Italy

They're going crazy in Italy tonight as the Azzuri beat Les Bleus to win the World Cup. So the month long celebration that is the World Cup is over. Am I sad, not reallly. I enjoyed watching it, don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to miss all of the overreacting by countries' fans and all of the flopping done by the players. I'll be ready for it again in 4 years and I'll be excited. And just like this year, when that World Cup is over, I'll be ready to move on with my life. One thing to keep in mind, the US tied Italy while playing the whole 2nd half down a man (only 9 guys in all).

I can't say I'm not surprised at how the Americans (except Floyd Landis) fared in Saturday's time trial at Le Tour. It's one thing to be a team member or have top 10 ambitions. But to be "the guy" is a whole different thing. Just ask Scottie Pippen after MJ retired for the 1st time or Steve Young when he replaced Joe Montana, it's different having all of the attention focused on you. There's still time left for George Hincapie to contend, I'm afraid the same can't be said for Levi Leipheimer. 6+ minutes is too much. The race is still wide open as Seryei Honchar is not a good climber and will probably give up his lead in the Pyrennes in a couple of days.

Tiger Woods is back, finishing 2nd to Trevor Immelman in the Western Open, giving everyone some thrills with a back 9 charge. I've said it before, but there's no greater competitor in sports than Tiger right now. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Roger Clemens, and Lance Armstrong have had this honor in my estimation, and now it's Tiger. Behind Tiger, I think I'd have to go with Dwayne Wade and Rafael Nadal.

What happened to Monica, the singer? She had those two big hits, "Angel of Mine" and "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy, and they were great songs.