Roy Halladay had been the model of consistency starting between 31 and 33 games each of the past six seasons. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Phillies placed right-handed starter Roy Halladay on the disabled list Tuesday with what the team is calling a “1/2-grade strain” of his right latissimus dorsi, according to a report on the team’s website.

Halladay will have to be totally inactive for a good three weeks; the Phillies are then hopeful he can return in six to eight weeks.

“We hate to have him down,” Phillies assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said, “but it’s nothing that requires anything other than rest.”

The news could have been a lot worse with the possibility of a torn rotator cuff or labrum, which might have required surgery.

“If there’s good news from an injury, this is probably good news,” Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee said.

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Roy Oswalt has pitched in the National League his whole career (11 years) until now. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

Free agent pitcher Roy Oswalt signed the Texas Rangers, according to a report on Major League Baseball’s website. Oswalt, who hasn’t pitched since last October when he was with Philadelphia, is not expected to play for another three or four weeks.

The deal for Oswalt, 34, is for $5 million with another million that can be earned in incentives.

Texas, who won the last two American League pennants, had a six-and-a-half game lead in the AL West heading into Tuesday night. Their need for another strong starter was elevated when pitcher Neftali Feliz went on the disabled list with a sprained right elbow.

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Carl Beane became a popular announcer in his short time in Boston. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

The stunning news on May 9 came across all media channels: Carl Beane, 59, died after his SUV crashed against a stone wall and a tree in Sturbridge, Mass.

A local announcer in the Boston area for many years, the affable Beane drove a Suzuki whose rear tire cover showcased his name. Police determined that it was a single-car accident and that his vehicle, heading north, crossed the double solid lines, left the road and hit a tree and a wall. No passengers were in Beane’s vehicle. No other automobiles were involved in the crash.

Talented, honed in to his craft, a pleasing personality, Carl Beane will be missed by those who knew him and the millions who listened to his voice at Fenway Park.

I got to know Carl Beane just a little bit while I interviewed him for my book “Remembering Fenway Park: An Oral and Narrative History of the Home of Red Sox Nation.” Humble and knowledgeable about all things Boston sports, the public address announcer par excellence was just a pleasure to speak with.

His memories and perceptions added very much to my book. What follows is just a taste of the late Carl Beane:

CARL BEANE: The first time I went to Fenway was in 1957. We lived in western Mass., and my dad didn’t drive, so we took the bus. We’d eat lunch in Bickford’s and then we would walk about two miles from the bus station to Fenway. My dad was always able to get seats in section 18, right between home and first; we’d have a clear view of everything. He had been following the Red Sox since 1933 when he was about 9 years old; the year Thomas Yawkey bought the ball club.

Opening Day 2003 was my first day as public address announcer. I couldn’t wait. All I got to say was “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, may I have your attention please? If your car is parked on Lansdowne Street you have 10 minutes to move it or it will be towed.”

That was my first announcement. I got booed.

When I told the crowd the game had been postponed because of rain, I got booed even more.

I had always been a big fan of Sherm Feller. His style wasn’t “Big Me.” It was just do the information in a regular, sedate voice. He absolutely mentored me. My opening announcement at Fenway begins: “Good afternoon ladies and gentleman, boys and girls. Welcome to Fenway Park.”

On April 11, 2007, Dice-K (Daisuke Matsuzaka) was at the ready for his first Fenway Park start. Every single seat was filled before the first pitch. The attendance was 36,630.

The game was live in Japan both on radio and on TV and there was a national Japanese media contingent at the ballpark, 170 members. I announced him in Japanese: “Now welcome to Boston, number 18, Daisuke Matsuzaka.”

He looked up. I could tell that he was very happy.

A noted oral historian and sports journalist, Harvey Frommer has written many sports books, including timed to 2012 and the 100th anniversary, “Fenway Park: An Oral and Narrative History of the Home of the Boston Red Sox.” This article, including all quotes unless otherwise noted, was adapted from his book “Five O’Clock Lightning: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the Greatest Baseball Team in History, The 1927 New York Yankees.” His work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Daily News, Newsday, USA Today, Men’s Heath, The Sporting News, Bleacher Report, and of course, The Epoch Times, among other venues and publications.

Visit his website here: http://harveyfrommersports.com/remembering_fenway/

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Clive Rose/Getty Images

Greece competes in the Team Free routine preliminaries at the 2012 European Synchronized Swimming Championships at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swim Stadium on May 25, in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Greece placed fifth in the May 25 preliminaries.

Roy Halladay’s ERA has risen from 1.95 to 3.98 in the month of May. (Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay will have his shoulder examined Tuesday, according to a report on the team’s website.

The Phillies are still finalizing the details of the visit, so it’s not yet known who will be examining Halladay, who turned 35 earlier this month.

“Anytime you have an injury, you have a concern, no matter who it is,” Phillies assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said Monday morning at Citi Field. “We’ve been through these things before. [Vance] Worley, [Roy] Oswalt last year. We’re fortunate we have Kyle [Kendrick] in the role he is in. Hopefully Vance is close to coming off the DL, so we’ll be covered again.”

Halladay’s ERA has risen from 1.95 at the end of April to its current 3.98 after six un-Halladay-like starts in May.

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Federer is now 32–4 in 2012. (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/GettyImages)

Third-seeded Roger Federer won his opening round match Monday at Roland Garros with a 6–2, 7–5, 6–3 win over German player Tobias Kamke.

Federer, now 32–4 on the season, was in top form in the win hitting 38 winners to Kamke’s 16 and converting 8 of his 16 break-point opportunities. The 16-time Grand Slam champion dominated the first set winning 30 of 46 points.

With the win Federer tied American great Jimmy Connors’s record for most Grand Slam wins at 233. Connors finished 233–49 at the majors while Federer is 233–35.

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Jonathon Niese allowed just two hits but walked five batters in five innings. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

Outfielders Scott Hairston and Vinny Rottino each hit two-run home runs Monday but the Mets (27–22) gave up three runs in the ninth inning and lost 8–4 to the Phillies (26–24).

Jonathon Niese started for the Mets and went five innings, giving up four runs on two hits and five untimely walks. Niese struck out seven Phillies but gave up a two-run double to Ty Wigginton in the third that scored two batters—Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino—who had both drawn walks.

Niese was relieved after allowing a none-out, two-run home run to John Mayberry, Jr. in the sixth that scored Wigginton—who was on first after a leadoff walk.

Cole Hamels got the win for Philadelphia, allowing four runs in eight innings.

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R.A. Dickey got his major-league leading seventh win of the season Sunday. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Mets starter R.A. Dickey struck out 10 batters over seven-and-a-third shutout-innings Sunday as the Mets (27-21) blanked the Padres (17-32) 2–0 to take three games of the four-game set.

Dickey (7-1) scattered three hits and walked just one batter in picking up his major-league leading seventh win of the year. Reliever Tim Byrdak came on in relief in the eighth inning and closer Frank Francisco worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 13th save of the season.

Daniel Murphy had the lone RBI on the day for the Mets with his first-inning run-scoring single that plated David Wright.

The Mets’ second run was off a fifth-inning passed ball that scored Mike Baxter, who was on third after a double and a wild pitch.

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Roddick's loss is his 10th in 17 matches in 2012. (Patrick Kovarik/AFP/GettyImages)

American Andy Roddick was ousted in the first round of the French Open Sunday 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 by 89th-ranked Nicolas Mahut.

The 29-year-old Roddick, ranked 33rd in the world, is now 7-10 this season and has lost two of his three Grand Slam matches in 2012.

The French-born Mahut converted all seven of his break-point opportunities while Roddick was able to convert just three of his ten break-point chances. In the first set alone, Roddick was unable to convert any of his five opportunities while Mahut capitalized on his lone chance to win the set.

The 30-year-old Mahut hit 42 winners on the day to Roddick’s 26 and served up 13 aces to Roddick’s 8.

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Dario Franchitti in the #50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, leads a pack of cars including Tony Kannan, Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe during the IndyCar 96th running of the Indianapolis 500. (Nick Laham/Getty Images)

There were only nine Sunday morning; by late afternoon there was a tenth—a tenth IndyCar driver who had won the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” at least three times. When Dario Franchitti took the checkered flag at Indianapolis today, he joined a very select group of racers.

Only one other active driver is on that list. The rest are legends, some of them names even non-racing-fans might recognize. All of them are revered by race fans. Target-Ganassi driver Dario Franchitti is now part of that select group.

For anyone interested in racing, this matters. Around the world, the Big Three races are the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Grand Prix of Monaco, and the Indy 500. With its history, its longevity, with the list of champions who have competed and won there, the Indy 500 has earned its place in the pantheon of motor sports. Earning multiple wins there is an accomplishment recognized by anyone who likes almost any form of motor racing.

A.J. Foyt, Al and Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford, Rick Mears—many people who know nothing of racing might recognize these names. Only sports fans would recall Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, or Louis Meyer, but among fans those names carry powerful cachet.

Helio Castroneves hasn’t had a very successful season in a couple of years, but years from now, no one will remember his shunt with Paul Tracy at Toronto, or his penalty for “blocking” Will Power at Edmonton; they will remember his three Indy wins. And now, when the next generation of IndyCar fans tells their children about the greats of our day, Dario Franchitti’s name will be mentioned.

Dario Franchitti holds up three fingers, signifying his three Indianapolis 500 victories. (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Mr. Franchitti had to earn his entry into the club, in this case by surviving a near-shunt with Rahal-Letterman-Lannigan driver Takuma Sato, who dove dangerously inside Franchitti halfway through Turn One in the final lap.

In a maneuver which is already controversial, the Target-Ganassi driver didn’t give his opponent enough room to get by, and Sato, who nearly became the first Japanese winner, instead had to lift, then lost control of his car and spun upwards across the track and into the wall. Franchitti kept control and finished the final lap in the lead, under caution—a bit of a let-down for fans hoping for a last-corner four-way battle between Sato, Franchitti, his teammate Scott Dixon, and KV Racing’s Tony Kanaan.

Instead the latter three drivers crossed the line in formation, Dixon denied a chance at his second Indy win, TK deprived of a shot at his first. Sato was uninjured if unhappy, and the debonair Scot got to drink the milk yet again.

Franchitti began his victory celebration by donning a pair of white cardboard sunglasses, a tribute to his friend and fellow racer Dan Wheldon, who died in a wreck last October. Franchitti dedicated his third Indy win to Wheldon, and to Michael Wanser, six-year-old son of his chief strategist who was claimed by leukemia, also in October.

“Thank you to all the fans for saluting our buddy Dan today,” he told the crowd in the race broadcast on NBC Sports Network. “This means the world, this is Indianapolis, and three times. To be on the trophy on either side of Dan, that’s more important than anything,” he continued, talking about the Borg-Warner trophy, where his likeness will join that of all the previous Indy 500 winners. His image from 2010 and 2012 will bracket Wheldon’s from 2011; he will be around his friend forever.

Asked about the incident with Sato, Franchitti said, “That last lap, running side-by-side with Takuma, I went down and then I moved up to give him some room and them we hit, I just kept my foot in it and managed to keep it out of trouble.

“Now that we’re allowed to defend our position it’s kind of a gray area. I moved over and I saw he was coming— actually I’d come over as he moved so I came back over and I moved up the track—I  just saw the replay; he got loose underneath me.

“Kind of reminds me of Emerson and Little Al there with the contact at the end,” he said, referring to the 1989 Indy 500 when Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr. had a famous coming-together on the final lap

Like Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Sr. and Jr., like that small cadre of multiple winners, Dario Franchitti has cemented his place in Indy 500 history.

Disaster Predicted; Triumph Realized

For months prior to the race there was much discussion about the ability of the new Dallara DW12 to race hard on ovals. Early on the car had balance issues—the car was almost too dangerous to drive in its first incarnation. Another point of contention was the new 2.2-liter turbocharged power plant—many dedicated fans didn’t think the motor would be powerful enough to create good racing, particularly at Indianapolis, where speed is king.

Many fans figured IndyCar wouldn’t be able to fill the traditional 33-car grid; there weren’t enough engines available.

All the worries turned out to be baseless. True, the two Lotus-powered (or Lotus-underpowered) cars of Jean Alesi and Simona De Silvestro were black-flagged after the first yellow flag on lap 14. The rest of the field put on an excellent show, with a record 35 lead changes among ten different drivers.  

Next: Plenty of Possible Winners

Garmin-Barracuda’s Ryder Hesjedal rides in the Stage 21 time trial, on his way to winning the 2012 Giro d’Italia. (slipstreamsports.com)

Garmin-Barracuda’s Ryder Hesjedal became the first Canadian to win a cycling Grand Tour Sunday, his sixth-place finish in the Stage 21 time trial good enough to catapult him into the overall lead.

Hesjedal completed the flat but twisting 28.2-km course in 34:15, 1:09 slower than stage winner Marco Pinotti, but 47 seconds faster than the race leader, Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez. Hesjedal started the stage 31 seconds behind Rodriguez; the time trial result left the Garmin rider 16 seconds in the lead.

“Just an unreal experience from Day One—just incredible what the team was able to do,” Hesjedal told Eurosport.com. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”

“I knew I was good when I came to this race. I just stayed focused every day and took every opportunity. The team was behind me 100 percent, and I just kept thriving off that support—and especially from the fans back home in Canada. It’s been unreal, the support.

