It's kind of like the blue-white game at the start of a UK basketball season.
The 2010 Madisonville-North Hopkins High School Marching Maroons debuted last night, with its annual "Preview" performance on the school's back parking lot last night. To cap two weeks of two-a-days band camp, the Marching Maroons worked through parts of their new three-piece show, "Connect Us," for parents, schoolmates and other well-wishers.
It was a loose affair. The musicians donned matching T-shirts and shorts instead of their formal maroon, black and white uniforms; director Rob Bryant frequently stopped the performance to correct a misstep he detected from a tower overhead, and another staffer moved through the kids rapping a mallet against a wood block for the benefit of inexperienced marchers who are still struggling to keep time.
Regardless, there was no sense of disappointment or worry emanating among the 300-or-so onlookers who had gathered at dusk. Some sat in folding chairs on pickup beds; others stood on the still-radiating blacktop. All seemed pleased with the first public performance by the 101-member unit who begins pursuit of the school's sixth-straight state championship with its first Kentucky Music Educators Association competition on Sept. 11--on its home field for the Maroon Classic.
It's an unusually young edition of Marching Maroons, even fielding eighth-graders in some sections. At last night's show, Director Bryant noted that the most-experienced among about a half-dozen mellophonists are sophomores. None of this, of course, tempers manic expectations in a town where halftime is the brightest of Friday night's lights. Fair or not, no less than a sixth Class 4A Governor's Cup is the goal--and already identified as much in a front-page article on Friday's local Messenger newspaper.
The "Connect Us" show consists of Samuel Hazo's "Bridges" and Richard Saucedo's "Windsprints" and "Walking Into History (The Clinton 12)." The 4A state championship will be contested Oct. 30 at South Oldham High School in Crestwood.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Oh, Kentucky
Tune in for UK's men's basketball exhibitions in Canada on Aug. 15, 16 and 17.
A Covington girl got the president's attention.
NASCAR might be coming to Sparta next year.
Doping the economic-development competition between Henderson and Evansville, Ind.
A Covington girl got the president's attention.
NASCAR might be coming to Sparta next year.
Doping the economic-development competition between Henderson and Evansville, Ind.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Oh, Kentucky
Will Lexington be HEV motown?
Western Kentucky's getting greener.
Sen. Bunning wants us all to remember that he made 520 starts as a major-league baseball player.
Western Kentucky's getting greener.
Sen. Bunning wants us all to remember that he made 520 starts as a major-league baseball player.
Matt Capps, we hardly knew ye
There are many odd circumstances associated with following a team as bad as the Washington Nationals. Consider the case of Matt Capps. Last year, the Nats had one of the worst bullpens in baseball. In the offseason, they picked up a guy named Matt Capps, who had actually been cut by the Pirates -- one of the worst teams in baseball. Needless to say, I didn't pay much attention to this move -- which seemed to be must the usual bottom-feeding by the Nats.
But Capps has had a great year. He has 26 saves in 30 opportunities, with an ERA of 2.74. He was, in fact, the Nats' only representative at the All-Star Game, where he was the winning pitcher.
And now he is gone -- traded to the Twins for more prospects. Everyone says it's a great deal for the Nats, and maybe it is. But it's very weird to follow a team whose only All-Star was a guy who never played for them before this season, and who will probably never play for them again.
But Capps has had a great year. He has 26 saves in 30 opportunities, with an ERA of 2.74. He was, in fact, the Nats' only representative at the All-Star Game, where he was the winning pitcher.
And now he is gone -- traded to the Twins for more prospects. Everyone says it's a great deal for the Nats, and maybe it is. But it's very weird to follow a team whose only All-Star was a guy who never played for them before this season, and who will probably never play for them again.
Kentucky minute, 15 to 20 of them
I'm speaking to the Madisonville Kiwanis Club at lunch today. Here's what I'll be saying.
---
Thanks, Margaret. Thanks, all of you, for lunch.
I think my mom, who is here, suspects that the phrase “freelance writer who works from home” is code for “unemployed.”
There have been months when she was right. Business gets scarce from time to time. But, for the most part, I’m lucky. And thankful. I love what I do, even on the days I don’t like it very much.
I write mostly for high-tech companies and professional organizations. I’m not a technical writer—one of the folks who writes manuals of how to use technology, for example. I do marketing and public relations—I write documents such as press releases, web-site copy, brochures.
I do a lot of ghostwriting for engineers. What happens is, engineers get the opportunity to write for a trade magazine in their field, and I get hired to get on the phone with them, listen to what it is they want to say in their story, write a first draft in their words and then revise it until we have something that they are happy with. It is at this point that people often say that I get hired because engineers can’t write. This is not my experience. Almost all of the engineers I’ve worked with can write just fine; I get jobs because, ultimately, it’s more affordable for their companies to have me go through the drudgery of preparing a first draft—the engineer’s hours are more cost-effectively devoted to engineering. Comparatively, for them, I’m cheap.
So, anyway, that’s what I do. Now my wife, who is also here, says that I do a lackluster job of explaining what I do for a living and this is why no one can ever quite remember even after I’ve told them more than once. Rachel says I should focus my explanation more on the other things that I write, and it is true that I do other things.
I started out in newspapers, mostly sports writing. That was fun. I grew up in Paducah and worked on the newspaper at Heath High School, and then I went to Western Kentucky University, studied journalism and worked on the College Heights Herald there. After school, I worked for the old Evansville Press, the Park City Daily News in Bowling Green, The Gleaner in Henderson and The Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro. The most fun I had in those jobs was being around newsrooms, which are lively and interesting, and getting to cover Paul Sanderford’s great women’s basketball teams at Western in the late 1980s and early ‘90s.
I quit working full-time for newspapers because I was going to write a book, about Kentucky. I spent two straight years of vacation time driving to each of our 120 counties, talking to people about what they do and why they live where they live and taking notes about what I saw. And, so in 1994, I set out on my own as a freelancer, to concentrate on working on my book. I did a little part-time writing and editing for newspapers on the side to keep a little money coming in, and I cut my expenses by moving into a no-air-conditioning apartment in Owensboro with two old college friends. Another who lived in town had gone to work in marketing for a meat-packing company, and, sometimes, he’d bring me the leftover samples that the staff would have picked over at the office. I’ve been a vegetarian for about 15 years now, and I’d never thought about it until writing this speech, but maybe it was the hand-me-down ham that turned me.
