Monday, June 01, 2009

Winning don't have to be pretty...

 
I remember when I was a little kid, watching Richard Petty win some NASCAR race.  I was with my grandfather who always talked about Petty being the greatest driver ever.  We were watching one of those big old console TVs that was built to look like a piece of furniture.  When you turned it on, it took a few seconds for it to warm up and give a decent picture.  But on this day, the picture was mega-bright, like only color tv in the '70's could be and I distinctly remember watching Petty take the checkered flag as he slid across the line upside down after hooking up with some guy coming out of the final turn.  Sometimes, winning isn't pretty, but it's still a win.
Denis Menchov hit the deck hard and slid across the wet cobblestones like the neighborhood kids on their slip 'n slide.  You know that hurt, but Menchov had zero time to even acknowledge the pain.  The running sprint in cycling shoes across wet cobbles chasing a sliding bike was proof positive of athletic prowess alone.  And then, the hero of the story, THE MECHANIC, comes sprinting out of the still braking team car, spare bike in hand, directs Menchov on to it and gives him a push.  All in 10 seconds flat.  Just goes to show, your friendly local bike mechanic may just save your butt one day...
While dramatic, the crash would not have been the way anyone would have wanted to see Menchov lose the Giro.  But not to worry, he put time into DiLuca even with the crash.  And I just sat staring at my computer screen, amazed at how I could be watching the whole thing live...  
The winner of this year's Luna Cycles Fantasy Giro d'Italia is our very own Charles "the smaller" Bennett with 1440 points total.  On the second step is Jack Brown with 1366 points.  Rounding out the podium is Max "the ghost faced killah" Dyer with 1179 points.
Start prepping for the Fantasy Tour de France.  Now that school is done, the rules system will get much more complex in an effort to make the race even more competitive!  Stay tuned!

1 comment:

brewmeister said...

Thanks Shawn, great work adding even more interest to a great Giro.
Congratulations Charles a fine performance!
HH