“I kept digging deeper and deeper and deeper every day, and I kept getting rewarded for that effort. I want to thank everybody.”

Hesjedal pushed hard, nearly crashing on a few corners, but his bike-handling skills, honed as a mountain biker, helped him keep upright and moving.

Rodriguez rode well and pushed hard, but he is a climber, not a time trial specialist; the Katusha rider finished 26th, almost two minutes off the pace. His time was good enough to keep him second in the general Classification, and he also won the points competition; some consolation for losing the overall lead, at least.

Thomas De Gendt, the 25-year-old Belgian rider who shocked everybody with his powerful attack in Stage 20, needed to make up 2:18 to win the race. This was too much to ask, even though De Gendt is a good time trialer.

The Movistar rider turned in another excellent ride, despite being sore from the day before. He finished fifth in the stage and third overall. This is a rider with a future.

Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing receives the winner’s trophy from Prince Albert II of Monaco after winning his second Formula One Monaco Grand Prix. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Mark Webber became the sixth winning driver in six Formula One races this season by finishing first the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco. This was the Red Bull’s driver’s second Monaco win in three years, and red Bull became the first constructor to win two races in 2012.
 
Webber started from the pole, handed off the lead to his teammate Sebastian Vettel after pitting for tires, then retook the lead when Vettel pitted. The Red Bull veteran then worked hard to stay ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg despite decaying tires and a brief rain shower.

Despite the race only being 160 miles, Webber was exhausted by the time the checkered flag waved; the intense concentration needed to negotiate the narrow walled course at racing speed left him mentally drained.

It was not just the looming walls which demanded constant attention; the competition was equally demanding. The top six cars finished within six seconds of Webber, the top four within 1.2 seconds.

When asked in the post-race press conference at what point he felt he had the race won, Webber told formula1.com, “Lap 78, out of turn 19. That’s Monaco. I watched the 1983 or ’82 Monaco Grand Prix. Prost was leading with two laps to go and he crashed. So you never get ahead of yourself around here, because you’ll get bitten really hard. So after the last corner was when I thought I was going to win.”

Nico Rosberg took second for Mercedes, and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished third, moving into the lead in championship points. Alonso gained track position by turning in a blazingly fast in-lap, and getting out of the pits right in front of Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel finished fifth after stretching his tires several laps longer than the rest of the field, hoping the rains would come. When it did, the precipitation was too light and too brief for intermediate tires; instead, everyone slowed down a little and slid a little more until the track dried.

Vettel also made an aggressive move leaving the pits to stay ahead of Hamilton. At Monaco closely matched cars cannot pass; Vettel got aggressive at the one time when it would make a difference and it paid off.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished fifth; while the competition gained on him on pit stops, Hamilton fell from second to sixth when he pitted.  His weekend was better than teammate Jenson Button’s.

Button started 12th, dropped to 15th after pitting, and then got stuck behind Heikki Kovalainen for most of the race, until lap 78 when Button made an excessively hopeful passing attempt, spun in the new chicane, and punched the Caterham driver in the rear, ending both drivers’ days.

Mark Webber leads the field into the first corner while Roman Grosjean (R) spins in front of Michael Schumacher, before spinning back across the road, collecting several cars. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Michael Schumacher also had a miserable race. The Mercedes driver made a bold charge at the start, blasting down the left side, hoping to make up for his five-grid-spot penalty.

Fernando Alonso nudged Roman Grosjean, who squeezed Schumacher into the Armco and slammed the Mercedes’ right front with the right rear wheel of the Lotus. Grosjean spun, collecting Pastor Maldonado, Pedro de la Rosa, Sebastian Vettel and Kamui Kobayashi. Vettel and Schumacher managed to continue; the others were not so lucky.

Schumacher might not have emerged unscathed; an unidentified mechanical problem sidelined the Mercedes driver later in the race.

A safety car was summoned to give track workers time to move the damaged cars, but by lap three the filed was back in action.

Formula One crosses the Atlantic for its next event, the Grand Prix du Canada on June 10. Tickets and travel arrangements are available through the official Formula1.com website.

Toronto FC’s Danny Koevermans (L) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the game-winning goal against the Philadelphia Union at BMO Field on Saturday. (Abelimages/Getty Images)

Toronto FC got its first points of the Major League Soccer season Saturday afternoon at BMO Field beating the Philadelphia Union 1–0 on an 88th minute goal from Dutch striker Danny Koevermans.

The win was a massive relief for under-pressure head coach Aron Winter and TFC which had started the season on a nine-game losing streak.

“It’s nice … different questions,” said Winter in his post-match press conference shown on GolTV Canada. Winter had grown accustomed to a different line of questioning from the media following loss after loss.

The win came on the heels of Toronto FC’s fourth straight Canadian championship title when they beat a lacklustre Vancouver Whitecaps side 1–0 last Wednesday (2–1 on aggregate).

“I had a very good feeling from the first few minutes we started the game,” said Winter.

The Union has also been struggling in MLS, but clearly not to the extent TFC has. The Union came in with a 2–2–6 (W–D–L) record and now has only scored eight goals in 11 games. Without goal scorers Sebastien Le Toux and Carlos Ruiz, the Union’s attack has been feeble thus far.

Indeed, TFC was clearly the better team on Saturday and was definitely deserving of its victory. The team put forth a total team performance. The only glaring area for improvement would be the finishing of the numerous good opportunities created.

“We had a lot of very big opportunities to make a lot of goals,” said Winter.

Toronto, back in its traditional home red kit, took the game to Philadelphia from the opening whistle. Bermudan winger Reggie Lambe had the game’s first great chance but he fired his shot across the goal from a very tight angle.

Toronto’s main starting striker Ryan Johnson blazed a left-footer past the far post off one of the many corner kicks TFC had in the first half.

Torsten Frings, playing in central midfield now that Adrian Cann and Doneil Henry have locked down the central defense partnership, nearly set up Joao Plata in one of numerous great chances for the Reds in the first half.

“We just need to do a better job of finishing,” said Ryan Johnson in an interview with Sportsnet at halftime.

The Union were fortunate to go into the half tied, having seen little from Freddy Adu and company. Their third-string keeper Chris Konopka was having a terrific game thus far despite having seen almost no prior MLS action.

Second Half

Philadelphia gradually began to get a foothold in the match and Michael Farfan slammed a right-footer off the crossbar in the early going.

But Winter would not let the tide turn and made three key substitutions that allowed TFC to regain the upper hand.

“Two, three times … Philadelphia was close to making a goal,” said Winter.

Lambe was withdrawn in favour of Richard Eckersley for some added energy down the right wing. And Koevermans came on to replace the diminutive Joao Plata, who had a lively first half.

Nick Soolsma, who had won himself a place in the starting lineup last season, came off the bench to replace first-round draft pick Luis Silva.

“The roster is bigger, changing players, you’re thinking about changing positional positions,” said Winter

Winter now has most of his players available after some difficult stretches this season. This has allowed him more flexibility with tactics.

Late in the game, Soolsma latched onto a ball at the top of the 18-yard box, got tackled, but regained his balance and drove toward the goal line. He cut back and slid a ball toward goal that Koevermans eventually kneed past Konopka.

The elation was palpable for Koevermans, who ran up to the crowd in the stands, and for TFC.

The win was crucial for Toronto FC who now have a three-week break before taking on Sporting Kansas City on June 16.

Cups vs. MLS

The mystery about TFC is their Cup performances as compared to their MLS play. In Cup competitions in 2012 (CONCACAF Champions League and Amway Canadian Championship), TFC has a 3–4–1 record, while in MLS, their record is now 1–0–9.

TFC’s strong Cup play dates back to last year when they qualified for the Champions League quarterfinals with a 3–0 win in Dallas. They also triumphed 4–2 in Columbus to take the Trillium Cup.

In truth, a 1–0–9 record is a bit harsh on TFC. They’ve had their share of misfortune, but soccer can be a cruel game and a team may not always get the results they deserve.

But good teams make their own luck and Toronto FC’s woes reflect significant problems relative to other MLS franchises.

At least for the time being, Toronto FC can enjoy their status as champions of Canada and their first points of the 2012 MLS season.

Follow Rahul on Twitter @RV_ETSports

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher is finally starting to realize the promise of his comeback. The seven-time world champion set the fastest time in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Monaco. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/GettyImages)

Michael Schumacher set the quickest lap time in qualifying of the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco, but because of a five-grid-spot penalty, the Mercedes driver will start sixth. Red Bull’s mark Webber will start from the pole in Sunday’s race.

Schumacher turned in a lap of 1:14.301 in the final seconds of qualifying, just after Webber had claimed the provisional pole with a lap of 1:14.381. The seven-time World Champion will be relegated to sixth on the grid for colliding with Williams driver Bruno Senna during the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago.

The veteran Mercedes pilot is still confident of his chance to win Sunday. “My situation is going to be pole, start the race in sixth and I’m going to win it. That’s what I’m here for and what I’m going to aim for. That’s all I gave in min mind and the past doesn’t matter at all,” he told the post-qualifying press conference on Speed-TV.

“It is simply a wonderful feeling to set pole after such a long time, and particularly here in Monaco. Okay, it has taken a little bit longer than I might have wanted in the second chapter of my career, but that makes it even sweeter. It’s just beautiful.

“We already thought that this circuit should suit us, and it’s the perfect confirmation of all the work from every team member in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart—a big thank you to every one of them, because this is a team result.”

Mark Webber will start from the pole for the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Red Bull’s Mark Webber was pleased to be starting from the pole on the notoriously narrow Monaco circuit where passing is always difficult.

“Of all places, it’s good to start definitely towards the front here,” he said, “The guys have done a good job, they worked hard on the rest day, they pushed very, very hard. We weren’t too strong on Thursday and obviously didn’t get much running, though everyone’s the same. But the car on Sunday is generally pretty good, so looking forward to tomorrow.”

Things went less well for his teammate Sebastian Vettel. The two-time champion failed to set a time in Q3.

“It was looking very good this morning, but then I think we took a step in the wrong direction and ended up with a difficult car for qualifying,” he explained in an interview on formula1.com. “It’s a bit of a disappointment, as Mark showed what the car can do around here, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.

“It’s Monaco and everything is possible here. We could be on a different strategy tomorrow as we’re able to start the race on hard tires, slightly different to the cars ahead, so we’ll see how the first stint goes and go from there. It’s hard to predict, as it’s a long race.”

Nico Rosberg drives during qualifying for the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Schumacher’s Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg qualified third, .117 seconds behind Webber. “I can also be pleased with today’ he told the rpess conference. “It’s especially great to see how we, as a team, have managed to turn things around from a difficult time the last two races and now be right at the front again.

“It’s just nice to follow all the progress we’re making, moving forward and really fighting hard to improve the car and get the best of the situation—and that’s why today to really be on top as a team in qualifying is great.

“I’m very pleased, obviously, to start on the front row in Monaco. That is a great place to start to have a good race.”

Lewis Hamilton of McLaren might have to overcome some set-up issues to be at his best in the race. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth and will be starting third. He said in a team press statement that he had a tough time getting the car to work. “This afternoon was massively tough: one of my toughest qualifying sessions for some time, in fact. And there are two great drivers ahead of me who’ll make it even tougher for me tomorrow.
 
“I’m fortunate to be one place higher owing to Michael’s [Schumacher] penalty, but we struggled a little today, particularly with the very low-speed stuff. It was difficult to get the tires to ‘switch on’ and give us the grip we needed.
 
“Still, qualifying was so much fun—I really enjoyed it—and the tires and strategy can play a big part around here. If I get a good start, we’ll suddenly be in fighting position for the win. Anything can happen at Monaco and I’ll give everything tomorrow.”

Lotus F1’s Romain Grosjean qualified fifth and will start fourth. (Tom Gandolfini/AFP/GettyImages)

Romain Grosjean in the Lotus rounded out the top five. “We are not as high on the grid as we wanted to be, but things were very tight today,” he said. “I did a very good lap in the first part of Q3 but then I couldn’t improve on my second set of tires. This was a shame because our strategy was perfect for the last part of qualifying. The traffic wasn’t too bad but I missed out in sector two. I think pole position was within reach.

“P4 is not exactly where we wanted to be but the race will be long. It’s Monaco, it will be difficult; nonetheless we know that the car is quite good on high fuel and with the tires, so let’s see what we can do and put the best strategy into place.”

Fernando Alonso of Ferrari will start fifth. His qualifying lap was three-tenths slower than Grosjean’s. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa qualified sixth and seventh—great for Massa, who needs a good result to ensure his place with Ferrari next season, but not so good for Ferrari, as the team no doubt wanted to do better. Still third row, six-tenths off the leader is not bad for the way Ferrari has been performing this season—maybe the engineers are getting a handle on the new car.

“In Italy there’s a saying: ‘He who goes slowly, goes well and goes far,’ right? Well, that’s what we are doing: step by step we are getting closer,” Alonso told formula1.com. “I am happy with this qualifying, the best as a team that we have seen this season. I have had a good feeling all weekend long.

“Maybe in Q3, we could have shaved a few hundredths off here and there, but I don’t think I’d have moved up any places, given that the driver in front of me is three tenths away.

“Usually here it falls to the top three on the grid to fight for the win, so I think that our realistic goal is a place on the podium, but we also know that surprises are the order of the day.”

