Tour de Tiger

One of the joys of my year as a sports fan is the weekend where the British Open and the Tour de France both wind up on the same Sunday within just a few hours of each other. Here in Russia, EuroSport covers every minute of the Tour live and a Russian Sports Channel (Sport On Line) covers the same of the British Open. It makes a great Sunday evening/night of viewing.

This is the 4th straight year I've watched the Tour here. It draws me in every year...especially this year with the absence of Lance and the emergence of Floyd. BTW, is there is a more super hero type name than "Lance Armstrong"? It sounds like he's jumped straight off the pages of a comic book. Then is there a more non super hero like name than Floyd Landis? Super name or not the man became only the 3rd American to ever win the Tour and his victory makes 8 straight in the Tour for the red, white, and blue (US variant...not Russian, Dutch, or French variants which also fly a red, white, and blue flag).

A few hours later Tiger laid claim to his second consecutive and third over all British Open title as well. As well as he played, I kinda enjoyed even more seeing his heart expressed in the tears he shed on 18 after he won. His dad died 2 months ago. Anyone who has lost a father had to have something inside of them well up as he said, "I just wish he coulda been here to see it all one more time." I've felt that same way the last 18 months about my dad as well.

It was not just a great day to be a sports fan yesterday. It was a great day to be a human.