In any event, it turns out that writing a book is really, really hard. It is for me, anyway. So hard that I’ve failed in every attempt so far.
So then I moved to Washington, D.C., to chase a girlfriend at the time, and I needed to go back to making a regular full-time living because it was significantly more expensive having a girlfriend in Washington, D.C., than it had been splitting rent with two other guys in Owensboro. I started temping. Now, not too many companies are on the market for temporary sportswriters, but almost all of them need people who can type pretty fast and accurately, which one learns to do working at a newspaper. I got a job typing commercial proposal responses for a company called Newbridge Networks in one of Washington’s suburbs, Herndon, Virginia.
This was fortunate. Initially, I had no idea about the telecommunications equipment and concepts that I was typing about, but I learned a little. And I gradually moved from typing technical proposals to editing parts of them and then into writing marketing and public-relations documents. In the meantime, a lot of the people in the office cubes around mine started to leave to launch their own companies. And then they needed writing for PR and marketing, and—voila—my freelance career was reborn.
The technology writing comprised the bulk of my work, but I always wrote about other things, too: basketball, air conditioning, philanthropy, music, alternative disease therapy, hiking, churches. I considered the technology stuff just a bridge to whatever it was that I would one day base my true writing career around.
For a little while, I fancied myself a creative writer. Early on, I even got one poem published—in a magazine called Alive Now. Forty-five bucks, they paid me, and it went straight to my head. I started entering a slew of contests and fanning poetry and essays to a bunch of literary journals and magazines. To this day, that creative-writing business unit within my little one-person-shop incorporation has achieved zero subsequent revenues. Zero.
I once entered a writing contest sponsored by the little weekly newspaper in Cary, the North Carolina town where Rachel and I lived before moving home to Madisonville. They wanted essays about being a kid, so I came up with what I thought was a pretty cute little thing after having watched two boys outside our front window one morning as they waited for the school bus and tossed football back and forth. I submitted the essay—and then completely forgot about it.
About two years later, I was sitting at my computer, procrastinating on some technology piece, and the essay crossed my mind. I Googled my name, the essay title and the newspaper’s name, and, sure enough, up came a link to an archived story about the winners. Alas, the contest hadn’t been intended so much for adults writing about being a kid; it was a kids’ writing contest. Apparently, I had misunderstood. The story listed the names of some 12- and 14-year-old kids who won gift certificates to the skating rink or what-not, and then it praised two other kid entrants who hadn’t quite made the top three. Finally, it mentioned that I had entered, too. It literally read, “Eric Woehler of Cary also submitted an entry.” I got a mention. Not an honorable mention—a mention. I still put it on my resume.
All the while, technology PR continued to pay the bills, and something gradually changed in the way that I feel about it. Maybe it’s just that the baby came, and so I don’t get enough sleep to afford myself the luxury of worrying about whether I’m writing about the right stuff for me. Maybe it’s just that times have been so hard for so many folks that I feel thankful to just have a job. But whatever the case, I’ve started to feel awfully lucky that I get to write about some really, really neat and transformative things. Telework, collaborative research, the Smart Grid, telemedicine and distance education … I am excited about the positive changes that these things hold for society. Hurrah!
That said, I completely understand why people’s eyes glaze over when I tell them about the stories I write. Here are some of the titles of articles that I’ve ghostwritten in the last three months: (TITLES DELETED) … It’s just brutal, isn’t it?
What people do almost always find interesting about my job is that I do it from home—or wherever, really. Since I became a full-time freelancer for good in 1998, doing my job has required only an Internet connection, a cell phone and some sort of work space (spare bedroom, kitchen table, pickup tailgate, etc.)
When we learned that our baby was on the way two years ago, Rachel and I hustled together a big life shift before Virginia arrived. Rachel is a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She left her position with our church in Raleigh to work at home with the baby, and we moved to Madisonville to be near family. My work simply moved with us. Rachel’s a Madisonville home girl through and through—a former Marching Maroon flutist … a veteran of the Halloween downtown-window-painting contests … and someone who gives directions by saying things like, “It’s down there on South Main, near where Chicken Video used to be.” Her folks, sister and aunt are all here in town. I’m not a native local, but my dad was from here, and Mom lives in Evansville. My brothers and sister all live within a comfortable driving-distance radius.
We loved Cary. It’s a great town—frequently showing up on those lists of best cities under so-and-so population on the East Coast or whatever. But we are so happy to be here. We love Madisonville already, and it feels like something remarkable is happening here. Did you know that the U.S. Department of Labor shows Kentucky as recording the nation’s largest percentage increase in employment from June 2009 to June 2010? Kentucky—No. 1. I read that just yesterday.
Here’s the other thing. I think Rachel and I might be on the front end of a trend. As recently as 15 years ago, a couple would’ve faced much harder choices in executing the same plan that Rachel and I did. But expansion of high-speed communications to more of the country has allowed individual workers or entire companies to locate in areas other than traditional corporate centers. And “teleworkers” like me have become more common, fostering trust among companies that we actually will do the work we are paid to do.
These are not insignificant trends—for towns like ours, for folks like me.
I’m not about to suggest that teleworking one-person-shop contractors like myself could one day be the driving force of Madisonville’s economy. But I would contend that the limits on any town’s job opportunities are softening; it’s getting easier for individuals or companies to go or stay anywhere they want. That’s empowering stuff for a town who wants to grow. And it’s a wonderful, freeing thing for people who not long ago felt they must move far away to make a living.
My grandfather didn’t feel that freedom. He moved his wife and children away from family in Madisonville to chase work, to Henderson and then to Evansville at a time when those places felt much farther away than they do today. My dad didn’t feel that freedom. He moved us away from family in Evansville to chase work, to Chicago and then to Paducah. The logistics of work were more rigid, and, consequently, my grandfather’s and dad’s choices were more limited.
That my job travels with me enabled me to be home in Kentucky a lot 10 years ago when Dad was sick with lung cancer, in the year before he died. And it allowed Rachel and me to move here in 2008. Maybe this is why I’m grown gradually more thankful and passionate about my work over time.
