#3 Obsolete?

With Marcus Trufant franchised and Sean Locklear signed, that leaves both DJ Hackett’s and Josh Brown’s future with the ‘Hawks in question. Granted, a #3 receiver and kicker are not difficult holes to fill; but, the upside to both are that Hackett has a great “upside” and could develop into an outstanding #2, maybe even a solid #1 someday. Brown has well above average accuracy and distance. To replace either with the same quality player might be a tall order; Hackett especially with Deion Branch on the couch for the summer and his availability questionable. The downside to each:

Hackett: Has had injury problems that kept him OUT of 10 of 16 regular season games in 2007. He did play in 14 of 16 in 2006; but an argument can be made that he might be injury prone.

Brown: Is there a downside to a kicker who can tackle, has a visible tattoo, and have a throng of ladies who love him? Oh, there is one downside. If he leaves town what are all the fans to do with their #3 jerseys? It is not easy to wear a kickers jersey in the first place…

Californication

Washington Representing
I was originally a bit curious why Tyler Farrar left Cofidis to ride for Slipsteam-Chipotle. I was under the impression that they were more of a up-and-coming team that would eventually fill the void left by USPS/Disco. They packed their line-up with very solid and seasoned riders to make their play.
The early season is paying in spades and Farrar’s move looks be solid. The 23 year-old Washington native is looking svelte standing next to the Govenator in the Golden Jersey as the leader of the Tour of California. Not a too shabby way to start the season.
Maybe Nick Nuyens, Cofidis classics badass, summed it up best in this VeloNews interview: “Tyler was great on the team last year. He was always there to help me and he really wanted to learn. We’ll miss him this year, for sure. He’s a strong rider with a big future. We wanted to keep him at Cofidis. Everyone knows he can win classics in the next few years.”

Lion To Roar Again?

What can be said? In what seemed like just another publicity move by Michael Ball of Rock Racing, he signed the 41 year-old Mario Cipollini. Both are known attenton whores so it wasn't a huge surprise.

The Surprise is on us: That old bastard scored a 3rd place in the field sprint in stage 2; And he is still raking in more hotties than any of us have even seen in our lifetime. Time will tell if he will last the season, but here's to hoping he can squeak out one more legit V in the name of the good old days....

A Single Tear

First Vino, now Basso. Don’t forget the many others before them. The tears are flowing from Ivana Basso about how he has been alienated and is alone since he was suspended from Operation Door (http://velonews.com/article/72085 ). News flash, Ivana: That is why they call it a suspension. A month ago Basso was spouting off how the suspension was good for him http://velonews.com/article/71311. Now he is pissing and moaning to anybody that will listen.
Out of all the riders who have been suspended only one has essentially said, “Yeah, I did it,” instead of taking the “guilty” party line of “Who me? Never! I have been wronged.” Here’s to David Millar for standing up and accepting responsibility for his actions.

Speaking of being wronged, it looks like Boulder’s favorite son, Tyler Hamilton, was prevented from starting the Tour of CA due to the re-opening of Operación Puerto. Rock Racing lost 3 of 8 riders due to AEG following UCI rules regarding riders under investigation. Like it or not rules are rules (although UCI rules seem to be under some subjective interpretation) and that leaves the aforementioned Hamilton, as well as Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla on the outside looking in. More on Rock Racing, Michael Ball, and the Tour of CA later…

A Rose by Any Other Name…

Following the lead of the Giro, ASO has already 86’ed Astana from the 2008 Tour de France and it looks like they will be missing out on Paris-Nice and all other ASO races (Paris-Roubaix, Fleche Wallonne, and LBL among others). Team High Road (formerly T-Mobile), is free and clear to race in 2008 as they are a restructured their entire team and program; very similar to what Astana has done. The only differences are that T-HiRoad changed their name (as they lost the main sponsor) and relocated to California. Astana kept the same sponsor and location; yet totally overhauled their entire roster and program. Simple solution: Name change.

Rabobank and Cofidis, two other teams that had “issues” in the 2007 Tour are free and clear to race in ASO races for 2008 due to the way in which they handled their respective situations (Rabobank kicking the Chicken to the curb and Cofidis leaving the Tour after Moreni’s positive).

None of this makes much sense. I don’t buy into the conspiracy theory of keeping the strongest team off the course; but there is definitely some criteria that the rest of us, outside the ASO, are not privy to…

A bummer for Levi, Contador, and the rest of the Baby Blue Crew, but such is life. The Vuelta seems to be waiting with open arms…