Ok, so I've avoided discussing this whole Lance Armstrong comeback thing, just because I wanted to see how it played out first. We're not at a resolution yet, but enough has leaked out that we can get a firm picture of what's going on. First, to introduce our players:

- Lance Armstrong: Self-important asshat who thinks he's so special that he can cure cancer by riding a bike.

- Team Astana: Kazakh-financed, Belgian-based cycling team that was banned from the 2008 Tour de France after failing doping tests the year before (not the whole team, just its best rider).

- Johan Bruyneel: Former director-sportif of Team Discovery Channel, Lance Armstrong's bff, and current DS of Team Astana.

- Alberto Contador: Current team leader of Astana, and possibly the best rider in the world today. Current title holder of the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, and the 2007 Tour de France champion. Only the fifth cyclist ever to win all three Grand Tours, and he did it in 14 months, a record for the shortest amount of time. Probably would have won the 08 TdF if his team was allowed to participate.

So this is what has gone down so far:

- Armstrong: I'm going to come back to professional cycling to win an 8th Tour de France and help cure cancer.

- Bruyneel: I would love to work with Lance again.

- Astana: We would love to have Lance join our team and be its leader in a Tour de France.

- Contador: Hey, guys? What about me? You know, I'm kind of like the best rider in the world, right? I'm this team's leader, if you bring in Lance, I'm going to quit.

- Bruyneel and Astana: We would love to have Lance win a TdF with our team.

- Contador: Fuck this, I'm out of here.

So let's get this straight. Astana is willing to lose the best rider in the world (I don't think you can really debate that title) to take in a 37 year old retired champion, who may not even ride with them past one year. On top of that, last time I checked, Astana is still suspended from the Tour de France. Let's be frank, the French hate Armstrong, and Bruyneel for that matter, wouldn't it be just perfect if Astana loses its best rider to sign Armstrong, then the French authorities don't allow them to race the TdF? It would be too much like right.

On a positive note, is there anybody looking for a team leader out there? We have a Contador for sale.

My birthday present to me.


Pimp.

Todd Palin: 'first dude' or 'shadow governor?'

WTF?

Bad. Ass.

That is all.

So, as one may, or may not, have noticed, the Major League Baseball regular season is winding down, and there are many interesting playoff runs heating up, but I don't want to talk about that. Nor do I wish to talk about the AL MVP race (Dustin Pedroia will probably win, but, well, Please? There are two or three better candidates, but anyway...). The topic today: Pitching. More appropriately the title of Best Pitcher in the AL.

Now, don't get me wrong, Cliff Lee will deservedly win the AL Cy Young. He's having quite possibly the most dominating season any pitcher has ever had: 21-2 in 28 starts, 201.2 innings, 51 earned runs and an absurd 5.5-1 strike out to walk ratio (in total, 154 K to 28 BB). But who would you rather have (out of the top 5 in the AL) starting the one game your team absolutely needed to win? I say John Lester. It makes sense if you look at it. Let's start with the stats, throwing out Daisuke Matsuzaka and Felix Hernandez, because lets be honest, there's no way those two are the third and fourth best pitchers in the AL, respectively, this leaves Lee, Roy Halladay and Lester. So, stats:

Lee: 201.2 IN, 184 hits, 51 ER, 28 BB, 154 K, 21-2, 2.28 ERA.
Halladay: 218.0 IN, 193 hits, 64 ER, 34 BB, 185 K, 18-9, 2.64 ERA.
Lester: 189.1 IN, 188 hits, 68 ER, 60 BB, 138 K, 14-5, 3.23 ERA.

So by the straight stats, Lester is clearly third best of the trio. However, he leads the troika with the fewest total bases allowed and has induced the most double plays. On top of that, he is a 24 year old left-handed pitcher, with a no-hitter to his credit this season. Those two facts, coupled with the expanded stats, bear out that Lester is the best of the three. 

Anyone care to disagree?

[A]s mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

From Time

Remeber folks, this woman could be one heartbeat away from the presidency, so use your heads.