Our daughter, Virginia, has been born into a life in which “over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house” we actually walked for her first Thanksgiving dinner last November. I’m talking about the other grandmother now, Rachel’s mom. And you have to allow me to count a ditch behind the community college as a “river” for that sentence to be accurate.
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but Madisonville’s a fine place to live. Changes in the ways and tools with which we work are making it easier for anyone to choose to live here. We should all invite someone who’d love it, too.
Thanks, Margaret. Thanks, all of you.
---
Thanks, Margaret. Thanks, all of you, for lunch.
I think my mom, who is here, suspects that the phrase “freelance writer who works from home” is code for “unemployed.”
There have been months when she was right. Business gets scarce from time to time. But, for the most part, I’m lucky. And thankful. I love what I do, even on the days I don’t like it very much.
I write mostly for high-tech companies and professional organizations. I’m not a technical writer—one of the folks who writes manuals of how to use technology, for example. I do marketing and public relations—I write documents such as press releases, web-site copy, brochures.
I do a lot of ghostwriting for engineers. What happens is, engineers get the opportunity to write for a trade magazine in their field, and I get hired to get on the phone with them, listen to what it is they want to say in their story, write a first draft in their words and then revise it until we have something that they are happy with. It is at this point that people often say that I get hired because engineers can’t write. This is not my experience. Almost all of the engineers I’ve worked with can write just fine; I get jobs because, ultimately, it’s more affordable for their companies to have me go through the drudgery of preparing a first draft—the engineer’s hours are more cost-effectively devoted to engineering. Comparatively, for them, I’m cheap.
So, anyway, that’s what I do. Now my wife, who is also here, says that I do a lackluster job of explaining what I do for a living and this is why no one can ever quite remember even after I’ve told them more than once. Rachel says I should focus my explanation more on the other things that I write, and it is true that I do other things.
I started out in newspapers, mostly sports writing. That was fun. I grew up in Paducah and worked on the newspaper at Heath High School, and then I went to Western Kentucky University, studied journalism and worked on the College Heights Herald there. After school, I worked for the old Evansville Press, the Park City Daily News in Bowling Green, The Gleaner in Henderson and The Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro. The most fun I had in those jobs was being around newsrooms, which are lively and interesting, and getting to cover Paul Sanderford’s great women’s basketball teams at Western in the late 1980s and early ‘90s.
I quit working full-time for newspapers because I was going to write a book, about Kentucky. I spent two straight years of vacation time driving to each of our 120 counties, talking to people about what they do and why they live where they live and taking notes about what I saw. And, so in 1994, I set out on my own as a freelancer, to concentrate on working on my book. I did a little part-time writing and editing for newspapers on the side to keep a little money coming in, and I cut my expenses by moving into a no-air-conditioning apartment in Owensboro with two old college friends. Another who lived in town had gone to work in marketing for a meat-packing company, and, sometimes, he’d bring me the leftover samples that the staff would have picked over at the office. I’ve been a vegetarian for about 15 years now, and I’d never thought about it until writing this speech, but maybe it was the hand-me-down ham that turned me.
In any event, it turns out that writing a book is really, really hard. It is for me, anyway. So hard that I’ve failed in every attempt so far.
So then I moved to Washington, D.C., to chase a girlfriend at the time, and I needed to go back to making a regular full-time living because it was significantly more expensive having a girlfriend in Washington, D.C., than it had been splitting rent with two other guys in Owensboro. I started temping. Now, not too many companies are on the market for temporary sportswriters, but almost all of them need people who can type pretty fast and accurately, which one learns to do working at a newspaper. I got a job typing commercial proposal responses for a company called Newbridge Networks in one of Washington’s suburbs, Herndon, Virginia.
This was fortunate. Initially, I had no idea about the telecommunications equipment and concepts that I was typing about, but I learned a little. And I gradually moved from typing technical proposals to editing parts of them and then into writing marketing and public-relations documents. In the meantime, a lot of the people in the office cubes around mine started to leave to launch their own companies. And then they needed writing for PR and marketing, and—voila—my freelance career was reborn.
The technology writing comprised the bulk of my work, but I always wrote about other things, too: basketball, air conditioning, philanthropy, music, alternative disease therapy, hiking, churches. I considered the technology stuff just a bridge to whatever it was that I would one day base my true writing career around.
For a little while, I fancied myself a creative writer. Early on, I even got one poem published—in a magazine called Alive Now. Forty-five bucks, they paid me, and it went straight to my head. I started entering a slew of contests and fanning poetry and essays to a bunch of literary journals and magazines. To this day, that creative-writing business unit within my little one-person-shop incorporation has achieved zero subsequent revenues. Zero.
I once entered a writing contest sponsored by the little weekly newspaper in Cary, the North Carolina town where Rachel and I lived before moving home to Madisonville. They wanted essays about being a kid, so I came up with what I thought was a pretty cute little thing after having watched two boys outside our front window one morning as they waited for the school bus and tossed football back and forth. I submitted the essay—and then completely forgot about it.
About two years later, I was sitting at my computer, procrastinating on some technology piece, and the essay crossed my mind. I Googled my name, the essay title and the newspaper’s name, and, sure enough, up came a link to an archived story about the winners. Alas, the contest hadn’t been intended so much for adults writing about being a kid; it was a kids’ writing contest. Apparently, I had misunderstood. The story listed the names of some 12- and 14-year-old kids who won gift certificates to the skating rink or what-not, and then it praised two other kid entrants who hadn’t quite made the top three. Finally, it mentioned that I had entered, too. It literally read, “Eric Woehler of Cary also submitted an entry.” I got a mention. Not an honorable mention—a mention. I still put it on my resume.
All the while, technology PR continued to pay the bills, and something gradually changed in the way that I feel about it. Maybe it’s just that the baby came, and so I don’t get enough sleep to afford myself the luxury of worrying about whether I’m writing about the right stuff for me. Maybe it’s just that times have been so hard for so many folks that I feel thankful to just have a job. But whatever the case, I’ve started to feel awfully lucky that I get to write about some really, really neat and transformative things. Telework, collaborative research, the Smart Grid, telemedicine and distance education … I am excited about the positive changes that these things hold for society. Hurrah!
