Stateside

I had to get up Friday morning in Prague at 4:25am to make my flight to Brussels, en route home...before most of my friends back in the States even went to bed. When I got to Brussels, all the newspapers were screaming about the pending doping scandal that was threatening to tear the 2006 Tour de France apart. By the time I reached New York 10 hours later, it was confirmed...the riders that finished 2nd - 4th in last year's Tour de France are OUT for being linked to Operación Puerto. With Armstrong in retirement, that leaves American's Floyd Landis, George Hincapie, and Levi Leipheimer all eyeing podium places in Paris.

I managed to make it back home withough finding out the details of the Germany v. Argentina match (although I did overhear someone saying Germany had advanced) so I watched it when I got back home on Tivo. After a pretty good night's sleep I watched the Italy v. Ukraine match from yesterday and now I'm settling in on the sofa to watch the Le Tour's Prologue and the two WC semis today. Should be a nice day to relax, play with the kids, and get back on Eastern time.