most athletes in modern sports, Maier didn’t begin racing professionally until he was 23. Now 36, his physical style -- which yielded plenty of injuries along with plenty of victories -- has taken its toll. So, in his own words, “With regard to my future life, my health was paramount for me and that's why I'm calling it quits now.”

It will certainly be interesting as we get into this winter’s World Cup campaign not to see the Herminator on the steeps of Val d’Isere or flying over the camel humps of Val Gardena. We will never see him bomb into the Mausefalle on the infamous Hahnenkamm just west of his hometown of Altenmarkt im Pongau -- also home of his longtime ski sponsor Atomic (he switched to Head in 2006, but who’s counting now?). It is always amazing when a legend takes his- or herself out of the equation. But someone like Maier, who was as dangerous in the giant slalom (14 World Cup victories, 1998 Olympic gold, 2005 World Champion) as he was in the Super G (24 World Cup victories, 1998 Olympic gold, 1999 World Champion) and the downhill (15 World Cup victories, 1999 World Champion), really leaves a void. Someone like Klammer can retire and only one discipline suffers; a true all-around specialist such as Maier, who won four World Cup Overall titles in 13 tries, leaves every field that much leaner.

It is true that he has faced tougher times in recent years, his only win last season coming at Lake Louise in Canada . But legends glow beyond results alone, and Maier’s presence at any race instantly validated the result for any champion that might surpass the Austrian’s time on the slopes. It can be tough for any champion with such a competitive spirit to call it quits. Too many hang on beyond their legend, wearing their bodies down and their welcome in the process. Here’s to hoping the Herminator can find peace in his post-athletic life, drinking in solace and solitude as he takes to a slope in his own time and for his own pleasure...

SOUTH AFRICA JUST OVER THE HORIZON

We’re just some playoff games away from having the entire field of participants that will head to South Africa for next... er, I guess it will be next winter’s World Cup, given that it will be in the Southern Hemisphere. But today settled a lot of the burning questions that were left, and we are close to having a definitive list of 32. Here’s where we are at so far after a wild week in international qualifiers around the globe:

There are also several play-in scenarios. Europe will have four two-leg playoffs between the top eight second-place qualifiers in group play (lowly Norway , with just ten points, is the odd team out). We know who will play, but we do not yet have the draw so that we can discuss matchups. But the list of teams still with a shot at getting on a jet with Good Hope hopes is as follows:

In addition, three groups in African qualifying are yet to be determined. CAF qualifiers play their final matches on 14 November as well, so final decisions will be known in one month’s time. Several surprises jump out right away, both in presence and in absence. First things first, Argentina survived against Uruguay to relegate their historical rivals from across the river to playoff status and claim a safe passage for Diego Maradona in his first shot at World Cup glory as a coach. For all the fright that the Albicelestes might miss out on the World Cup for the first time in four decades, they showed their fortitude and capitalized on a bad mistake by Uruguay to score on a free kick and take the final guaranteed spot in South America . Both Koreas will be at the World Cup for the first time at the same time; the remote prospects that these two sides might be matched up relegates such contests as the “momentous” 1998 match between the United States and Iran in France to pretender status. Cote d’Ivoire , caught in civil war, united around their Elephants qualifying for their second straight World Cup in relative ease. The United States showed fortitude in taking first in the North and Central American region, pulling back in injury time to draw 2-2 against Costa Rica at RFK Stadium in Washington , DC . And Portugal fought their way into a playoff place after looking dangerously close to missing out and keeping the world’s best player -- 2008 World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo -- out of the world’s preeminent quadrennial soccer showcase.

Some big names weren’t as lucky. Turkey , after showing promise in reaching the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan , missed out on its second straight Cup after finishing third in UEFA Group 5 behind Spain and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia finished behind Ukraine in Group 6; Portugal survived for a playoff at Sweden’s expense in Group 1; and the Czech Republic had to watch its sister republic, Slovakia, reach the Cup and Slovenia slot into the playoff in Group 3. Asian giants Saudi Arabia and Iran are both out while Bahrain maintains a legitimate chance at reaching South Africa via Auckland .

And in the three remaining African qualifiers, the most interesting is Egypt-Algeria for all the marbles in Group C. Cameroon has the inside track on Group A’s spot in South Africa, though they must win to guarantee qualification. Gabon lingers just one point behind waiting for a stumble from one of Africa ’s longtime powerhouses. In Group B, Tunisia faces Mozambique , just two points up on Nigeria . The Super Eagles face Kenya , needing a win and just a draw at by Tunisia to go through on goal differential. So turn back to club football for now, but don’t forget that we’ve got one week left of qualifying yet to come...

It’s going to be interesting seeing how fall shakes down and the sports of summertime wind down their seasons. Just as the turning of the leaves brings the end of baseball and the start of basketball and hockey in North America, so too does it mean that cycling and tennis and the rest conclude their seasons and yield to the wintertime pursuits of skiing and curling and skating. The Vancouver Olympics, being held about eight hours north and one international boundary from where I presently sit typing away into the night, are just around the corner along with a World Cup and the usual events of the year. Winter will be even more interesting this year -- and that’s without taking into account all the goodness that the dip in the thermometer’s mercury can bring. Make sure you’re feeling healthy, because the weather outside might be frightful... and that yields plenty of excitement even as we dream of upcoming events. Don’t allow the mind to wander so far ahead that you allow yourself to miss the bounty of impressive displays all around...

Submitted 10/15

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