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Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Pages: England and France ruled by Americans
By John Pages
Matchpoint
What a weekend! He wore red, stepped on the tee with a one-shot lead, and as he’s done the past 10 majors when leading in the final round, he roared and growled and tore up the British Open field.
Tiger? You know, the animal? The one feared by all with its ferocious fangs and paws like knives?
He’s Tiger in the Woods.
Watching him play the third round of the British Open from our hotel room in Manila, my friends Dr. Ron Eullaran, Dr. Ronnie Medalle and I (we went to watch the RP Davis Cup tennis team in victory... but more on that later this week), we saw how Tiger made three-putt after three-putt that Saturday.
Bad.
That’s how Tiger played the back nine. Still, he managed to hang on to the lead entering Sunday.
Hmmm... Sunday. The Holy Day. The Rest Day. Tiger’s Day. Isn’t Tiger all about Sunday? That’s when he wears red—and when the rest of the field see him wearing red—they turn pink. He turns into a Tiger who growls and roars while the rest turn into Pink Panthers.
LE TOUR. Somewhere in France, in this city called Paris, men rode bicycles. They climbed up the saddle, clipped their shoes on to the pedal, and galloped out onto the streets.
It’s the Tour de France. It’s three weeks of five-hour rides and climbing the French Alps and the Pyrenees. It’s the world’s toughest race—and I don’t mean just cycling race, but the toughest of any race.
Last week, I committed one of the biggest blunders of my literary career. I called Le Tour “lousy,” “not worth watching” and “useless.” Why? I thought the TdF wasn’t the TdF without this American named Lance Armstrong.
Well, guess what? As you’ll see today in bright-colored pictures and read about in a full-spread article, there’s another
American that’s replaced Lance. It’s Landis.
Lance. Landis.
Same rhyme. Same country. Same jersey.
To the hundreds, if not thousands, in Cebu who followed Le Tour and knew what had happened the past few days—Landis the odds-on favorite from the start until Stage 15, his unbelievable collapse in Stage 16 (toppling down from 1st to 11th place), his solo breakaway in Stage 17 (gaining back almost all the eight minutes he lost, it’s been termed “the greatest single ride in Tour de France history”), his speed-defying Time Trial in Stage 19—this was crazy, unbelievable, a roller-coaster.
Exactly what the Tour de France needed after Armstrong’s departure. A race.
You see, during the seven-year domination of Lance, it wasn’t a race. It was a race for second place. The man was too strong, too focused, possessed too good a team with too much money that he couldn’t be defeated.
Floyd Landis’ roller-coaster, I’m-up-I’m-down-I’m-up-again victory is just like the rolling hills of France. Perfect.
What a victory for America. In England, it’s Tiger the Floridian. In France, it’s Floyd the Pennsylvanian. No wonder President George W. Bush, minutes after Landis claimed the yellow jersey, called to congratulate. Consider this: the Tour de France started back in 1903. The Americans only started racing 25 years ago; and since then, between Greg LeMond and Armstrong and Landis, they’ve won 11 times in 21 years! Go fly high, “Stars and Stripes.”
(john@brightacademy.edu.ph)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 25, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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