Target Centermass

Day: July 25, 2004

  • The Joy of Six

    Unprecedented. Dominating. Exhilarating. Lance!

    Lance Armstrong rode into history Sunday by winning the Tour de France for a record sixth time, an achievement that confirmed him as one of the greatest sportsmen of all time.

    His sixth crown in six dominant years elevated Armstrong above four champions who won five times. And never in its 101-year-old history has the Tour had a winner like Armstrong — a Texan who just eight years ago was given less than a 50 percent chance of overcoming testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain.

    Armstrong’s unbeaten streak since 1999 has helped reinvigorate the greatest race in cycling, steering it into the 21st century. And the Tour, as much a part of French summers as languid meals over chilled rose, molded Armstrong into a sporting superstar.

    No. 6. The record. The achievement was almost too much even for Armstrong to comprehend.

    “It might take years. I don’t know. It hasn’t sunk in yet. But six, standing on the top step on the podium on the Champs-Elysees is really special,” he said.

  • New Allegation of Detainee Abuse

    Just wanted to make sure this story got some play. Don’t count on it reaching the front page of the New York Times or Washington Post, though, as it concerns an American citizen detained in Egypt.

    A California man who was detained in Egypt for nearly a week says he was beaten and questioned before authorities released him without explanation.

    Abdul Ghafoor Mahboob, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City, said he was repeatedly beaten with a stick on his thighs and punched in the stomach and head.

    “Without my prayers, I would have gone crazy,” Mahboob told the Los Angeles Times in a phone interview from London on Friday.

    Won’t get much play without photos of Abdul on a leash, I’m betting.

  • Terrorists Threatening Coalition Countries Left and Right

    Islamic terrorists have released threats against Australia and Italy, as well as Poland and Bulgaria. These follow earlier threats against Japan.

    A top security official at NATO says the decision by the Philippines to withdraw its small contingent to gain the release last week of a Philippine truck driver kidnapped by militants probably sparked the most recent threats.

    Terrorists, give ’em and inch and they’ll carbomb a mile. Oh, and I just wanted to send another thanks to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Philippine president and Manila folder.