That said, I completely understand why people’s eyes glaze over when I tell them about the stories I write. Here are some of the titles of articles that I’ve ghostwritten in the last three months: (TITLES DELETED) … It’s just brutal, isn’t it?
What people do almost always find interesting about my job is that I do it from home—or wherever, really. Since I became a full-time freelancer for good in 1998, doing my job has required only an Internet connection, a cell phone and some sort of work space (spare bedroom, kitchen table, pickup tailgate, etc.)
When we learned that our baby was on the way two years ago, Rachel and I hustled together a big life shift before Virginia arrived. Rachel is a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She left her position with our church in Raleigh to work at home with the baby, and we moved to Madisonville to be near family. My work simply moved with us. Rachel’s a Madisonville home girl through and through—a former Marching Maroon flutist … a veteran of the Halloween downtown-window-painting contests … and someone who gives directions by saying things like, “It’s down there on South Main, near where Chicken Video used to be.” Her folks, sister and aunt are all here in town. I’m not a native local, but my dad was from here, and Mom lives in Evansville. My brothers and sister all live within a comfortable driving-distance radius.
We loved Cary. It’s a great town—frequently showing up on those lists of best cities under so-and-so population on the East Coast or whatever. But we are so happy to be here. We love Madisonville already, and it feels like something remarkable is happening here. Did you know that the U.S. Department of Labor shows Kentucky as recording the nation’s largest percentage increase in employment from June 2009 to June 2010? Kentucky—No. 1. I read that just yesterday.
Here’s the other thing. I think Rachel and I might be on the front end of a trend. As recently as 15 years ago, a couple would’ve faced much harder choices in executing the same plan that Rachel and I did. But expansion of high-speed communications to more of the country has allowed individual workers or entire companies to locate in areas other than traditional corporate centers. And “teleworkers” like me have become more common, fostering trust among companies that we actually will do the work we are paid to do.
These are not insignificant trends—for towns like ours, for folks like me.
I’m not about to suggest that teleworking one-person-shop contractors like myself could one day be the driving force of Madisonville’s economy. But I would contend that the limits on any town’s job opportunities are softening; it’s getting easier for individuals or companies to go or stay anywhere they want. That’s empowering stuff for a town who wants to grow. And it’s a wonderful, freeing thing for people who not long ago felt they must move far away to make a living.
My grandfather didn’t feel that freedom. He moved his wife and children away from family in Madisonville to chase work, to Henderson and then to Evansville at a time when those places felt much farther away than they do today. My dad didn’t feel that freedom. He moved us away from family in Evansville to chase work, to Chicago and then to Paducah. The logistics of work were more rigid, and, consequently, my grandfather’s and dad’s choices were more limited.
That my job travels with me enabled me to be home in Kentucky a lot 10 years ago when Dad was sick with lung cancer, in the year before he died. And it allowed Rachel and me to move here in 2008. Maybe this is why I’m grown gradually more thankful and passionate about my work over time.
Our daughter, Virginia, has been born into a life in which “over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house” we actually walked for her first Thanksgiving dinner last November. I’m talking about the other grandmother now, Rachel’s mom. And you have to allow me to count a ditch behind the community college as a “river” for that sentence to be accurate.
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but Madisonville’s a fine place to live. Changes in the ways and tools with which we work are making it easier for anyone to choose to live here. We should all invite someone who’d love it, too.
Thanks, Margaret. Thanks, all of you.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Bulgaria Update
The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group, the top division of Bulgarian soccer, was won last year by PFC Litex Lovich. As a result, Litex qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions' League. In theory, if they kept winning, Litex could become the champions of Europe.
In the second qualifying round, Litex was up against FK Rudar Pljevlja of Montenegro. This was a pretty easy draw, and Litex cruised -- winning 1-0 at home and 4-0 on the road.
In the third qualifying round, Litex drew MSK Zilina of Slovakia. This is a much tougher challenge; you will recall that Slovakia did pretty well in the World Cup this summer. The first leg was played in Bulgaria on Tuesday, July 27. Zilina took the lead with a goal in the 65th minute, but Litex bounced back with a tying goal in the 78th minute. You can see the two goals here. Litex is in orange (enjoy the music).
So Litex is in a hole as they head to Slovakia for the second leg on August 4. A scoreless draw would put Zilina through on the away goals rule, so Litex has got to score. If they can advance, however, they will be only one match away from the Champions' League Round of 32.
In the second qualifying round, Litex was up against FK Rudar Pljevlja of Montenegro. This was a pretty easy draw, and Litex cruised -- winning 1-0 at home and 4-0 on the road.
In the third qualifying round, Litex drew MSK Zilina of Slovakia. This is a much tougher challenge; you will recall that Slovakia did pretty well in the World Cup this summer. The first leg was played in Bulgaria on Tuesday, July 27. Zilina took the lead with a goal in the 65th minute, but Litex bounced back with a tying goal in the 78th minute. You can see the two goals here. Litex is in orange (enjoy the music).
So Litex is in a hole as they head to Slovakia for the second leg on August 4. A scoreless draw would put Zilina through on the away goals rule, so Litex has got to score. If they can advance, however, they will be only one match away from the Champions' League Round of 32.
Oh, Kentucky
YES, WE CAN! Kentucky had the nation's highest rate of job growth from June 2009 to June 2010.
Florence was allegedly spared terrorism.
Extolling the stage from Dixon via Madisonville.
TJ on the Governor's Cup.
Ferrying Hoosier hoops fans.
Florence was allegedly spared terrorism.
Extolling the stage from Dixon via Madisonville.
TJ on the Governor's Cup.
Ferrying Hoosier hoops fans.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
That didn't take long
Stephen Strasburg, the only truly great player the Washington Nationals have ever had, missed his scheduled start yesterday due to "tightness" in his arm. The Nats, of course, have no idea what actually happened, but they are sure he'll be fine. We'll see. The Nats do not have a good history with injured players. These stories tend to follow a very predictable pattern:
1. The player is hurt, but it's no big deal.
2. The player is hurt, but he'll be fine in a few weeks.
3. The player is out for the year, but he'll be back next year.
4. The player will miss training camp, but he'll be back in May.
5. The player is out of baseball for good.
Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. Of course, the real losers in all of this are the Yankees, who were probably counting on Strasburg to take over as their number one starter within a few years.
