Magnolia Plays the Giants in Weekend Pairing

Apparently, the two opposing teams were huge, just huge. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend either game due to work obligations, though I was not too unhappy not to stand around for several hours and freeze my butt off. Baseball is a summer sport; that's why they talk about the boys of summer. Coach Cougan managed to make at least one smart-ass remark to one umpire without getting asked to leave the field. The guy made an adverse call (for the Magnolia boys) at home plate that he could not have seen because he was not in position to see it. At least that's what Coach Cougan told me over dinner, which he made as he mulled over the two losses at the hands of the Giants.

Click on the title to read Coach Cougan's game summaries, words of wisdom, etc. And don't blame me for the occasional.... typo. I used to be the proofreader, but Coach Cougan apparently now thinks he can go without.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Coach Cougan called around, and it seems that the word on the street is that the 13-year olds are generally giants this year. Something about a change in the age cut-off. I told him in the long run it would benefit his kids more to play up, to play against bigger and better kids. He said, that's what Jamie (Moyer) said. He seemed surprised. I don't get that. What is to be surprised about? We big leaguers think alike. That's because we in the bigs. And that's why we're in the bigs.

Lance who?

Evelyn Stevens left Wall Street and investment banking for Italy and a run at a career in cycling

MSN reposted an article that appeared recently in the Wall Street Journal, about Evelyn Stevens, age 26, who recently discovered that she has a talent for riding a bicycle and who just may become the next sensation in the less flashy world of women's cycling (click on blog entry title for link to WSJ article). Female professional athletes often do not get the attention that their male counterparts command, and tend to toil away in obscurity while the men get the endorsements and television time.

Stevens worked in investment banking until recently, when she decided to devote herself to cycling full-time. She was working for Lehmann Brothers, which famously collapsed last September. It sounds like she chose the right time to shift gears. A graduate of Dartmouth, she is no stranger to competition and excelled there on the women's tennis team.

Stevens even looks like she would be a natural at cycling. When I looked at her photo, I immediately thought of the Frenchwoman Jeannie Longo, arguably the greatest female cyclist in the history of the sport. At 50, Longo is still kicking asses and taking names. Like Stevens, Jeannie Longo has the perfect body type for high-performance cycling. Also like Stevens, she was an accomplished athlete in another sport before she turned to cycling. In the case of Longo, it was skiing. Not surprising, since she was born in the French Alps. Her longevity as a professional athlete is truly amazing, however. Why all the fuss about Lance Armstrong, who is a mere 37 years old? Jeannie won her first world title in 1984, before her most recent rivals were even born! She has won 69 national and international titles. So far.

La Reine Jeannie is almost 51 years old