Last night, for what ever reason, I decided to search for my old blog. One that I created years ago, while I was in undergrad. No, you can't see it... at least not with my help, but that's not the point here. My point is that I learned a few things about myself in the process of rereading my old musings:

- The summer of 2004 was truly the best time of my life. My first summer out on Boston Harbor, lost a ton of weight, felt good, but most importantly started dating C, to whom I am now engaged. It was a pretty awesome time in my life, but I can't say that I would go back and do it all over again. I've grown so much since then, and it's a neat process to see.

- The winter and spring of 2004 were an exceedingly angsty time for me. I was dealing with a lot of shit, and realize now how shitty it was to be around me (thanks for the heads up, jerks). I also had forgotten how awesome the people who supported me were (C, Handy, Jen, Danie, Heidi, etc). So, since I'm sure I didn't say it then, thanks.

- Sadly, I also learned that I was a horrendous abbreviator and letter skipper. On purpose. It's insanely juvenile, and really annoying, and if any of you are carryover readers, my bad.

It was neat to read about my life years removed from the happenings. It made me realize how insanely good the good times were, and also that even though there were bad times, and there will continue to be bad times, things are ok in the end. That's got to count for something.

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?

I've been putting off writing about this, but as more people seem to get into cycling this time of the year (The Tour de France is well into its second week for those who don't know), we hear more and more about how tarnished the sport is by use of blood-boosters and other PEDs. Now, I've not ranted on this subject before, though it comes into play in nearly every sport I watch, especially baseball, but I'm ridiculously tired of people dismissing cycling because of "rampant" drug use.

Let's explore this a little, shall we? So far this year, 4 riders have been kicked out of the Tour and arrested for EPO use. Four of 168. That's 2.38% of all participants. While not every professional cycling team is invited to the Tour, or the Giro d'Italia, all the relevant ones are. These are the best of the best riders in the world. Look at it this way, if this were professional baseball (just in America), this would amount to 381 players caught using PEDs (2.38% of 16,000 players). And cycling is the dirty sport? Please. If you believe for a second that under 400 players in baseball were using steroids, HGH or even amphetamines throughout the Steroid Era, you're only fooling yourself.

And yes, I understand that the people who are being found to use are the ones winning stages, but isn't that the whole point? They use to win, and it works. Just ask Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire how it worked out for them. The governing body of cycling, the International Cycling Union (UCI), has done more to actively eliminate EPO and other PEDs in its sport than any other professional body, maybe outside of the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

There are even entire teams committed to clean riding, who face more strict blood testing than the average rider.  Most notably the America-based Team Garmin-Chipotle (formerly Team Slipstream) which has hired only clean riders for their team, has Christian Vandevelde in 6th place at the Tour right now, less than 5 minutes off the pace, as well as Denmark-based Team CSC-Saxo Bank, which holds the Yellow Jersey and is the number one overall team in the Tour, has faced 1000 tests over the last year and a half.

I defy you to identify one sport, much less two teams that are doing as much to fight PED use in their sport as Team Garmin-Chipotle and Team CSC-Saxo Bank are. This bashing of the sport is silly, and though I am a newcomer to it, I'm already tired of hearing the crap.

EDIT: An interesting in-Tour blog by Team Garmin-Chipotle rider David Millar: "If you’re close to giving up on cycling, I can understand that. I almost did after all; but please don’t give up on us. And when I say us, I mean them. Because I am an ex-doper, I have to earn my right to be believed and trusted. But there are many who don’t. They need to be believed in. Christian [Vandevelde] is going to need every ounce of his being to pass the Alps. I believe he will do it. I hope you believe he can and will and that he is doing it with our dreams in his hands. Vive Le Tour."

Interesting buying guide for helping the uneducated (read: me) learn more about choosing the right bike for them. It also makes one think of how costly bikes really are: 

"It is shocking, but, pound for pound, a high-performance bicycle or bike frame costs more than even the most exotic sports car. On average, a complete high-end bicycle weighing less than 17 pounds will cost in the neighborhood of $4,000: that’s $235 per pound. A $200,000 sports car weighing 3,000 pounds has a per pound cost of $66. If a high-end bicycle were a high-end sports car, it would cost in excess of $700,000! There are some high-end bike frames which cost in excess of $5,000: these 2 pound frames would translate to an automobile costing in excess of seven million dollars! Obviously, the decision to invest in a high-end bicycle should not be taken lightly, and it’s a decision that demands a wealth of information."

And I thought my bike was pricey...

Some thing this awesome deserves a little bit of meta-blogging.

Interesting piece here by Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director, about the downfall of the Clinton campaign. Maybe inevitable was just code for doomed? You decide.