1. The player is hurt, but it's no big deal.
2. The player is hurt, but he'll be fine in a few weeks.
3. The player is out for the year, but he'll be back next year.
4. The player will miss training camp, but he'll be back in May.
5. The player is out of baseball for good.
Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. Of course, the real losers in all of this are the Yankees, who were probably counting on Strasburg to take over as their number one starter within a few years.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Oh, Kentucky
Yes, but what are GE's plans for Madisonville?
The number of Kentucky children living in poverty climbed 5 percent from 2000 to 2008.
The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville, which hosted the first of 1984's presidential-election debates, is booming.
EKU: a great place to work, a pretty good football team.
A Kentuckian killed in Virginia finally comes home to Paintsville, thanks to a descendant in Illinois.
Andre Woodson, a former University of Kentucky Wildcats and North Hardin High School Trojans star, is trying to make his way back to the NFL.
It's transition time, too, for hip Louisville.
A Northern Kentucky group is securing some big donations for a real-estate gap fund to spur development in Bellevue, Covington, Dayton, Ludlow and Newport.
One more from Madisonville. The state senator and community-college president are husband and wife.
The number of Kentucky children living in poverty climbed 5 percent from 2000 to 2008.
The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville, which hosted the first of 1984's presidential-election debates, is booming.
EKU: a great place to work, a pretty good football team.
A Kentuckian killed in Virginia finally comes home to Paintsville, thanks to a descendant in Illinois.
Andre Woodson, a former University of Kentucky Wildcats and North Hardin High School Trojans star, is trying to make his way back to the NFL.
It's transition time, too, for hip Louisville.
A Northern Kentucky group is securing some big donations for a real-estate gap fund to spur development in Bellevue, Covington, Dayton, Ludlow and Newport.
One more from Madisonville. The state senator and community-college president are husband and wife.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Oh, Kentucky
The fantastic Carter Caves State Resort Park (enjoyed immensely by the Nance Woehlers this April, as per exclusive-to-The Heath Post photograph) near Olive Hill is back on line.
Goosing jobs in Richmond.
Attracting musicians to Owensboro.
Summering in Georgetown.
Debuting in Lexington.
Exporting Corbin.
Mad Men: Episode 4:1
Here are a few thoughts on the first episode of the new season:
1. I no longer have any interest in what happens to Betty. We have spent over three years now learning about Betty and her goofy family, and I have to agree with Henry's mother that she is basically a silly woman. If Matt Weiner believes that Betty is capable of being something more than what we've seen so far, he needs to get moving quickly, because I am not interested at this point.
2. To be fair, Betty wasn't in this episode very much. I always think that "Mad Men" works best when they focus on the agency, and they did a good job of that in this episode. I like watching the creative process, and I hope we get more of that this year.
3. They did not have televised football on the Friday night after Thanksgiving when I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, and I would be surprised if they did so in 1964.
4. While I enjoyed this episode a great deal, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the whole story had been told from Pete and Peggy's point of view, with Don only making a few appearances.
5. I hope the scene at the end means that Don is going to start taking more responsibility for generating business. I would like to see Don taking more responsibility for anything -- it would be a sign that he is actually growing.
6. I would really, really love to know why they made the decision to keep Harry's character and to eliminate Sal, Paul and Ken.
7. Only 12 episodes left. I'll enjoy them while I can.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
St. X golfer takes 2d place in U.S. Boys' Junior Amateur
Justin Thomas is a 17-year-old golfer from Goshen, Kentucky. He plays for Louisville St. Xavier and has already accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Alabama. This week he played in the U.S. Junior Amateur, the national championship for boys under the age of 18. The tournament was played at the Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada, Michigan (close to Grand Rapids).
Thomas had a great tournament. In two rounds of stroke play he shot 69+67=136 -- eight under par, tying for fourth in the whole field. He then won five matches in a row to reach the finals:
5 & 3 over Andrew Ariens of Mansfield, Texas
5 & 3 over Khaled Attieh of Saudi Arabia
2 up over Jorge Fernandez Valdes of Argentina
2 & 1 over Scott Wolfes of St. Simons Island, Georgia
and
1 up (in 19 holes) over Denny McCarthy of Burtonsville, Maryland
This put him in the final against Jim Liu of Smithtown, New York. Liu was born on August 9, 1995 and was trying to break Tiger Woods's record to become the youngest winner ever of this tournament.
It was quite a match. In the first 18-hole round, Thomas shot the equivalent of 5-under par -- but Liu was 8-under. Liu continued to play well down the stretch, and eventually pulled off his record-breaking win by the score of 4 and 2.
Woods, by the way, defended his title two more times -- and then won three consecutive U.S. Amateurs. We will see if Liu can match that. Meanwhile, we will be keeping an eye on Thomas's career as well. Kenny Perry is in his late 40s, so Kentucky could use another great golfer.
Kentucky minute
I encourage all readers of The Heath Post to immediately get yourselves in front of CMT for the Sissy Spacek/Tommie Lee Jones victory-lap finale (forthcoming momentarily!) of the greatest Kentucky movie ever, Coal Miner's Daughter.
Tour De France: General Classification
It is no surprise that Alberto Contador won the Tour. It is no surprise that Andy Schleck got second. So let's not even focus on this new rivalry, let's look at what was a surprise this year.
After finishing third last year I think everyone expected Lance Armstrong to at least make a shot at the overall this year. He did so well last year with so little training, but this year age caught up. He never really looked good all season and in the end just didn't have anything left in those legs.
Cadel Evans had a big falling out with his team after last year. He struggled and they announced that this year Evans would be co-captain with Jurgen Van Den Broeck. Evans was outraged and arranged to leave the team. His main goal this year was to be the Giro d'Italia, but that didn't go well and he came into the Tour as a forgotten man. Sad thing for Evans is the day he took the Yellow Jersey was also the day he lost it because he fractured his elbow. Riding with a lot of pain over mountains is more than anyone's body can handle and in the end it was Evans's downfall. Evans finished 26th in this years Tour while Jurgen Van Den Broeck finished 5th. This story didn't get much press, but I'm sure the management at Omega Pharma-Lotto are so happy their man did better than Evans this year.
