July 25th - Another day at the office for Lance Armstrong...
Everyone has a lucky day. For most of us it's a day of the week like Friday. It's the end of the week and for most and most importantly, it's pay day. Lance Armstrong has a favorite date - July 25th. The day of the week doesn't matter as long as it falls in July and is on the 25th. Case in point - July 25, 1999. That's the year the cancer surviving Texan won his 1st Tour de France. Same date, different year (2004) Armstrong outdistanced the field on the steepest portions of the course to win his 6th consecutive Tour. Last year was an aberration. He won his 7th consecutive race on July 24th, 2005...
This year Armstrong tutored winner Floyd Landis and is still celebrating. As he puts it: "I'm glad that a guy who came through our program has won. We can take a small bit of credit for helping develop Floyd". Now you can take that quote a couple of different ways. Lance is happy for Landis' success or he's taking a bow for his victory. Armstrong, who has his detractors is often taken the wrong way. To have survived the cancer that had spread through his body is beyond heroic. Not many people could survive what he went through. That is a given. But (and isn't there always a but ?) there's a whole bunch of questions people have about whether or not Lance has taken any performance enhancing drugs (although he's never failed a drug test). Then there's leaving his wife and kids for Sheryl Crow and then finally, questions linger about why he's no longer with Crow...
The controversy surrounding Lance Armstrong has given me an idea. Lance is one of several athletes who has to be included in what I will call my Hate Parade list. These athletes are known by not only sports fans - but those who don't know the difference between a grand slam and a touchdown. It's a list of athletes that are either loved or hated or whose motives and demeanor are mostly questioned and in many cases, maligned. All of these athletes are lightning rods for controversy. They are magnets for those who blame them for everything, from starvation in Uganda to the war in Iraq and perhaps even for the poor folks in Queens who still are power-less. So here we go with my 1st Hate Parade top 5:
5) Terrell Owens
| T.O. has quickly outlived his welcomed wherever he's played. Now he's Big Tuna's problem. Once the NFL season begins he will be moving up this list... 4) Lance Armstrong The answer my friend is not "Blowin' in the Wind". It's in my feature story... 3) Tiger Woods It doesn't matter what he does or does not achieve, he will stay on this list forever... 2) Alex Rodriguez Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani has thrown his hat in the ring. Not for the Presidency but behind A-Rod. He's told Yankee fans to lay off the booing. Like Tiger, he will stay on this list forever and will surely be #1 before the end of the baseball season. By the way, A-Rod is now comparing himself to Tiger Woods. Like Tiger, it doesn't matter what he does or does not achieve. I mean he could be the league MVP, pick up his 2,000th hit at 30 or hit 450 home runs and he would still be booed. Oh wait, he has done all of those things... 1) And.....#1 on my Hate Parade Top 5 list...(tymp roll and under) Who else ? Barry Bonds If you don't know why he's #1 now...you never will...Your own HP-Top 5's are welcome... Ten Timeline Memories... 1871] The Carousel is patented by Wilhelm Schneider of Davenport, Iowa... 1946] Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis make their debut as an act at Club 500 in Atlantic City (as you read yesterday, they broke up one day earlier (July 24) 10 years later)... 1952] Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the U.S... 1956] The Stockholm collides with the Andrea Doria off the coast of Nantucket. 1,660 survive but 51 (including the crew) are lost at sea (the ship lies in over 200 feet of water, 45 miles south of Nantucket yet divers continue to brave the depth and sharks to salvage valuables that still remain)... 1965] Bob Dylan goes electric and gets booed doing his 1st non-acoustic set (behind the Paul Butterfield Blues Band) at the Newport Jazz Festival. The song Dylan sang was "Maggie's Farm"... 1966] Casey Stengel is inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame. Also at the Cooperstown ceremony was the great Ted Williams, inducted on the same day... 1969] With Neil Young now a member, he and Crosby, Stills and Nash make their debut at the Fillmore East in Manhattan... 1978] One day after Billy Martin's "one is a born liar (Reggie Jackson), the other (George Steinbrenner) a convict" speech, he's replaced as Yankee manager by Bob Lemon (what took so long ?)... 1978] Louise Joy Brown, the 1st test-tube baby is born in England (Louise is a postal worker who is happily married with a 6 month-old daughter who was born naturally and lives in Bristol, England)... 1990] Rosanne Barr gets booed off the field in San Diego for her screeching and totally tacky (cleverly acting like a baseball player, she spits on the field and grabs her crotch) version of the National Anthem (she would not be invited back)... Released on this date: 1966] "You Can't Hurry Love" - The Supremes 1970] "25 or 6 to 4" - Chicago 1971] "Surf's Up" LP - The Beach Boys [To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]... Still "Twistin'"... Paul Power adds: "I bought that 45 (Hank Ballad's "The Twist" (and still have it on King) back, I believe in '58 or '59. It was originally the "B" side of "Teardrops On Your Letter", a ballad that charted big R&B but not pop. I also remember Don Parker playing it on WMEX and always liked it better. I think Bob Sherwood was right about hearing it pre-1960)... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday"... Mets relief pitcher Billy Wagner (35), Matt LeBlanc ("Joey") (39), Iman (51), Earth, Wind and Fire's Verdine White (55), Estelle ("Golden Girls") Getty (82)... "Timeline Countdown": 42 days until Labor Day, 46 days until NFL kickoff, 71 days until MLB playoffs and 159 days remaining in 2006. ... |