Belgium's Thomas De Gendt celebrates after crossing the finish line to win Stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)

With a brilliant bit of riding which caught the entire peloton off guard, Vacansoleil’s Thomas De Gendt won Stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia, and very nearly won the leader’s jersey, setting up a tight battle for the overall victory in Sunday’s Stage 21 time trialThe 25-year-old Belgian rider attacked just short of the crest of the Mortirolo climb, opened a five-minute gap on the descent and the gradual slopes up to the final climb of the day, and pushed on alone up the Passo della Stelvio, elevating himself from eighth to fourth in the General Classification and giving himself a great shot at winning overall in the individual time trial.

“I’m very happy to win on a legendary mountain climb like the Passo dello Stelvio,” De Gendt told velonation.com. “All the big names in cycling have won here too. I hope it’s a good sign for me. I think I’ve got a future in the Grand Tours.

“When I went on the attack my first thought was to make sure I had a bit of a gap at the start of the climb, to keep my eighth place overall,” he continued. “When I had three minutes and Cunego was a minute behind I started think of the stage victory. But it’s easy to lose five minutes on a climb like this and everything had to fall into place.

“I never thought of taking the pink jersey because I knew the others would go very fast in the finale. I’m happy with fourth or a place on the podium.”

De Gendt surprised everyone; while the GC favorites were watching out for Garmin-Barracuda’s Ryder Hesjedal, De Gendt, also an excellent time trialer, snuck away from the field. No one covered his attack because no one saw him as a threat; by the time he was flirting with taking over as virtual race leader, the GC favorites were locked into their strategies and could only hope the Vacansoleil rider wore himself out before he finished.

The entire three-week Giro, 3500 kilometers of racing, will come down to whether De Gendt or Hesjedal has more left in his legs.

A Stage Designed to Upset GC

Stage 20 was a long hard climbing stage. 219 kilometers long and climbing five mountain passes, the route was perfectly designed for riders to attack and others to crack, upsetting the General Classification.

The stage started with a 14-rider break: Roman Kreuziger (Astana,) Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Barracuda,) Damiano Caruso (Liquigas,) Tom Slagter and Stef Clement (Rabobank,) Andrey Amador and Branislaw Samoilau (Movistar,) Matteo Rabottini (Farnese Vini,) Oliver Zaugg (RadioShack,) Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM,) Mathias Frank (BMC,) Matteo Bono (Lampre,) Alberto Losada (Katusha,) and Jose Serpa (Androni.)

The breakaway had five minutes on the peloton after crossing the first three climbs—the Cat 2 Passo Tonale (10.1km long, 6.1k% average gradient, 8% max,) the Cat 3 Aprica (15.9km, 3.1% average, 9% max) and the Cat 3 Teglio (5.9km, 8% average, 15% max.)

The gap was down to three minutes when the break started the first real obstacle, the Cat 1 Mortirolo climb. This was a serious obstacle—11.4 km long with an average gradient of 10.5% average, with ramps up to 22%.

RadioShack’s Oliver Zaugg attacked the break one kilometer into the climb, soon joined by Movistar’s Matteo Carrara. Damiano Caruso, Christian Vande Velde and José Serpa took off after this pair.

Next: Rodriguez Attacks

De Gendt’s ride was phenomenal; he attacked 56 kilometers from the finish and nearly took the race leader’s pink jersey. (Alessandro Garofalo/AFP/GettyImages)

Astana's Roman Kreuziger celebrates after crossing the finish line of Stage 19th stage of the Giro d'Italia. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)

Stage 19 did not deliver a definitive winner of the 2012 Giro d’Italia, but it did deliver a lot of action. Astana’s Roman Kreuziger, who saw his General Classification hopes evaporate when he cracked in Stage 14, salvaged something from the race by attacking 25 km from the finish line and outlasting the rest of the field to take his first Grand Tour stage win.

The 26-year-old Czech rider attacked on the penultimate climb of the day, the Cat 2 Passo Lavaze, joining with two riders from the breakaway, Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Serge Pauwels and Dario Cataldo, for the next 20 kilometers. Then halfway up the second climb up the Passo Pampeago, Kreuziger accelerated away and finished the race on his own, holding off the charging GC leaders.

“I am happy with my first victory in a Grand Tour,” Kreuziger told velonation.com. “I didn’t break off on the first climb up to Pampeago but waited until the Lavazè, knowing that it was a long and arduous climb. Luckily the two Omega riders had their minds on the classification and we managed to come to a good understanding to keep the break going.

“On the second time up to Pampeago I was aware that the pink jersey group was cutting the gap and I only knew I would win when I was 200 meters from the line.”

Ryder Hesjedal, the man the rest of the GC contenders marked as the greatest threat, managed to gain 13 seconds on race leader Joaquim Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Michele Scarponi said before the stage that they planned to—needed to—take some time out of Hesjedal, who is the best time-trialer of the top four. Instead, the Garmin-Barracuda rider proved the strongest.

“The legs felt good there at the end. I have to take advantage of the situation,” he said. “Today was hard, tomorrow is going to be harder. The team is supporting me. Everything is possible.”

Garmin-Barracuda’s Ryder Hesjedal crosses the finish line to take second place, only 17 seconds behind Roman Kreuziger. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)

Hesjedal could still crack on Stage 20’s titanic climbs, and lose his advantage, but if he can simply hand with race leader Rodriguez, the young Garmin rider should have his first Grand Tour victory.

Race leader Joaquim Rodriquez of Katusha and pre-race favorite Ivan Basso of Liquigas, both said the same thing to cyclingnews.com after the stage: “We were supposed to drop Ryder Hesjedal but it’s been the opposite.”

“Hesjedal gave us a lesson,” added Rodriguez. “He has surprised me, really. I was on his wheel when he attacked and I preferred to follow the more regular rhythm of [Domenico] Pozzovivo. That was hard enough. It’s going to be difficult to beat Hesjedal for the overall win. Now the Giro is in his hands. If he doesn’t make any mistake tomorrow, he’ll be the winner.”

“I still have the pink jersey,” Rodriguez concluded. “I’m still up there, so are Scarponi and Basso who haven’t lost all chance to win the Giro. Anything can happen on the Stelvio. That final climb will make a difference. It’s going to be difficult to recover some time over Hesjedal but the Mortirolo has put some big champions into troubles before.”

Basso seemed equally resigned. “Hesjedal has shown he is the strongest. When someone is the strongest, we only have to congratulate him. When I understood my limits for today, I went at my own rhythm. [Michele] Scarponi’s three attacks put me in difficulty. I haven’t managed to make the difference that I wanted. As I couldn’t do what I planned this morning, it shows the merit of my adversaries.”

Next: Toughest Stage

Rafael Nadal has taken home the top prize at Roland Garros six times. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)

The second Grand Slam tournament of the year has belonged to the “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal the past six out of seven years. The Spaniard is bidding to eclipse the record he holds with Sweden’s Bjorn Borg to become the first player in history to win seven French Open titles.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams is in solid position to win her second French Open championship. Only five months into the season, Williams already has more wins this year than her entire 2011 season. Williams enters the tournament with an impressive win on the controversial blue clay of Madrid and a semifinals appearance in Rome.

Here’s a look at the two leading contenders:

Rafael Nadal (Ranking: 2, 2012 W-L Record: 33-4, Champion – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011)

After a disappointing third-round exit in Madrid earlier this month, Nadal lost the world No. 2 ranking to Swiss Roger Federer. Nadal, however, wasted no time earning it back with a win in Rome over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. For the seventh time in the last eight years Nadal, 25, enters Roland Garros having won the most clay court titles, with three this season – at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome.

Serena Williams (Ranking: 5, 2012 W-L Record: 27-2, Champion – 2002)

This year’s French Open could be Williams’ best chance to add to her 2002 championship trophy. Leading up to Roland Garros, Williams scored commanding victories over world No. 2 Maria Sharapova and current world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in Madrid. As a precaution Williams, 30, withdrew prior to the semifinals of the following tournament in Rome due to a back injury and has said she will be 100 percent for the French Open.

Other notable contenders to watch out for:

Men’s:

Novak Djokovic (Ranking: 1, 2012 W-L Record: 30-5, Semifinalist – 2007, 2008, 2011)

Djokovic, winner of last year’s Wimbledon and U.S. Open and this year’s Australian Open, is attempting to collect his fourth straight Grand Slam and the only major title that has eluded him. The top-ranked Serb enters the tournament in good form on clay, losing in the finals to Nadal in Rome and Monte Carlo, and reaching the quarterfinals in Madrid. If Djokovic, 25, wins, he will complete the non-calendar year Grand Slam, and he will be the first player to hold all four titles at the same time since Australian great Rod Laver did so in 1969.

Roger Federer (Ranking: 3, 2012 W-L Record: 31-4, Champion – 2009)

Even at an age where most players’ careers decelerate, the 30-year-old owner of 16-Grand Slam titles shows no signs of slowing down. For a brief week earlier this month, Federer rose back to the No. 2 ranking before relinquishing it to rival Nadal. He enters Roland Garros with a win in Madrid and semifinals appearance in Rome, where he lost to eventual champion Djokovic.

David Ferrer…

Farnese’s Andrea Guardini crosses the finish line ahead of Mark Cavendish (R) to win the Stage 18t of the Giro d'Italia. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)

Farnese-Vini sprinter Andrea Guardini beat Sky’s Mark Cavendish, “The Fastest Man in the World,” in a head-to-head sprint to win Stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia Thursday.

Guardini got the jump on the Sky sprinter, who launched late and never seemed to hit top gear; Cavendish seemed to give up ten meters from the line, nearly losing second place to Androni’s Robertto Ferrari.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Guardini said in an interview on guardian.co.uk. “It’s an amazing thing because I’ve beaten the world champion, at least today.”

The 22-year-old Italian elaborated for velonation.com: “I knew this sprint was the last chance I had. I knew it suited me because it was so flat. I knew my chance was today or that I’d have to wait until next year. I knew I could beat Cavendish but I knew I had to jump first and by doing that today, I’ve realized what I can do.”

Cavendish had a good leadout, with Gerrans Thomas and Bernard Eisel; Guardini clung to Cav’s wheel until 250 meters from the line, then cut right and passed Cavendish before the Sky sprinter started to accelerate. The Mans Missile tried to catch the flying Farnese rider, but seemingly didn’t have the legs.

Cavendish, who was intent on winning to cement his lead in the points classification, might have spent himself mountain-climbing, or possibly sprinting for the intermediate sprint points. He still leads Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez by 29 points and will almost certainly win the jersey. Still, he hates to lose; Cavendish could be seen pounding his handlebars in frustration after crossing the line.

As for Farnese-Vini’s young sprinter, this win should give him the confidence to take his place among the sprinting elite. “I’m still very young and I’ve got to develop a lot as a rider. I’ve really suffered on the climbs in this Giro d’Italia but 198 riders started the Giro and now there’s only 168 left. That proves something,” he told cylingnews.com. “During the first week of the Giro d’Italia I didn’t believe in myself enough. I’d been struggling in the sprints and things hadn’t been going my way.”

Things went all the way his way on this day; he beat the world’s best.

Downhill All the Way

Stage 18 was a rarity in this year’s Giro—a stage free of serious climbs. Even most of the “sprint” stages have has a cat 3 or 4 tossed in. Not so with Stage 18, which actually went downhill. There was a little lump halfway through, but it was over as soon as it started. Today was all about the sprinters—in more ways than one.

As usual, a breakaway formed; riders who knew they’d get caught—today of all days—attacked the peloton to gain some exposure or to contest the Breakaway jersey.

This wasn’t to be their day. Mark Cavendish needed to gain maximum points in this stage to win the Points jersey; he certainly couldn’t hope to compete on the next two high mountain stages. Thus, Sky picked up the pace halfway through the stage and ran down the break 70 kilometers from the finish, to set up their sprinter for the intermediate sprint at 65 kilometers.

Next: Intermediate Sprint Might Have Hurt Final Sprint

JMW won the GTE-Pro class in the opening round of the European Le Mans Series, the Six Hours of Castellet at Paul Ricard Test Track. (europeanlemansseries.com)

European Le Mans Series GTE-Pro leader JMW Motorsport had finalized its Le Mans driver lineup.

The team announced on its website that Roger Wills will join Jonny Cocker and James Walker for the 24-hour race.

“Last year I was in an LM GTE Am car so running in LM GTE Pro in 2012 and having the benefit of two professional drivers in the car with me is something I am sure will help me greatly,” Wills said on the website.

“Jonny and James have a massive amount of experience and I know they will support me a lot during the build-up week and, of course, the race. It is the world’s biggest sports car race and a huge honor to be joining such a great team for the event.”

“We are off to our fifth Le Mans,” said Team Principal Jim McWhirter. “The car has been beautifully prepared in its new livery by Davey Nicholas and the Team. We are quietly confident of giving a good account of ourselves.”

DeMaurice Smith and the NFLPA believe there was a secret salary cap in 2010. EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES

The NFL Players Association filed a collusion complaint against the NFL in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota on Wednesday, according to a report on the NFL’s website.

The complaint alleges that the league imposed a secret $123 million salary cap during the uncapped season of 2010, pointing to the league’s recent punishment of the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, and Oakland Raiders as proof of the salary restraints.