Last year the big surprise rider was Bradley Wiggins. He came out of nowhere to finish 4th overall. It was the second year in a row Garmin-Transitions had placed a guy in the top five from nowhere. Wiggins soon became the big want of the new Team Sky, a British team, and he negotiated out of his contract with Garmin-Transitions to make the jump. Wiggins has had a poor year and had a miserable Tour finishing 24th overall. Unlike Evans he didn't have an injury and now everyone is questioning just what went wrong. At the same time Garmin-Transitions had another big surprise showing as Ryder Hesjedal finished 7th overall. Garmin-Transitions had a miserable Tour with Christian Vande Velde and Tyler Farrar getting injured, but this showing from Hesjedal was huge.
After finishing third last year I think everyone expected Lance Armstrong to at least make a shot at the overall this year. He did so well last year with so little training, but this year age caught up. He never really looked good all season and in the end just didn't have anything left in those legs.
Cadel Evans had a big falling out with his team after last year. He struggled and they announced that this year Evans would be co-captain with Jurgen Van Den Broeck. Evans was outraged and arranged to leave the team. His main goal this year was to be the Giro d'Italia, but that didn't go well and he came into the Tour as a forgotten man. Sad thing for Evans is the day he took the Yellow Jersey was also the day he lost it because he fractured his elbow. Riding with a lot of pain over mountains is more than anyone's body can handle and in the end it was Evans's downfall. Evans finished 26th in this years Tour while Jurgen Van Den Broeck finished 5th. This story didn't get much press, but I'm sure the management at Omega Pharma-Lotto are so happy their man did better than Evans this year.
Last year the big surprise rider was Bradley Wiggins. He came out of nowhere to finish 4th overall. It was the second year in a row Garmin-Transitions had placed a guy in the top five from nowhere. Wiggins soon became the big want of the new Team Sky, a British team, and he negotiated out of his contract with Garmin-Transitions to make the jump. Wiggins has had a poor year and had a miserable Tour finishing 24th overall. Unlike Evans he didn't have an injury and now everyone is questioning just what went wrong. At the same time Garmin-Transitions had another big surprise showing as Ryder Hesjedal finished 7th overall. Garmin-Transitions had a miserable Tour with Christian Vande Velde and Tyler Farrar getting injured, but this showing from Hesjedal was huge.
| 1 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana | 91:58:48 | |
| 2 | Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank | 0:00:39 | |
| 3 | Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank | 0:02:01 | |
| 4 | Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 0:03:40 | |
| 5 | Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:06:54 | |
| 6 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank | 0:09:31 | |
| 7 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions | 0:10:15 | |
| 8 | Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha | 0:11:37 | |
| 9 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo | 0:11:54 | |
| 10 | Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack | 0:12:02 | |
| 11 | Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 0:14:21 | |
| 12 | Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 0:14:29 | |
| 13 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack | 0:14:40 | |
| 14 | Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack | 0:16:36 | |
| 15 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:16:59 | |
| 16 | Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana | 0:17:46 | |
| 17 | Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 0:20:46 | |
| 18 | Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step | 0:21:54 | |
| 19 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:24:04 | |
| 20 | Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team | 0:26:37 | |
| 21 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:29:38 | |
| 22 | Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne | 0:34:01 | |
| 23 | Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack | 0:39:20 | |
| 24 | Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 0:39:24 | |
| 25 | Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux | 0:45:52 | |
| 26 | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 0:50:27 | |
| 27 | Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 0:53:22 | |
| 28 | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:55:13 | |
| 29 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 0:56:53 | |
| 30 | Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions | 0:58:53 | |
| 31 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step | 0:59:17 | |
| 32 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | 0:59:33 | |
| 33 | Mario Aerts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 1:02:36 | |
| 34 | Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Cervelo Test Team | 1:09:51 | |
| 35 | Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank | 1:10:03 | |
| 36 | Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 1:10:09 | |
| 37 | Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia | 1:10:11 | |
| 38 | Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 1:10:52 | |
| 39 | Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team HTC - Columbia | 1:13:19 | |
| 40 | Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 1:19:09 | |
| 41 | Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step | 1:20:11 | |
| 42 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux | 1:22:38 | |
| 43 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack | 1:23:26 | |
| 44 | Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 1:24:12 | |
| 45 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 1:25:12 | |
| 46 | Sergio Paulinho (Por) Team Radioshack | 1:25:43 | |
| 47 | Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 1:30:02 | |
| 48 | José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 1:38:26 | |
| 49 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana | 1:38:30 | |
| 50 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank | 1:38:32 | |
| 51 | Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 1:39:11 | |
| 52 | Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank | 1:40:45 | |
| 53 | Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Footon-Servetto | 1:42:27 | |
| 54 | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana | 1:45:01 | |
| 55 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC - Columbia | ||
| 56 | Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank | 1:46:32 | |
| 57 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 1:46:37 | |
| 58 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 1:46:42 | |
| 59 | George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team | 1:46:50 | |
| 60 | Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d'Epargne | 1:47:54 | |
| 61 | Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo | 1:48:02 | |
| 62 | Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 1:49:57 | |
| 63 | Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step | 1:51:33 | |
| 64 | Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne | 1:53:39 | |
| 65 | Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha | 1:55:13 | |
| 66 | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step | 1:57:58 | |
| 67 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 2:00:05 | |
| 68 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 2:01:58 | |
| 69 | Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank | 2:04:46 | |
| 70 | Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 2:05:10 | |
| 71 | Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 2:09:33 | |
| 72 | Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 2:12:22 | |
| 73 | Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) Caisse d'Epargne | 2:12:28 | |
| 74 | Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram | 2:12:57 | |
| 75 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | 2:15:33 | |
| 76 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 2:16:07 | |
| 77 | Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 2:19:15 | |
| 78 | Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux | 2:21:34 | |
| 79 | Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha | 2:27:19 | |
| 80 | Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 2:29:38 | |
| 81 | Arkaitz Duran Daroca (Spa) Footon-Servetto | 2:29:49 | |
| 82 | Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon-Servetto | 2:32:17 | |
| 83 | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Footon-Servetto | 2:34:38 | |
| 84 | Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram | 2:36:15 | |
| 85 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team Radioshack | 2:37:56 | |