“When the rules are broken in a way that hurts the game, we have an obligation to act,” said NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith in a statement.

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Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem will miss Game 6 of their series against the Pacers. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem has been suspended for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Heat and the Pacers, according to a report on the NBA’s website.

The suspension stems from Haslem’s hard foul on Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough in Game 5, which was ruled a flagrant foul at the time. The foul occurred just minutes after Hansbrough’s hard foul on Miami’s Dwayne Wade that resulted in a flagrant foul for Hansbrough. Hansbrough’s foul opened a cut over Wade’s eye.

Hansbrough’s foul was upgraded to a flagrant-2 Wednesday but he did not receive a suspension.

“It’s very disappointing, obviously,” said Miami forward Shane Battier. “But we’re a resilient group.”

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Toronto FC's Torsten Frings (L) and Eric Avila (R) put some heat on Vancouver Whitecaps Gershon Koffie at BMO Field in Toronto Wednesday night. Toronto defeated Vancouver 1-0 to win the Voyageurs Cup for the fourth straight year and a place in CONCACAF Champions League. (Abelimages/Getty Images)

Katusha’s Spanish Joaquim Rodriguez celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the Stage 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)

Race leader Joaquin Rodriguez eked out a win in a surprisingly competitive mountain stage of the Giro d’Italia, which saw only six riders in the leading peloton.

None of the eClassification contenders were able to gain any time on the Katusha rider, but several lost a lot: Astana’s Paolo Tiralongo and Roman Kreuziger cracked on the final climb and are essentially out of the race, as are Ag2R’s John Gadret and Lampre’s Damiano Cunego.

The Katusha rider dedicated his win to his late friend Xavier Tondo, killed in a freak accident in 2011.

“Today was a very special day for me,” Rodríguez told velonation.com. “Xavi Tondo died one year ago, a great friend of mine; I knew him not only from our professional career, but since I was a child. “So, today I really wanted to take this victory and finally I did, and obviously it’s dedicated to him.

“It was a very hard stage,” Rodriguez continued. “Liquigas-Cannondale put in a huge amount of work, and if they’re going to keep this pace on Friday and Saturday too, it won’t be easy for me or anybody else to resist and stay ahead. Every single day is dangerous for us; today, just like many of the others, I had cramps in my leg, so I don’t think we can handle this pace during next stages.

Rodriguez made a somewhat surprising observation. “I think Ryder Hesjedal is the great favorite,” he said. “Today he was able to not lose any seconds, and if the gaps will stay like this Scarponi, Basso and I won’t have any chance against him in the Milan TT. So, we have to attack him and try to drop him, otherwise he will win this race for sure.”

Euskaltel Upsets the Strategy

Most teams probably planned to save their climbing legs for the two enormous-finishing stages on Friday and Saturday. Stage 17 had four huge climbs but finished with a long descent which could have allowed stragglers to catch up.

Surprisingly Euskaltel attacked on the second climb of the day, forcing the GC leaders to respond. In response Liquigas rider Ivan Basso raised the pace until only the three riders could match it, though two more caught up on the descent.

Rodriguez won the final sprint. Only the top finishers: Rodriguez, Basso, Ryder Hesjedal, and Michele Scarponi, have a real chance to win overall.

Major Climbs and Descents

The 186-kilometer route from Falzes to Cortina d’Ampezzo included four categorized climbs: the Cat 2 Passo Valparola: 14.1 km, 5.5% average, 13% max; Cat 1 Passo Duran: 12.2 km, 8.1% average, 14% max, Cat 2 Forcella Staulanza: 12.3 km, 6.9% average, 11% max, Cat 1 Passo Giau: 9.9 km, 9.3% average, 14% max.

A group of five riders: Branislau Samoilau (Movistar,) Matteo Rabottini (Farnese Vini,) Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana,) Jose Serpa (Androni Giocattoli,) and Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r-La Mondiale)—escaped after 45 kilometers. Most of the peloton seemed content to let this group go, but Euskaltel, inspired by their Stage 16 win, decided to real in the break enough to bridge across to it.

The Basque team attacked on the slopes of the second climb, and cut the gap from six minutes to a minute-and-a-half with 60 km to go, when Amets Txurruka led Mikel Nieve on an attempt to reach the break.

Nieve never made it; all the breakaway riders were caught within 20 kilometers as Liquigas decided not to let up after the Euskaltel attack. The peloton was down to two dozen riders cresting the Cat 2 Forcella Staulanza.

Halfway up the final climb, the Cat 1 Passo Giau, only six were left: Basso, Hesjedal, Scarponi, Colnago’s Domenico Pozzovivo, Rodriguez, and Sky’s Rigoberto Uran.
 
Ryder Hesjedal launched one probing attack which was quickly covered; for the rest of the climb the leading six marked each other and tried to match the pace pushed by Ivan Basso. Because Basso is a rhythm climber who doesn’t do well with sudden hard accelerations, he kept the pace high enough to discourage attacks.

Finally 500 meters from the crest of the climb Domenico Pozzovivo attacked, imediatley driopping Scarponi and Uran.

Pozzovivo looked very strong on the attack; had the little Colnago rider moved earlier he might have destroyed the competition and won the stage. Instead he just made everyone—particularly Michele Scarponi—work extra hard on the descent.

The Lampre rider took huge chances to catch up to the leaders, a task made more difficult by a cramp in his right thigh. Scarponi made it back just two kilometers from the finish.

The six were together under the 1-km kite and past the 500-meter mark. With 350 meters to go Michele Scarponi started his sprint, but   slight incline of the road, this was too far. Ivan Basso caught him up, but Joaquim Rodriguez, had saved his energy while following on the climbs so he could use it all now. The Katusha rider passed basso to win his second stage of the 2012 Giro.

Two Mountainous Brutes on Tap

Stage 18 will be a final show for the sprinters, whichever of them might be left. Sky’s Mark Cavendish is all but guaranteed to win here; all his top-tier competitors have withdrawn. The stage is short, only 139 km from San Vito Cadore to Vedelago, and downhill most of the way. This will be almost another rest day for the climbers, and they will need it.

Stage 19 starts with a Cat 3, followed by two Cat 1s, a Cat 2, and a Cat 1 mountaintop finish. As Rodriguez said, everyone will have to attack here to gain an advantage for the final time trial. Many of the riders who are two or three minutes down might try to gain back some time here, which will put even more pressure on the GC leaders.

Stage 20 is worse. Opening with along cat 2 climb, it follows with a pair of Cat 3s and a Cat 1, the legendary Mortirolo, and finishes with 45 kilometers of climbing peaking at the even more famous Hors Categorie Passo Dello Selvio..

Stan Van Gundy (R) and Dwight Howard (L) led the Magic to the playoffs in all five seasons of their pairing. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

On Monday night came the inevitable announcement that Orlando had parted ways with head coach Stan Van Gundy and GM/President of Basketball Operations Otis Smith.

Similar to LeBron James’s exodus from Cleveland two years ago, speculation has been swirling around this move for months as a way to please franchise center Dwight Howard, so that the NBA’s three-time Defensive Player of the Year will sign an extension with the Magic. He hasn’t yet.

Howard, 26, will enter the final year of his contract next season, and if he hasn’t signed an extension before the season ends he’ll be the most sought after free agent on the market since LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh flooded the market two summers ago.

So the question becomes, what does this matter for the Nets’ chances of obtaining the big man? Not much. Here’s four reasons why:

1. Any new GM Orlando brings in, short of Hall-of-Famer Jerry West, will not be able to shake up the roster and turn things around in less than a year’s time to convince Howard that this team will compete for titles in the very near future. A chance to play for a contender is what every star wants and right now, with its roster, Orlando is not headed in that direction any time soon.

There have been problems for several years with Orlando’s roster that Howard’s mere presence on the court has masked. The biggest one currently is how the Magic is still on the hook for nearly $24 million to the over the next two years. Turkoglu, now 33, is a decent player but his contract pays him like an All-Star (which he’s never been) and because of it the Magic have little wiggle room in signing other players to come in make this team a true contender.

The frustrating thing for Orlando is that it has a franchise center, in Howard, that most guards and forwards would love to play with. They just haven’t drafted or traded wisely around Howard and since signing free agent forward Rashard Lewis to a huge contract in 2007 (that hasn’t worked out for them) they’ve had little cap space to work with in free agency.

Furthermore with a loaded NBA draft this summer Orlando, which was just bounced from the playoffs, does not have a lottery pick to work with.

2. Any new coach Orlando brings in, short of Phil Jackson (who’s not going to Orlando) would be unlikely to sway Howard to stay.

Jackson is the biggest coaching fish in the pond but it’s unlikely he’s taking any team’s bait these days, especially one with such a murky future.

Even hiring a coach as good as Jackson doesn’t guarantee anything. During his first two seasons (2005–2007) in his second stint as head coach of the then Shaq-less Lakers Jackson’s teams lost in the first round of the playoffs both years. It wasn’t until Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak somehow convinced Memphis to trade them star forward Pau Gasol (for 50 cents on the dollar) and young center Andrew Bynum developed that the Lakers jumped back into contender-status.

Besides, does any player really want to be the reason a coach loses his job? If Howard was afraid of becoming a villain for leaving the team via free agency, the removal of Van Gundy did nothing to quell that fear.

3. Nets biggest dominoes have yet to fall.

The aforementioned lottery, which takes place May 30 is the first domino. The now-Brooklyn Nets need to land a top-three selection so they can keep their pick, which otherwise goes to Portland to complete the trade for forward Gerald Wallace.

Naturally the biggest prize in the lottery is getting the top pick so that the Nets can grab Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. The 6-foot-10-inch, long-armed Davis looks like the next great center/power forward in this league and is a difference-maker at both ends of the court.

All-Stars Deron Williams (L) and Dwight Howard (R) would make any team an instant contender. (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Should the Nets get Davis, luring Howard and resigning point guard Deron Williams would be much easier and would turn the franchise into the Eastern Conference’s biggest contender.

Signing Williams this summer is the next big domino that would need to fall to get Howard but recent signs are good that Williams will be back. Most notably, the New York Post reported earlier this month that Williams spent time in Istanbul, Turkey, with Nets GM Billy King and owner Mikhail Prokhorov.

Howard likely won’t come via free agency to Brooklyn if Williams signs elsewhere (like Dallas). He wants to play alongside a star, which is what the Nets were correctly gambling on when they went all-in with the trade for Williams in 2011.

4. Howard still hasn’t signed with Orlando. The Magic still can’t afford to let him go for nothing.

This is still the biggest news. If Howard wanted to be a member of the Magic for the next five years, there’s been a big, fat contract that’s been waiting for him to sign sitting in the Magic’s front offices everyday for the past couple of years. But he hasn’t.

Furthermore, the LeBron James situation (where he was booed mercilessly after leaving the Cavs) may have put a scare into Howard doing the same, but the team should be scared as well.

Cleveland gambled that LeBron would resign with them two summers ago so they didn’t trade him away beforehand. After he abruptly took his talents to South Beach the Cavs became a mess posting a 40–108 record the past two seasons. Previous to his departure the team had averaged 63.5 wins a year in 2008–10.

With center Brook Lopez, guard MarShon Brooks, and a willingness to surrender a number of future first-round draft picks the Nets have the means to give Orlando a decent return for Howard, should the Magic realize that this is their best option.

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Jerry Jones’s (L) club and Daniel Snyder’s (R) team will be limited to a smaller salary cap the next two years. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

The NFL’s motion to dismiss the grievances filed by the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys that penalized them for their use of the salary cap during the uncapped season of 2010 was granted by Special Master Stephen Burbank, league counsel Jeff Pash said Tuesday, according to a report on the NFL’s website.

The dismissal means the league’s decision to a $36 million cap reduction on Washington and a $10 million on Dallas, each over the next two years, is upheld.

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(Dennis Grombkowski/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Mario Stevens of Germany falls off his horse, Quin Air, while competing in the second qualification round of the DKB Riders Tour competition. The crash happened on the second of the German Jumping & Dressage Grand Prix 2012 at Klein Flottbek on May 18, in Hamburg, Germany.

“We can turn this dream into a goal by giving it urgency,” said Warriors co-owner Peter Guber, Mandalay Entertainment’s chief executive. “We will play here in 2017. Take that as a promise that we will fulfill. There will be a world-class entertainment venue. We’re all-in.”

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Oscar Pistorius is scheduled to run in at least four events before June 30 in an effort to qualify for the London Summer Olympics. (Richard Huggard/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius plans to race at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York City next month in order to qualify for South Africa’s Olympic team (as opposed to the Paralympics), according to a report by The Associated Press.

Pistorius is a four-time Paralympic gold medalist who races with carbon-fiber blades for legs.

This year’s meet is scheduled for June 9 at Randall’s Island. Pistorius also plans to run in the Prefontaine Classic on June 2 in Eugene, Ore.

Pistorius, who had both legs amputated below the knees as an 11-month-old, must run the 400m in 45.30 seconds or faster once more between now and June 30 to be eligible for selection for a trip to the London 2012 Olympics.

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Euskaltel’s Jon Izagirre dropped his pursuers halfway up the final climb to win Stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)

Jon Izagirre got Euskaltel-Euskadi some much-needed publicity Tuesday when he attacked the breakaway to win Stage 16 of the Giro d/Italia.

The Spanish rider earned the climbing-oriented Basque team a win not on a mountain stage, but on what amounted to almost a second rest day—a short, gently sloping uphill stage with a short kick in the tail.

Izaggirre was part of a ten-rider break—Jon Izagirre (Euskaltel,) Lars Bak (Lotto Belisol,) Mathias Frank (BMC,) Alessandro De Marchi (Androni Giocattoli,) Luca Mazzanti (Farnese Vini,) Nikolas Maes (QuickStep,) Jose Herrada (Movistar,) Stef Clement (Rabobank,) Matty Brandle (NetApp,) and Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank)— which the peloton totally ignored; ten different teams were represented, none of the riders were within 30 minutes of the top of the General Classification, and there was no chance at a sprint finish.

Add to that, most riders couldn’t get on their bikes on the rest day due to rotten weather, and none of the top teams were looking to make huge efforts on Stage 16.

A relatively easy stage to kick off the final week after the rest day, Stage 16 was 100 km of flat followed by73 kilometers of gradual climbing with a steep kick a couple kilometers from the end. 4.5 km out, the road tilted up at nine percents (with 100 meters at 12 percent) for 2300 meters, then flattened out until the finish line.

Though not categorized, the climb was severe enough to slow the sprinters; however, the final two km gave a chance for power climbers to catch up to the pure climbers for a sprint among ascenders.

The breakaway riders worked together, opening a gap of over 12 minutes, until the final ten km when the slope increased and distrustful glances askance began flickering between the riders.

Movistar’s Jose Herrada attacked at the very start of the climb proper; Izagirre and BMC’s Mathias Frank followed. Frank attacked at the start of the steepest section; Izagirre, Herrada, and Colnago’s Alessandro De Marchi pursued.

Just past the steepest section Izaggirre attacked, and immediately opened a gap; the steep section had drained his pursuers. De Marchi slowed, letting Frank and Herrada surge past, but the Colnago rider was only resting—while Izagirre rode away on the flat final section, de Marchi bided his time, then out on a burst of speed to take second.

Rabobank’s Stef Clement also saved a final surge, passing Frank and Herrada to take third.

The General Classification remained unchanged, something less likely to happen after Stage 17, with its four enormous climbs.

Former head coach Stan Van Gundy of the Orlando Magic shown here after the team's loss to the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center on April 22, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

After a five-year tenure with the Orlando Magic, head coach Stan Van Gundy has been fired on Monday, the NBA team’s CEO Alex Martins announced. In addition, the organization and its General Manager Otis Smith have mutually agreed to part ways. 

“They both brought die-hard dedication and an unmatched work ethic on a daily basis,” Martins said in a press release. “Their success is well documented, as the Orlando Magic has had the fourth best record in the NBA over the last five years, and entering the playoffs this year the third most playoff wins over that period of time.”

Yet Orlando’s elimination in the first round of the playoffs in the past two seasons led to the organization’s decisions, Martins said. “These are the days you dread in this business, but we feel it’s time for new leadership and new voices.”

The 52-year-old Van Gundy was named head coach on June 7, 2007, becoming the team’s ninth head coach. He led Orlando to five post-season berths, three Southeast Division titles, and the 2009 Eastern Conference crown. Prior to taking up Orlando, Van Gundy had served as the head coach of the Miami Heat before resigning in 2005 mid-season after two and a half seasons. 

Van Gundy, the brother of former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, as head coach has a career regular season record of 371-208 (0.641), including 259-135 (0.657) in five seasons in Orlando. 

Smith has played for the Orlando Magic from 1989 to 1992. He has worked on and off for Orlando from 1996 to this Monday. He had served as a general manager for six years.

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Stan Van Gundy led Orlando to the playoffs all five years as a head coach. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Orlando Magic have parted ways with coach Stan Van Gundy and GM Otis Smith, the team announced Monday, according to a report on the NBA’s website.

“On behalf of the DeVos family, we sincerely appreciate and thank Otis and Stan for all that they have done on and off the floor for the Orlando Magic,” said Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins. “These are the days you dread in this business, but we feel it’s time for new leadership and new voices.”

Van Gundy had been head coach since 2007, compiling a 259-135 record in five seasons at the helm. His high point was a trip to the NBA Finals in 2009 where the Magic lost to the Lakers.

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Neftali Feliz is 3–1 through eight games this season. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Texas Rangers have placed right-handed starter Neftali Feliz on the disabled list with right elbow inflammation, according to a report on the team’s website. The Rangers had scheduled Feliz to pitch Wednesday against Seattle but will replace him with Scott Feldman.

Feliz, 24, is 3–1 with a 3.16 ERA this season after eight games—seven of them starts.

The former closer, who saved a total of 72 games the past two seasons for the two-time, pennant-winning Rangers had never been a starter in the major until this season.

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Bill Stewart went 28–12 at West Virginia. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Former West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart, 59, died of an apparent heart attack Monday, according to a report on msnsportsnet.com.

Stewart who took over for the Mountaineers following the departure of the very successful Rich Rodriguez following the 2007 season was 28–12 in three seasons as head coach from 2008–2010.

Stewart’s first win was a 48–28 win over Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl, after which the school hired him as full-time head coach. All three of his teams went 9-4 but failed to make a BCS Bowl appearance again.

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A flu-ridden Jordan somehow put up 38 points in a 90–88 win over Utah in Game 5 of the 1997 Finals. (Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images)

LeBron James’s incredible performance Sunday night in Indiana—40 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists while playing out-of-position to make up for the loss the injured Chris Bosh—was one of the best playoff performances in recent history. Had it taken place in the finals or against a more feared opponent it would probably be rated at or near the top of the list of best playoff performances in NBA history.

As it is, it’s a very impressive performance, but a closer look over the past 30-some years reveals several performances that can top it. With all due respect to a number of Shaquille O’Neal performances that came up just short, here are the NBA’s best playoff performances since 1980:

10. Akeem Olajuwon; 1986 NBA Finals, Game 5—“The Dream” proved to be one of the greatest clutch players in NBA history and is most noted for his domination of fellow centers Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and Shaquille O’Neal in the 1994 and ’95 playoffs. It was in ’86 though when the Olajuwon-led Rockets shocked the Lakers to play the Celtics in the finals that gave the world a preview of what “The Dream” could do. In Game 5, with Houston down three games to one, Olajuwon was at his best. Needing a win to extend the series Akeem (later known as “Hakeem”) put on an incredible performance scoring 32 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and blocking 8 shots against Boston’s vaunted-frontline to lead the Rockets to a 111–96 win.

9. Tim Duncan; 2003 NBA Finals, Game 6—The 2003 NBA Finals, between defensive-minded foes San Antonio and New Jersey, was not a made-for-TV matchup. But those who saw it, witnessed Tim Duncan at his finest. With the Spurs leading the series three games to two but trailing in Game 6 by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter, Duncan’s three blocked shots down the stretch ignited their comeback that resulted in their second title in five years. Duncan nearly threw down a quadruple-double finishing with 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocked shots against the likes of Dikembe Mutumbo, Jason Collins, and Kenyon Martin.

8. Larry Bird; 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, Game 5—Three-time NBA Champion Larry Bird had a number of incredible performances and game-winning shots in the postseason. It was one incredible defensive play that single-handedly reversed this series and held off the soon-to-be-great Pistons for one more year. Here was the scene: The series was tied at two games apiece, the Celtics were down a point with seven seconds left when Bird drove to the hoop only to be rejected at the rim and the ball, which went out of bounds, was awarded to Detroit. Detroit guard Isiah Thomas quickly took the ball out of bounds, hoping to catch the Celtics in a state of shock. Instead Bird came out of nowhere to steal Thomas’s inbounds pass and passed to a driving Dennis Johnson for a game-winning layup with one second remaining to win the game. Bird finished with 36 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, and one incredible steal.

In 2007, LeBron (R) torched the Pistons for 48 points, including all 18 in the two overtime periods to lead Cleveland to the win. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

7. James Worthy; 1988 NBA Finals, Game 7—“Big Game James”’ Worthy punctuated one of the greatest finals ever with one of the greatest Game 7 performances ever by burning Detroit for 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Lakers 108–105 series-clinching win. Often overshadowed by Hall-of-Fame teammates Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Worthy’s hot hand throughout the playoffs that season was a boon to the Lakers, which no longer ran its offense through the 41-year-old Abdul Jabbar. Worthy, who led all playoff scorers that year in total points, was named Finals MVP.

6. Michael Jordan; 1986 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game 2—Jordan burst on the scene with an impressive rookie campaign in ’85 but it was his performance against the heavily favored Celtics in ’86 that catapulted him into the category of all-time greats. Boston was 40–1 in the regular season at home that year and would go on to win the title, but not before a scare from Jordan. The 23-year-old hit 22 of 41 shots from all over the Celtic’s home floor, torching Boston defenders with fade away jumpers, mesmerizing dunks, and knee-buckling crossovers. All in all, he scored a still-playoff record 63 points, while garnering praise from the Celtics afterward, in the 135–131 double-overtime classic that Boston ultimately won.

5. Reggie Miller…

Ike Davis (L) was thrown out at the plate by catcher J.P. Arencibia after attempting to score following a wild pitch. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Outfielder Mike Baxter had a single, double, and a triple in four at-bats Sunday as the New York Mets (22–19) held off a late rally by Toronto (23–19) to win 6–5 and avoid the three-game series sweep.

Baxter scored in the first on a double by David Wright after doubling himself to advance leadoff hitter Andres Torres to third. Kirk Nieuwenhuis later doubled in Wright to put New York up 3–0 before starting pitcher Dillon Gee threw a pitch.

Gee got the win (now 3–3 on the season) for the Mets, going six and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks while striking out six Blue Jays. The 26-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 5.44 on the season and has gone at least five innings in each of his eight starts.

In the second inning Baxter, who has fewer than 100 career at-bats since arriving in the majors in 2010, struck again tripling home Ronny Cedeno to make it 4–0.

Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez settled down a bit after the triple, retiring seven of the next eight hitters. Meanwhile the Blue Jays got on the board after Gee gave up a pair of walks followed by a single in the second.

In the third, Toronto’s power-hitting DH Jose Bautista hit a solo home run, his 11th of the season to cut the lead to 4–2. Bautista, who would add an RBI-single in the seventh inning has averaged 49 home runs each of the past two seasons, but got off to a slow start this season. With three hits Sunday, including two through the hole in the Mets shift, his average is now at .217, which is the highest it’s been since April 20.

The Mets finally chased Henderson Alvarez with a two-run fifth.

Mike Baxter started the inning with his third hit, a single followed by a David Wright single. Two batters later Daniel Murphy singled home Baxter and two batters after that Ike Davis hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Lucas Duda, making it 6–2 Mets.

For Wright, the two hits on the day pushed his average to .412 on the season—tops in the majors as is his .513 on-base percentage. Conversely, the fielder’s choice by Ike Davis was his 25th out in his last 26 at-bats, and may be causing the talented first baseman to press a little at the plate as the left-handed hitting Davis saw just five pitches in four at-bats on the day.

David Wright (L) and Frank Francisco congratulate each other after the win. Wright had two hits and drove in two runs while Francisco got the save. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Davis though stretched a single into a double in his next at-bat that led off the eighth inning—pushing his average up to .163. He then advanced to third on a passed ball by Toronto catcher J.P. Arencibia and then tried to score on a wild pitch by Toronto reliever Carlos Villanueva. The pitch got past Arencibia and went all the way to the backstop but took a hard bounce back to Arencibia who made a great throw to nail Davis at the plate.

The run could have proved costly.

The Mets, up 6–3 at the time, followed Davis’s out with back-to-back singles but were unable to plate either runner.

After Mets reliever Bobby Parnell gave up a pair of runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning that closed the lead to 6–5, Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis both drew walks to put runners on first and second base with one out in the ninth. Toronto, though, was able to strike out both Scott Hairston and Ronny Cedeno to end the inning.

Mets closer Frank Francisco got the save, his 10th of the season, after working a scoreless ninth, which was not without its excitement. The 32-year-old former-Blue Jay allowed the first two hitters in the ninth to reach base before striking out Edwin Encarnacion, J.P. Arencibia, and Eric Thames in succession to end the game and lower his ERA to 8.04 in the process.

Next up for the Mets is a three-game series in Pittsburgh starting Monday as the Mets Johan Santana (1–2) will square off against Erik Bedard (2–5) on Monday.

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Alex Rodriguez was hitless in the Yankees loss Sunday. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

Cincinnati (21–19) scored five runs in the last three innings Sunday to rally past the Yankees (21–20) 5–2 in the rubber match of their three-game set.

C.C. Sabathia (5–2) allowed just three singles through six innings before allowing three runs—including two home runs—in the seventh inning and took the loss. Sabathia was lifted at the end the inning after allowing six hits and striking out six Reds.

Reliever Boone Logan was charged with the other two runs after giving up singles to Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce. Phillips and Bruce scored on a double by Ryan Ludwick.

Reds starter Johnny Cueto (5–1) got the win as he went seven innings allowing just two runs off a home run courtesy of Raul Ibanez that scored Robinson Cano. Ibanez’ home run was the ninth of the season for him.

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LeBron James scored 40 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists in the Heat's 101–93 win over the Pacers Sunday. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The NBA’s regular season MVP LeBron James had game-highs of 40 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists to lead the Miami Heat to a second-half comeback win, 101–93, over the Indiana Pacers to tie the series up at two games a piece.