| 86 | Alexander Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas-Doimo | 2:39:40 | |
| 87 | Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 2:42:38 | |
| 88 | Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 2:42:42 | |
| 89 | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 2:43:40 | |
| 90 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram | 2:49:23 | |
| 91 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram | 2:53:38 | |
| 92 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 2:54:30 | |
| 93 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux | 2:55:36 | |
| 94 | Kristjan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo | 2:57:11 | |
| 95 | Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 2:57:17 | |
| 96 | Benoït Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux | 2:58:05 | |
| 97 | Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 2:58:34 | |
| 98 | Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 3:01:09 | |
| 99 | Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 3:01:34 | |
| 100 | Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 3:01:40 | |
| 101 | David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Transitions | 3:01:48 | |
| 102 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha | 3:03:12 | |
| 103 | Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram | 3:04:07 | |
| 104 | Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana | 3:05:22 | |
| 105 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 3:06:44 | |
| 106 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 3:07:40 | |
| 107 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 3:08:48 | |
| 108 | Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Team Katusha | 3:09:05 | |
| 109 | Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha | 3:09:10 | |
| 110 | David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Astana | 3:11:04 | |
| 111 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team | 3:12:57 | |
| 112 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 3:13:20 | |
| 113 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 3:14:05 | |
| 114 | Grégory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack | 3:14:11 | |
| 115 | Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 3:14:30 | |
| 116 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 3:14:57 | |
| 117 | Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Quick Step | 3:15:19 | |
| 118 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 3:16:20 | |
| 119 | Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram | 3:17:53 | |
| 120 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 3:18:27 | |
| 121 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank | 3:19:43 | |
| 122 | Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | 3:20:26 | |
| 123 | Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 3:21:49 | |
| 124 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | 3:22:19 | |
| 125 | Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 3:23:07 | |
| 126 | Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank | 3:23:31 | |
| 127 | Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Cervelo Test Team | 3:23:36 | |
| 128 | Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo | 3:24:17 | |
| 129 | Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 3:24:50 | |
| 130 | Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank | 3:26:18 | |
| 131 | Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana | 3:26:28 | |
| 132 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank | 3:27:30 | |
| 133 | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram | 3:27:36 | |
| 134 | Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel) Quick Step | 3:29:01 | |
| 135 | Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 3:29:12 | |
| 136 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana | 3:30:06 | |
| 137 | Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia | 3:31:10 | |
| 138 | Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team | 3:31:38 | |
| 139 | Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Transitions | 3:31:56 | |
| 140 | Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Astana | 3:32:02 | |
| 141 | Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank | 3:33:45 | |
| 142 | Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank | 3:35:31 | |
| 143 | Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux | 3:37:57 | |
| 144 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step | 3:38:36 | |
| 145 | Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Footon-Servetto | 3:39:12 | |
| 146 | Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française des Jeux | 3:39:37 | |
| 147 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | 3:41:37 | |
| 148 | Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team Radioshack | 3:41:47 | |
| 149 | Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank | 3:42:39 | |
| 150 | Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 3:44:38 | |
| 151 | Steven Cummings (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 3:45:47 | |
| 152 | Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française des Jeux | 3:46:59 | |
| 153 | Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 3:49:50 | |
| 154 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia | 3:51:23 | |
| 155 | Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank | 3:54:12 | |
| 156 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team HTC - Columbia | 3:54:16 | |
| 157 | Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions | 3:56:13 | |
| 158 | David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions | 3:56:46 | |
| 159 | Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervelo Test Team | 3:57:00 | |
| 160 | Dimitri Champion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 3:59:45 | |
| 161 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 4:00:47 | |
| 162 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | 4:01:02 | |
| 163 | Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo Test Team | 4:02:21 | |
| 164 | Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Cervelo Test Team | 4:02:59 | |
| 165 | Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha | 4:08:28 | |
| 166 | Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 4:09:12 | |
| 167 | Anthony Roux (Fra) Française des Jeux | 4:13:37 | |
| 168 | Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervelo Test Team | 4:17:16 | |
| 169 | Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia | 4:23:01 | |
| 170 | Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 4:27:03 |
Tour De France: Points Jersey
This is sometimes harder fought than the overall competition and is one of the best competitions in sports. For any great sprinter it is a must to win the Green Jersey at least once in your career. I believe next year we will see Mark Cavendish devote his entire season to winning the Jersey.
In my mind this year's competition was marred by what happened in stage two. If you remember I wrote at the time that the big loser was Thor Hushovd because they negated the sprint points on the day and therefore blew a big points opportunity for him. If he had taken second place on that day, which he could have done, then he would have gotten 30 points while Petacchi and Cavendish would have gotten none. He only needed 22 points to be the Green Jersey winner. I think this is the most disappointing story in this year's Tour because Hushovd did everything he was suppose to do to win this competition and he got it stripped away from him. Of course a lot of people didn't believe Hushovd deserved the Jersey last year but that's another discussion.
This is a huge victory for Alessandro Petacchi. Near the end of his career he finally picked up a Green Jersey, something he could never pull off when he was at his peak. In his heyday he was as dominant as Cavendish is now. I have to say I never anticipated Petacchi winning this competition this year. As disappointing as I am at how this win came about, it's one of the better stories of this year's Tour. Of course Petacchi is currently under doping investigation in Italy, so who knows he could have this stripped away in the end.
In my mind this year's competition was marred by what happened in stage two. If you remember I wrote at the time that the big loser was Thor Hushovd because they negated the sprint points on the day and therefore blew a big points opportunity for him. If he had taken second place on that day, which he could have done, then he would have gotten 30 points while Petacchi and Cavendish would have gotten none. He only needed 22 points to be the Green Jersey winner. I think this is the most disappointing story in this year's Tour because Hushovd did everything he was suppose to do to win this competition and he got it stripped away from him. Of course a lot of people didn't believe Hushovd deserved the Jersey last year but that's another discussion.