Minus Chris Bosh, who may be out for the series with an abdomen injury, the bigger two-thirds of the Heat’s Big Three of James and Dwayne Wade were on fire—especially in the second half. The duo combined for 70 of the team’s 101 points overall, including 28 of the team’s 30 third-quarter points as the Heat quickly erased an eight-point halftime deficit.

Wade, who finished with 30 points on the day after having a horrible Game 3 in which he hit just two of 13 shots while scoring 5 points in the Heat’s 94–75 loss, got off to a slow start Sunday. The 30-year-old shooting guard missed seven of his first eight shots before hitting a 3-pointer and then a dunk just before halftime to cut an 11-point lead down to 8.

The makes were the first 2 of 12 straight shots hit by Wade from the floor from the second quarter to the fourth quarter.

James and Wade combined to score 39 points in a row at one point for Miami from late in the first half to near the end of the third quarter. And until Udonis Haslem hit back-to-back jumpers with five minutes left in the game, extending the Heat’s lead to seven points, no Miami players other than Wade or James had even hit a field goal since the first half.

Haslem finished with 14 points in 25 minutes while Wade, in addition to his 30 points grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists in a performance that could only be outdone by the versatile LeBron James.

Dwayne Wade (L) missed seven of his first eight shots before hitting 12 in a row as Miami dominated the second half Sunday to tie the series at two games apiece. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Having to play power forward in the 6-foot-11-inch Bosh’s absence and match up against Indiana’s taller front line, the 6-foot-8-inch small forward hit 14 of 27 shots and 12 of 16 free throws while blocking two shots and coming up with a pair of steals at the other end. His 18 rebounds helped the Heat to a surprising 47–38 rebounding advantage over the taller Pacers.

The defensive pressure put on by James and Wade frustrated the Pacers’ shooting, especially in the second half. Indiana scored just 39 points after halftime and looked uncomfortable at times on offense, while being slow-footbed on defense despite Bosh’s absence.

Game 5 of this series will be played Tuesday night in Miami.

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Peter Sagan (2L) of Slovakia of Liquigas-Cannondale celebrates his fifth stage victory in Stage Eight of the Amgen Tour of California. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Peter Sagan, the 22-year-old Slovakian cycling champion, came to America and beat the nation’s best in their own backyard. Of course, he also beat the best from the rest of the world.

Sagan, riding for the Liquigas-Canondale team, won the first four stages of the Tour of California, finished second in Stage Six, and won Stage Eight. Sagan didn’t even make the top ten in the General Classification, but his is a feat people will remember.

When asked by NBC Sports if things could possibly have gone better the 22-year-old Liquigas rider replied, “I don’t know—maybe if I won another victory on Big Bear, but in life we can’t have everything. I am very glad and happy, and thanks to my team.”

“Tom Boonen had a good train. The last kilometer was really fast—the last turn right was also dangerous. It was good we had been there six times already.” (The route included several laps around the city of Los Angeles.) “I went at 150 meters and I finished first so I am happy.”

Sagan confirmed that he would ride the Tour de France for the first time in July. “I will do the Tour de France and I will do it well,” he said. “I hope to win one stage.”

Rabobank’s Robert Gesink will also be remembered. This 25-year-old Dutch rider won the overall by the biggest margin in the seven-year history of the event—a whopping 46 seconds. Gesink finished fourth in the Stage Five time trial and won the Queen stage—the hardest stage of the race—the climb up Mount Baldy by enough to win the race overall.

The American RadioShack-Nissan team won the best team classification, and U.S. rider Dave Zabriskie from U.S. team Garmin-Barracuda won second overall—for the fourth year in a row. Maybe, next year, Dave.

Four of the top ten finishers overall were Americans, and five of the top ten from American teams.

The race ran from Beverly Hills to Los Angeles and ran several laps around Hollywood before the finish on Hollywood Boulevard. There were constant attacks, but none mattered; Liquigas and Omega Pharma-Quickstep were each determined to set up a sprint finish.

Omega set up a perfect leadout train for Tom Boonen, but it didn’t matter. Sagan came onto the final straight fourth wheel behind his teammate Dania loss; Sagan cut right around Boonen when the Omega rider started sprinting, and Sagan simply blasted by to win the stage by half a wheel.

Farnese-Vini’s Matteo Rabottini celebrates after crossing the finish line of Stage 15th of the Giro d'Italia. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)

Matteo Rabottini of Farnese-Vini initiated an attack at 18 kilometers, pressed on solo for 86 kilometers, and held off Joaquin Rodriguez in the final 100 meters to win Stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia.

Rabottini’s ride was brilliant; he pushed hard from the start, climbed well in absolutely terrible weather, descended Bravely despite dangerous road conditions, crashed and kept going, and finally, when overtaken a few hundred meters from the finish, fought back to earn his stage win.

Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha attacked in the final kilometer to take back the leader’s pink jersey. The big-name contenders—Ivan Basso, Michele Scarponi, Paolo Tiralongo, Damiano Cunego—all beat race leader Ryder Hesjedal across the line.

One has to commend the designers of this year’s parcours. Several stages have sparked serious competition, and the final outcome of the Giro d’Italia is still up in the air. No rider has managed to gain a real edge, despite concerted efforts.

Monday will be a rest day. Tuesday starts the final week which includes some positively brutal mountain stages.

A Test of Toughness

Stage 15, 169 km from Busto Arsizio to Lecco/Pian dei Resinelli, included four categorized climbs, opening with the Cat 1 Valico di Valcava, followed  the Cat 3 Forcella di Bura, the Cat 2 Culmine di San Pietro and climb to the finish line, the Cat.2 Piani dei Resinelli. After the two tough climbs of Stage 14, this would have been a difficult stage on the best of days, but Sunday was chilly and rainy, the worst possible conditions for riders who had been on the road every day for nearly two weeks.

With most of the serious GC contenders a minute or more behind the leader, Stage Fifteen looked to be a time for attacks. Mateo Rabottini started the process when he and Guillaume Bonnafond of AG2R broke free of the peloton 18 km into the stage, opening a gap of over seven minutes before Stefan Denifl (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Mathias Frank (BMC) decided to give chase.

This pair was soon joined by Francesco Failli (Farnese Vini) and Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-QuickStep.) The quartet should have been able to reel in the leaders; instead, they were swallowed up by the peloton within ten kilometers.

A more serious chase group broke free on the lower slopes of the Cat 1 Valcava climb (8.6% average grade for 11.6 km.) This group started with Emanuele Sella (Androni) and Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel) but swelled to include 11 riders: Sella, Txurruka, and Michal Golas (QuickStep,) Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar,) Marco Pinotti (BMC,) Diego Ulissi (Lampre,) Stefano Pirazzi (Colnago,) Evgueni Petrov (Astana,) Adriano Malori (Lampre,) Alberto Losada (Katusha,) Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM.)

Shortly after this group broke free, Rabottini decided he could make better progress on his own and dropped Bonnafond. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Andrey Amador chased and caught the chase group at the 65-km mark. At this point Rabottini had four minutes on the chase group which was itself five minutes ahead of the peloton.

Rabottini and the chasers crested the Cat 3 Forcella di Bura with more than eight minutes on the peloton, which was now led by Garmin and Liquigas—Liquigas refused to do all the work alone. This might have helped the breakaways stay out front.

Rabottini looked strong as he started the climb up the Cat 2 Culmine di San Pietro, now with 5:15 over the chase group. With 31 km left in the stage Stefano Pirazzi attacked the chase group. He was reeled in and attacked again, wasting time and energy the chasers needed to put into their pursuit. Several of the chasers dropped off the back.

Rabottini finally began showing slowing near the top of the third climb. The Farnese rider had less than three minutes over the chasers when he crested the climb with 25.9 km to go. He pushed hard on the slick, narrow, and very foggy descent, trying to stretch the gap, and paid for it, hitting the deck 1t the 17-km mark. He got right up an continued, but the gap was barely two minutes.

Luckily, the remaining chasers: Cunego, Amador, Losada, Pirazzi and Txurruka, wasted still more time attacking each other. The peloton, now led by Astana, picked up the pace coming into the final climb of the day; the GC leaders didn’t care about Rabottini, but they needed to catch Cunego, who was 2:43 down in GC. The peloton fractured under the pace, with only a couple of dozen riders managing to hang on up the final climb.

The Final Climb

When Rabottini hit the last climb, ten kilometers at a 7.8 percent average grade with ramps up to 12 percent, he had 2:30 omn the five pursuers and 4Z:10 on the peloton. It looked like he wouldn’t make it; the peloton was picking up the pace, and the Farnese rider was looking more and more tired. He had led the race for 140 kilometers, through abominable conditions; he had soloed 75; he had crashed. He didn’t give up.

Stefano Pirazzi attacked the chase group again with 6.8 km left. Losado lead Cunego and Txurruka in pursuit; Amador faded. With 4.2 to go, Losado caught Pirazzi, dropping Cunego in the process. Four kilometers from the line, Pirazzi attacked again. Losado and Txurruka caught him 500 meters up the road; the gasp to Rabottini was now down to a minute-and-a-half.

Meanwhile Liquigas had taken over driving duties, determined to keep Ivan Basso up on the GC, closing the gap to the chasers to 2:40.

Sylvester Szmyd of Liquigas led the peloton until the 2-km mark, when he pulled off the let Ivan Basso finish the stage. Immediately the other GC contenders prepared to attack the Liquigas leader. Sky’s Segio Henao and Garmin’s Ryder Hesjedal came up to the front.

At 1700 meters Roman Kreuziger of Astana made an attack but he got nowhere. Lampre’s Michele Scarponi used Kreuziger’s attack to launch his own. The peloton caught him so he went again, this time gaining a gap. The Lampre rider caught his teammate Cunego, but Katusha’s Joaqim Rodriguez and Sky’s Henao caught Scarponi 1400 meters from the line.

Rodriguez accelerated away from Henao and Scarponi with 1000 meter to go, passing Pirazzi, Txurruka and Losado halfway to the finish. The Spanish Katusha rider caught the Italian Farnese rider with 300 meters to go, but Rabottini managed to cling to his rival’s wheel.

Rabottini, after all he had done already, found a way to do just a little more: with 100 meters left in the stage, the Italian rider cut inside Rodriguez, pulled level, and put on a final burst of speed to cross the finish line just ahead.

Rodriguez re-took the leader’s pink jersey, while Matteo Rabottini got the stage win he had worked so hard to secure.

Several of the top contenders: Roman Kreuziger, Ivan Basso, Paolo Tiralongo and Michele Scarponi—moved into the top six spots in GC behind Ryder Hesjedal and Joaquim Rodriguez, who have been swapping the overall lead. Though they are all more than 1:20 behind, they are all at nearly identical times. This half-dozen riders will have to fight it out on every climbing stage, and even then—will they be able to catch Joaquim Rodriguez?

Robert Gesink of Rabobank celebrates as he wins the Stage Seven of the Amgen Tour of California, from Ontario to Mt. Baldy. (Joe Klamar/AFP/GettyImages)

In a finale even more thrilling than had been anticipated, Rabobank’s Robert Gesink took the stage win and the race leader’s yellow jersey on the Queen stage of the 2012 Tour of California, the Hors Categorie climb up Mount Baldy.

The Rabobank rider attacked in the final five kilometers, when the road tilted up to a leg-breaking 17 percent grade, and kicked repeatedly to drop his pursuers and overtake the few riders ahead of him, including second-place finisher Jhon Atapuma of Colombia-Coldesportes and defending champion Chris Horner of RadioShack-Nissan.

For Gesink, the win cemented a change in fortune. The Dutch rider’s father was killed in a mountain bike race in 2011, which left Gesink emotionally dead, he said. Gesink then broke his leg in a crash in September.

His recovery started with the birth of his daughter Anna in December, and was reinforced by taking the yellow jersey in the Tour of California.

Horner’s Bold Title Defense

While Gesink’s late attack was spectacular, RadioShack’s Chris Horner provided much of the excitement for the first two thirds of the race.

The 2011 winner sent joined a huge break half-an-hour into the stage. Started by teammate Jens Voigt in the first few kilometers, the break swelled to 15 riders— Christopher Horner, George Bennett, Grégory Rast, and Jens Voigt of RadioShack, Timothy Duggan, Maxime Bouet, and Mickaël Chérel, of Liquigas-Cannondale, Marc de Maar and Bradley White of United Healthcare, Darwin Atapuma of Colombia-ColdePortes, Alexandre Geniez of Agros-Shimano, Lucas Euser of Spidertech, Christopher Baldwin of Bissell, and Nathan Brown of Bontrager-Livestrong, though Brown dropped back after just a few minutes.

This break pulled strongly until 40 km from the finish, when it started shedding riders. Lucas euswer, Jens Voigt, Chris Baldwin—one by one the breakaway riders slipped back, until only four were left: Chris Horner, Tim Duggan, Jhon Atapuma, and Marc de Maar.

Horner had seemingly lost his chance for a repeat win with his sub-par performance in the time trial, which led him 2:50 down in the General Classification. Instead of accepting his fate, the RadioShack rider gambled everything: he attacked the break with 40 km left in the stage.

Horner took off on his own and stretched the gap to 3:25 within a few kilometers, giving him the virtual lead on the road.

Colombia-Coldesportes’s Jhon Atapuma caught the RadioShack rider at the 35-km mark, and the pair pressed on together, opening the gap to 3:50 31 km from the finish line; unfortunately for Horner’s hopes, the gap started shrinking after that.

BMC started raising the pace of the peloton in the final 30 km, hoping to set up Teejay Van Garderen. The team pulled the chase until the leaders hit the bottom of the final hors categorie climb up Mount Baldy. This climb started about eight kilometers from the finish, but the first three kilometers were not that steep—the hard part was yet to come.

BMC had two riders on the front ahead of Van Garderen when the chase group hit the climb. They attacked, but couldn’t sustain it. Garmin’s Dave Zabriskie, in the yellow jersey, moved to the front, but Rabobank pushed him aside, sending Luis Leon Sanchez and Wilco Kelderman to the head.

Sanchez and Kelderman pulled Robert Gesink up the hill, with Zabriskie fourth wheel.

As the peloton powered up the first few kilometers of the final climb only 14 riders remained: the three Rabobank riders and Zabriskie, BMC’s Teejay Van Garderen, Matthew Busche and Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Nissan,) Tom Danielson (Garmin-Barracuda,) Joe Dombrowski (Bontrager-Livestrong,) Tejay Cameron Meyer and Pieter Weening (Orica GreenEdge,) Nicolas Roche (Ag2R) Fabio Duarte (Colombia-Coldeportes,) Jacques-Maynes (Bissell Cycling) and amazingly Levi Leipheimer of Omega Pharma-Quickstep, riding among the leaders only six weeks after breaking his leg in a training accident.

Next: Last Attacks

Ryan Briscoe, driver of the #2 Izod Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the pole during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Ryan Briscoe has seventeen pole positions in his IndyCar career, but none are even close to as important and the pole position he won Saturday afternoon: The Penske Racing driver turned in the best time on Indianapolis 500 Pole Day, earning the right to lead the field into the first lap of the 96th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Pole Day, which traditionally sets the top of the grid for the Indy 500, starts at 11 a.m. and continues until 6 p.m., but the middle hours of the day, when the tracks is hottest and slowest, are mostly used for practice runs. The final few hours are usually when teams unsatisfied with their earlier times try to squeeze in one last quick lap.

This year, the end of the day was reserved for the fast Nine Shootout, when only the quickest drivers competed for the pole. Unlike as in past years, drivers were allowed unlimited runs, and did not have to erase their fastest laps to set new times. This removed some of the randomness created by changing weather conditions, and created a tremendous spectacle for the fans, as the best of the best tried to one-up each other as the clock ticked down.

Ryan Briscoe will start from the pole for the 96th running of IndyCar‘s Indianapolis 500. The Penske driver pushed his Chevy-powered Dallara to a four-lap average of 226.484 mph in2.38.9514 minutes around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, beating the similar Dallara-Chevy of Andretti Autosport driver James Hinchcliffe, whose average speed was a scant three-thousands of a second slower, .0023 seconds longer for the four laps.

Briscoe won the pole by the smallest margin in the history of the race.

“This is unbelievable. Those four laps were so good and so consistent,” Briscoe told Indycar.com. “It was Lap 4 that won me the pole. Everyone at Team Penske has worked so hard. Chevrolet, man, they gave us the horsepower. I’m really proud of them and IZOD. Getting a pole at Indy, this is huge.”

Hinchcliffe, who was wearing the racing gloves of the late and much missed IndyCar driver Greg Moore, said, “Yeah, the smallest of margins; it’s heartbreaking in a sense. I’m going to lose a little bit of sleep over how small that margin was to Ryan and knowing that we had it there for three laps, but you know that’s Indy. It’s a gust of wind, it’s a shadow over a corner that changes and that can be the difference.

“At the end of the day we get to start on the front row of the Indy 500, and that’s just the coolest thing ever. At the end of the day it’s a great result for us.”

Another Andretti Autosport driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay, qualified third with a four-lap average of 226.240, .2412 seconds off the pace of his teammate, while teammate Marco Andretti took fourth at 225.456.

Penske Racing took the next two positions: Will Power (225.422) and Helio Castroneves (225.172) will fill out the second row at the May 27 racing classic.

Seventh spot on the girds went to an underdog: 21-year-old Josef Newgarden, driving for Sarah Fisher’s undefunded team—a team which had to beg, plead, and cajole to even get an engine lease for the season—beat out a host of veterans, including defending champ Dario Franchitti and former Champ Scott Dixon. Newgarden was fastest of the Honda-powered cars—the fastest eight all had Chevrolet engines.

Neither Franchitti nor Dixon made the fastest nine for the Shootout. Dixon qualified 16th, and Franchitti 17th.

Pole Day sets the grid positions for the fastest 24 drivers. Unqualified drivers will compete for the remaining nine spots on Sunday, Bump Day. NBC Sports Network will televise Bump Day proceedings starting at Noon EDT until the end of action at 6:30 p.m.

The race itself will be part of all-day coverage on ABC starting at 11 a.m. Sunday, May 27.

Chelsea players celebrate after being crowned champions of European club football. (John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)

Chelsea are champions of European football after beating Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout 4–3 to win their first Champions League title.

On Saturday night in Munich, a makeshift Chelsea squad benefited from some terrible Bayern misses and then made the most of their own few chances to pull off a most unexpected result.

Bayern had taken a well-deserved 1–0 lead in the 83rd minute on a brilliant headed goal from Thomas Muller. But, on Chelsea’s first corner of the match in the 88th minute, after Bayern had taken 16 of their own, Didier Drogba powered home a glancing header to equalize the match 1–1 in unbelievable style.

The match went into extra time and much like in regulation time, Bayern created more scoring opportunities but failed to capitalize. Arjen Robben missed a penalty in what will surely be a night to forget for Bayern’s Dutch winger.

In the penalty shoot-out, Bayern actually held a 3–1 lead before Chelsea’s Frank Lampard scored. Then Bayern substitute striker Ivica Olic had his penalty saved by Petr Cech’s left hand before Ashley Cole made it 3–3.

Bayern’s German international midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger stepped up and fired a shot that hit off Cech’s left post. Then Drogba rolled one in on Manuel Neuer’s right side for the win.

Drogba had nearly become the goat for Chelsea after conceding a penalty to Bayern in the first period of injury time. But Cech saved a poorly taken penalty by Arjen Robben to keep Chelsea hopes alive.

Heavily favored Bayern, playing in front of their home fans, missed chance after chance and lost a glorious opportunity to win their fifth European championship. The giants of German football came into the match having won 22 Bundesliga titles and are possibly even more distraught than after their 1999 Champions League loss to Manchester United in which they squandered a one-goal lead only to lose 2–1 in injury time.

But Robben’s left foot repeatedly misfired and striker Mario Gomez also ballooned a shot in the first half after getting a clear look on goal. Bayern will be left wondering how they lost this Champions League final.

Team of Destiny

Chelsea stunned Barcelona in the semifinals, preventing an “El Clasico” final between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The west London club also came back to beat Napoli in the Round of 16 after losing the first match 3–1. Their story is one of destiny.

Referee Pedro Proenca from Portugal made all the correct calls and deserves credit for handling an extremely important match professionally and without any controversy.

With the win, Chelsea (which finished sixth in the Premier League) will return to Champions League football next year while Tottenham Hotspur who finished in the Champions League qualification place (fourth in the Premier League) will be pushed into Europe League competition.

Follow Rahul on Twitter @RV_ETSports

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Movistar rider Andrey Amador celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win Stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)

Movistar’s Andrey Amador led two other survivors of an eight-man breakaway across the finish line to win Stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia. The Movistar rider took the lead on the long descent between the stage’s two Cat 1 climbs and held on through the final 28 kilometers to beat the other two survivors in the final sprint.

NetApp’s Jan Barta took second, right on Amamdor’s wheel, while Androni’s Alessandro De Marchi took third, two seconds down.

Garmin-Barracuda’s Ryder Hesjedal attacked the peloton in the final three kilometers to finish fourth and retake the leader’s jersey.

“The guys started to accelerate a little bit on the climb,” Hesjedal told velonation.com “I knew it eased off after three kilometers. My legs felt good, I decided to give it a go and test myself a little bit. I tested the race as well. I just felt good, I wasn’t thinking about anything, just putting in an effort and seeing what the other guys were up to. It worked out well, I’m back in the jersey, so that is great.”

Action-Packed Race

There was a danger that no one would attack on Stage 14, saving themselves for Stage 15. Happily things didn’t work out that way at all. Instead many riders attacked in the final five kilometers, including some of the top GC contenders.

First Jose Rujano of Androni attacked, with Lampre’s Damiano Cunego on his wheel. Then Colnago’s Gianluca Brambilla attacked, with Euskaltel’s Mikel Nieve.

Third-placed Ryder Hesjedal of Garmin-Barracuda followed and passed this pair, and rode on to finish fourth and take back the race leader’s pink jersey. Race leader Joachim Rodriguez of Katusha took a shot, but couldn’t get away from the peloton. Colnago’s Domenico Pozzovivo attacked, but was pulled back by Lampre’s Michele Scarponi and Astana’s Paolo Tiralongo.

Liquigas, which has been riding at the front in every stage and through most of this one, ended up gaining three spots for Ivan Basso, who finished 13th, losing nine seconds. Astana’s Paolo Tiralongo gained one spot but lost nine seconds; Sandy Casar lost one place but lost 39 seconds.

Sky’s Rigoberto Uran moved into eighth in GC and also won the Best Young Rider jersey. Lampre’s MIchwele Scarponi moved up to ninth.

As the adage goes, one couldn’t win the Giro on this stage but one could lose it; Astana’s Roman Kreuziger nearly proved that, falling out of the leading two dozen riders on the long last climb. He finished 16th, but still managed to hold onto sixth in GC, though he lost 18 seconds.

Next: Easy Start, Killer Finish

Nineteen-year old phenomenon Bryce Harper hit his first two home runs in back-to-back games this past week for the offense-starved Nationals. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

With just a week and a half until Memorial Day the baseball universe still seems upside down. The Baltimore Orioles, who’ve finish in last place four straight seasons, are currently in first-place in the AL East, while the once-mighty Red Sox are occupying the Orioles’ customary spot in the basement.

After hits in seven of his last eight games new Angel Albert Pujols’ average is finally above .200, while his home run pace (three so far and two in his last two games) puts him on pace for a whopping 12 this season—far below his career-worst of 32 set in 2007.

Heading into the first round of interleague play (starting Friday) here are the Epoch Times Power Rankings:

10. Cincinnati Reds: 19-18 record; 3.9 runs scored, 3.9 runs allowed—The thus-far consistently mild Reds have yet to win or lose more than three games in a row this season and have allowed as many runs (144) as they’ve scored. The good news for the team is that slugger Joey Votto has found his power stroke again. Votto, who has hit an average of 29 home runs the last four seasons, has hit four out this week alone to triple his season total to six. In Votto’s defense the hard-hitting first baseman already has an NL-high 35 walks thus far as pitchers have had success pitching around him this season. Previous: 8

9. New York Yankees: 20-17 record; 4.8 runs scored, 4.5 runs allowed*—Although the Yankees’ record doesn’t quite reflect it, the team is playing well, despite their circumstances. Andy Pettitte has returned to the rotation to counter for the loss of injured starter Michael Pineda. Slow-starting Robinson Cano is hitting .357 in May to move his average past .300 for the season. And despite injuries to the team’s first two closer options (Mariano Rivera and David Robertson) the Yankees still have Rafael Soriano, who had 45 saves in 2010, to close out games. Previous: 6

8. Cleveland Indians: 22-16 record; 4.5 runs scored, 4.6 runs allowed—The only team on this list that’s actually allowed more runs than they’ve scored for the season, the Indians are an astounding 9-1 in one-run games on the season. Even more amazing is the performance of their top starter Derek Lowe. The 39-year old veteran is 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 8 starts thus far. Previous: 10

The gamble of investing more than $100 million in unproven starter Yu Darvish has paid off thus far as Darvish is 6-1 with a 2.60 ERA through 8 starts. (Layne Murdoch/Getty Images)

7. Baltimore Orioles: 25-14 record; 4.7 runs scored, 4.2 runs allowed—The first-place Orioles continue to surprise the baseball world with their unexpected start. Though Tampa Bay came out of nowhere to become contenders in the same division in 2008, the young Rays had a talented young pitching staff and the organization itself was lauded for their incredible minor-league system the year prior to that. Baltimore, now a respectable 8-6 against Boston, New York, and Tampa Bay has scored the third-most runs in the American League despite the slow start by right fielder Nick Markakis (.247 average). Previous: 9

6. Atlanta Braves: 23-15 record; 5.3 runs scored, 4.4 runs allowed*—After a 0-4 start to the season the young Braves have quietly been one of the hottest teams in baseball. Atlanta boasts four starting pitchers with an ERA under 4.00—and three of those starters (Tommy Hanson, Brandon Beachy, and Randall Delgado) are under the age of 26. Thirty-six year-old starter Tim Hudson is still going strong (2-1 3.96 ERA) on the mound while 40-year old Chipper Jones (.298, 5 home runs, 23 RBIs) is having his best season since 2008. Previous: 4

Sylvain Georges of Ag2R nearly collapses after crossing the finish line to win Stage Six of the Tour of California. The French rider made an incredible effort to lead the race for 184.5 km and solo the final fifty km fast enough that the peloton couldn’t catch him. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Ag2R rider Sylvain Georges joined the first break of the day, 1.5 km from the start of the 186-km Stage Six of the Tour of California, and managed to stay ahead of the peloton until the end, beating Peter Sagan across the finish line by 28 seconds.