This is a huge victory for Alessandro Petacchi. Near the end of his career he finally picked up a Green Jersey, something he could never pull off when he was at his peak. In his heyday he was as dominant as Cavendish is now. I have to say I never anticipated Petacchi winning this competition this year. As disappointing as I am at how this win came about, it's one of the better stories of this year's Tour. Of course Petacchi is currently under doping investigation in Italy, so who knows he could have this stripped away in the end.
| 1 | Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 243 | pts |
| 2 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia | 232 | |
| 3 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team | 222 | |
| 4 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 179 | |
| 5 | Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha | 179 | |
| 6 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 161 | |
| 7 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 135 | |
| 8 | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram | 126 | |
| 9 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 124 | |
| 10 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 119 | |
| 11 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana | 115 | |
| 12 | Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 112 | |
| 13 | Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank | 107 | |
| 14 | Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions | 104 | |
| 15 | Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank | 81 | |
| 16 | Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank | 81 | |
| 17 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | 80 | |
| 18 | Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana | 78 | |
| 19 | Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 78 | |
| 20 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale | 77 | |
| 21 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 75 | |
| 22 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step | 73 | |
| 23 | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 69 | |
| 24 | Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 67 | |
| 25 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 67 | |
| 26 | Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha | 64 | |
| 27 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions | 62 | |
| 28 | Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux | 56 | |
| 29 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank | 54 | |
| 30 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank | 52 | |
| 31 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 48 | |
| 32 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 46 | |
| 33 | Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 45 | |
| 34 | Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne | 45 | |
| 35 | Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram | 45 | |
| 36 | Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 44 | |
| 37 | Mario Aerts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 43 | |
| 38 | Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d'Epargne | 43 | |
| 39 | Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack | 41 | |
| 40 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 40 | |
| 41 | Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Transitions | 40 | |
| 42 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo | 39 | |
| 43 | Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 38 | |
| 44 | Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 37 | |
| 45 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram | 37 | |
| 46 | Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step | 34 | |
| 47 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack | 34 | |
| 48 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux | 34 | |
| 49 | Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 33 | |
| 50 | Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 33 | |
| 51 | Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank | 32 | |
| 52 | Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 31 | |
| 53 | Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank | 30 | |
| 54 | Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 29 | |
| 55 | Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française des Jeux | 29 | |
| 56 | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 28 | |
| 57 | Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack | 27 | |
| 58 | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 26 | |
| 59 | Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions | 26 | |
| 60 | Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne | 26 | |
| 61 | Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram | 26 | |
| 62 | Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia | 26 | |
| 63 | Sergio Paulinho (Por) Team Radioshack | 25 | |
| 64 | Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Footon-Servetto | 24 | |
| 65 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 24 | |
| 66 | Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step | 23 | |
| 67 | José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 22 | |
| 68 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step | 22 | |
| 69 | Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 20 | |
| 70 | Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank | 20 | |
| 71 | Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step | 20 | |
| 72 | Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack | 19 | |
| 73 | Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 18 | |
| 74 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 18 | |
| 75 | Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank | 17 | |
| 76 | Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 17 | |
| 77 | Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon-Servetto | 17 | |
| 78 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 17 | |
| 79 | David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions | 17 | |
| 80 | Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 16 | |
| 81 | Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team | 16 | |
| 82 | Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 16 | |
| 83 | Alexander Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas-Doimo | 15 | |
| 84 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | 15 | |
| 85 | Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team HTC - Columbia | 15 | |
| 86 | Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 15 | |
| 87 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 15 | |
| 88 | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Footon-Servetto | 15 | |
| 89 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | 15 | |
| 90 | Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 14 | |
| 91 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | 14 | |
| 92 | Anthony Roux (Fra) Française des Jeux | 14 | |
| 93 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 13 | |
| 94 | Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Quick Step | 12 | |
| 95 | Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 12 | |
| 96 | Arkaitz Duran Daroca (Spa) Footon-Servetto | 12 | |
| 97 | Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervelo Test Team | 12 | |
| 98 | Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia | 12 | |
| 99 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana | 11 | |
| 100 | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step | 10 | |
| 101 | David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Transitions | 10 | |
| 102 | Kristjan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo | 9 | |
| 103 | Benoït Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux | 8 | |
| 104 | Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team | 8 | |
| 105 | Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo Test Team | 8 | |
| 106 | Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha | 8 | |
| 107 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram | 8 | |
| 108 | Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 8 | |
| 109 | Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Cervelo Test Team | 8 | |
| 110 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux | 7 | |
| 111 | George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team | 7 | |
| 112 | Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia | 6 | |
| 113 | Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | 6 | |
| 114 | Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 6 | |
| 115 | Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 6 | |
| 116 | Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 6 | |
| 117 | Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank | 6 | |
| 118 | Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo | 6 | |
| 119 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team HTC - Columbia | 6 | |
| 120 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 4 | |
| 121 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC - Columbia | 4 | |
| 122 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha | 4 | |
| 123 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 4 | |
| 124 | Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Footon-Servetto | 4 | |
| 125 | Steven Cummings (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 4 | |
| 126 | Dimitri Champion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 4 | |
| 127 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 4 | |
| 128 | Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Cervelo Test Team | 4 | |
| 129 | Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha | 3 | |
| 130 | Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram | 3 | |
| 131 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank | 3 | |
| 132 | Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Cervelo Test Team | 2 | |
| 133 | Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 2 | |
| 134 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack | 2 | |
| 135 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana | 2 | |
| 136 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank | 2 | |
| 137 | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana | 2 | |
| 138 | Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank | 2 | |
| 139 | Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo | 2 | |
| 140 | Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 2 | |
| 141 | Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) Caisse d'Epargne | 2 | |
| 142 | Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram | 2 | |
| 143 | Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux | 2 | |
| 144 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team Radioshack | 2 | |
| 145 | Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 2 | |
| 146 | Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | 2 | |
| 147 | Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana | 2 | |
| 148 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 2 | |
| 149 | Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Team Katusha | 2 | |
| 150 | Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha | 2 | |
| 151 | Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | 2 | |
| 152 | Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 2 | |
| 153 | Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana | 2 | |
| 154 | Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank | 1 | |
| 155 | Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | -3 | |
| 156 | Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | -5 |
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