Georges picked up the pace fifty kilometers from the finish line, on the long final ascent. The rest of the six-man break disintegrated on the long, long climb up to Big Bear Lake; only one rider, Optum’s Sebastien Salas hung on until the King of the Mountain point, when he sat up, having secured enough points to seal the KOM competition.

Georges made an amazing effort, pushing himself so hard he could barely stand after crossing the finish line. None of the GC contending teams expected him to last; Garmin, Liquigas, Rabobank, BMC and Omega failed to chase, waiting for the Frenchman to fade.

He didn’t. Somehow Georges found the will to push himself up the long climb, stay away on the flat route around the lake, and up the final ascending kilometer, while the peloton roared up after him.

For a while it looked as if Georges might also win the yellow jersey, but Liquigas and Garmin, realizing in the last dozen kilometers that their GC contenders might be threatened, turned up the pace and cut the gap from several minutes to half a minute.

“It was at the second KOM [King of the Mountain] point when I caught up with the king of the mountains leader [Sebastien Salas] and I  knew from there the other guy was finished, so I told myself I was going to go for it form that point until the end,” georges to NBC Sports. “For me this is the most wonderful victory. I have never ridden 45 kilometers solo for a victory and it makes it that much more special.”

One other rider from the break, RadioShack’s Greg Rast, very nearly got a podium finish; he joined a pair of Dutchmen, GreenEdge’s Peter Weening and Rabobank’s Wiley Keldermann, who attacked 27 km from the finish. This trio stayed ahead of the peloton until 1300 meters from the finish.

Peter Sagan finished second; had his team started chasing harder a few minutes sooner, Sagan would have gotten his fifth of six stage wins. Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Peter Velits challenged Sagan for the sprint to finish third, netting himself a time bonus which advanced him to fourth in general Classification.

Garmin-Barracuda’s Dave Zabriskie kept the leader’s yellow jersey, with BMC’s Teejay Van Garderen and Rabaobank’s Robert Gesink 34 and 39 seconds behind. Velits is 45 seconds back, and Garmin’s Andrew Talanksy fifth, 48 seconds behind.

All of that could change dramatically during Stage Six, the Queen Stage of the Tour. The 126-km climb up to the top of Mount Baldy will determine the winner of the race; the long climb up to Glendora Ridge Road starting the stage, coupled with the fifty kilometers of climbing to the finish, will make and break riders. Anyone withing a couple of minutes of the leader has a chance, because any rider not on top form could crack and lose huge amounts of time.

Sky’s Mark Cavendish won his third stage in the Giro d’Italia and secured his hold on the points leader’s red jersey. (teamsky.com)

Mark Cavendish of Sky won yet another stage in the Giro d’Italia, taking the sprint in Stage 13. Cavendish used Robbie Hunter as a leadout as GreenEdge squeezed out the Sky train. The Manx Missile went left around hunter, blasted past GreenEdge’s Matthew Goss, and showed once again he is “The Fastest Man in the World.”

“I’m really, really happy and it’s nice to finally get another win,” Cavendish said on the Sky website. “The guys went out and just rode their hearts out today and I’m so, so proud. After they did that I had to win; I had to find some gap to get through.

“It was just a question of waiting for that moment and then taking my chance. It was a headwind finish which probably played into my hands a little bit after leaving it late.”

Cavendish scored two sprint wins in Stages Two and Five, but he also crashed hard in Stage Three.

“I’m feeling better again every day. I came into the Giro in really good form and ideally I’d have liked to have been able to kind of relax through the first week but the crash changed all that,” he explained.

“It took me a week to really fully recover and get my legs back again. The guys are really looking after me though; they are keeping me protected throughout the stages, which is perfect, and I want to go to Milan and win the points jersey.”

A short stage, only 121 km, Stage 13 was one of the last opportunities for sprinters to come out and play. most of the rest of the race will be high int he mountains, where the climbers dominate and the sprinters will be hard-pressed to finish withing the time limit.one of the last chances sprinters will have to show their speed.

Two riders, Martijn Keizer of Vacansoleil-DCM and Francesco Failli of Farnese Vini attacked in the first few kilometers, but they never had a chance. The sprinters’ teams wanted a sprint finish; no breakaway was going to spoil that.

The peloton kept the break within a minute or two for most of the stage, then shut it down with 22 km to go to prepare for the finish.

There was only one attack after the break was caught; 6.6 km from the line, Ag2R’s Julian Berard led Androni’s Fabio Felline and Quickstep’s Julien Vermote in a brief attempt which was reeled in within 1200 meters.

Saxo Bank took up the pace-setting, hoping to set up their man J.J. Haedo, but Sky wasn’t having that; the British team forced its way to the front, was squeezed aside by Saxo Bank, and pushed back with 1200 meters to go.

Sky looked to be pulling off the perfect leadout, but Orica-GreenEdge managed to shoulder them aside in the final kilometer. Cavendish, adept at his task, latched onto the wheel of Garmin’s Robbie Hunter, who was following Goss of GreenEdge. When Goss launched, Cavendish cut left around Hunter, paused a moment to make sure the way was clear, and exploded past the GreenEdge rider to take the win by a bike-length.

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Mets starter R.A. Dickey went six innings allowing four earned runs, while striking out eight Reds. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

David Wright doubled in catcher Rob Johnson for the go-ahead run in the eighth and the Mets (21–17) to start a five-run inning and finish off the Cincinnati Reds (19–18) 9–4 to earn a split of the two-game series.

For Wright, the hit was his second of the game and the fifth time that he reached base on the day, after drawing three walks. The Mets franchise player leads the National League with a .411 batting average and a .513 on-base percentage.

Mets starter R.A. Dickey went six innings, giving up four runs (three earned) while striking out eight batters but received a no-decision. Reliever Bobby Parnell pitched a scoreless eighth for the win as the Mets bullpen did not allow a run in their three innings of work.

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David Zabriskie of Garmin-Barracuda won the individual time trial and the leader’s jersey in Stage Five of the Amgen Tour of California. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Garmin-Barracuda’s David Zabriskie won the Tour of California Stage Five time trial and took over the race lead with a time of 35:59, the only rider to break 36 minutes over the 18-mile course.

Zabriskie, the U.S. time trial champion, beat the baking heat of Bakersfield, as well as the rest of the riders; temperatures topped 100 degrees out on the  course.

“The biggest  factor was the heat; second was the wind,” Zabriskie said after the race. “Third, there’s not much to look at out there. Its mentally a tough course, but that’s the kind of course I like.”

Preparation played a large part in Zabriskie’s victory. “I came out here in February and videotaped this course and I’ve been watching it quite a lot. I had a few specific spots picked out where I wanted to go easy on the pedals but maintain speed,” he explained.

“Going into that turn-around was one of the sports I picked out to take a big rest before I shot up out of there, so maybe that’s what I was slow going in there. On the way back the wind was pretty much in the face but I just knew that I had to concentrate and keep the speed.”

Zabriskie, who has won the U.S. time trial championships six times, has finished second in the Tout of California three times.

The second half of the course was the toughest, as the sun-baked tar slowed the bikes as they struggled towards the final uphill 500 meters to the finish line.

Jens Voigt of RadioShack-Nissan finished second, with BMC’s Teejay Van Garderen third. Van Garderen had a faster halfway time, but lost  the lead on the tough back half of the course.

David Zabriskie was the only rider to break 36 minutes on the 18.1-mile course. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Peter Sagan, who had won the first four stages, finished 52nd.

The course served to create a selection among the real General Classification challengers. Last year’s Tour of California winner Chris Horner turned in a somewhat disappointing ride, finished 2:50 down. That will be a lot to make up in the mountains. Liquigas rider Vincenzo Nibali lost a lot of time on the stage also.

Last year’s second place winner, Levi Leipheimer, rode a decent time considering he broke his leg when hit by a car while training five weeks ago. He will not contend for the podium this year, but he certainly deserves an award for courage.

The next two stages are serious climbing stages, where the General Classification will again be shaken up.

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Brett Favre talks at a post game press conference at Ford Field on Jan. 2, 2011 in Detroit. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

After being out of the game for nearly a year and a half, football superstar Brett Favre is bringing himself back on the field again—with school-age children—to raise money for a good cause.

Even though taking the field with Favre for an entire day with all the proceedings going to benefit the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights might sound appealing, the enthusiasm over bringing the former NFL quarterback back seems to fall short, at least of the expected value of $10,000, with the winning bid valuing at $5,750.

After being on the market for a little short of a month on CharityBuzz.com, a catalog site for such online auction items, Favre did not receive his first bid of a minimum of $2,000 until three days before Thursday, the closing day. The 42-year-old athlete received 12 bids in total.

The auction item is one of the 146 items that comprise the Robert F. Kennedy Center’s 2012 Online Spring Auction. Other auction items include meeting the cast of “Mad Men” in Los Angeles, meeting Christine Baranski on the set of “The Good Wife” in New York City, attending a speech given by President Bill Clinton as his special guest, and having lunch with Jann Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone magazine.

Most of the other items also fell short of their estimated value.

Lars Bak of Lotto-Belisol attacked the break in the final 1.7 km and won Giro d’Italia Stage 12 by 11 seconds. (lottobelisol.be)

Lars Bak of Lotto-Belisol won Stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia by attacking a seven-rider breakaway in the final two kilometers, while behind him FDJ’s Sandy Casar and BMC’s Ivan Santaromita fought to take the leader’s pink jersey.

In the end Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez held onto the race lead by 17 seconds over Ryder Hesjedal. Casar moved into third in the General Classification, 26 seconds down.

“It was a tough race—I was lucky to get away in a strong group at the start of the race,” Bak said on the Lott website. “From the car, [directeur sportif] Marc Wauters guided me very good in the final part of the race. I knew it was going to be a hard sprint and, not being a sprinter, I took my chance.”

“Obviously this is my biggest win ever. My last victory was seven years ago, but this is something else. This is a big tour. It’s going great with Lotto Belisol. We were here to get away in the escapes and I think Lotto Belisol has been seen every day in the Giro. There will probably be two more chances to get away in the upcoming stages, before going into the mountains. We will try our luck, because we have nothing to lose.”

The break, originally seven, then nine riders, got away 45 kilometers into the 155-km route, attacking on the first of four categorized climbs.

Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat,) Ivan Santaromita (BMC,) Jan Bakelants (RadioShack-Nissan,) Andrey Amador (Movistar,) Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step,) Lars Bak (Lotto Belisol,) and Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel) formed the original break. Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli) and and Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) bridged to the break about 40 km after the escape.

Casar was 4:01 down in the General Classification, Santaromita 4:16, so both had a chance to take the maglia rosa if the break survived. The peloton seemed unconcerned by the break, despite the presence of Casar and Santaromita; neither was considered a serious GC contender in the long run.

Katusha seemed completely uninterested in defending the pink jersey, and for most of the stage, no other team took up the chase. Long stages, lots of hills and high speeds for sprint finishes have worn out riders who want to save their legs for the mountain stages. Teams with riders seriously harboring GC ambitions probably didn’t see any value in burning up their legs on stages which would not be decisive.

Finally Liquigas took up the chase, cutting the seven-minute gap down to three minutes at the end. Possibly Liquigas wanted Katusha to keep the jersey and the pressure to defend it.

The break rode together until the Cat 2 climb of Valico La Mola, when Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Michael Golas attacked. The Polish rider had captured all the King of the Mountain points, so no one marked him when he sprinted ahead at the top of the third climb. This time he kept going, taking a lot of chances on the descent to open a gap of 20 seconds on the break.

Golas had three near-crashes on the very technical descent; the last saw him skidding to a stop in a driveway as he ran out of road. RadioShack’s Jan Bakelants did crash on the descent, but was able to recatch the breakaway.

The breakaway riders caught up to Golas on the final climb of the day, the Cat 3 Villa Tassani: 5 km long with an average grade of  six percent and an eleven-percent section near the peak, this was a great springboard for attacks.

Lars Bak’s aggressive descending brought him back to the leaders to set up hi s winning attack. (Alessandro Garofalo/AFP/GettyImages)

Sandy Casar attacked repeatedly on the climb, as did Lars Bak and Ivan Santaromita, but no one got away. Casar made a strong effort 100 meters from the peak and took the KOM points and the lead, but he couldn’t stay away on the downhill, which was even tighter and more twisty than the Valico La Mola descent.

Back in the peloton PaoloTiralongo of Astana tried an attack, covered immediately by Lampre’s Damiano Cunego and joined soon by Rabobank’s Thomas Slagter. The peloton picked up the pacer to catch this trio, which cut into the gap to the leaders.

Micahel Gola and Martijn Keizer couldn’t hang on to the break through the final six kilometers; the other seven sparred constantly until the line. Jackson Rodriguez opened a gap, and got caught. Santaromita had a go, and Casar covered. Jan Bakelants then took a turn; again Casar covered it.

With 1.7 km left in the stage, Sandy Casar and Ivan Santaromita were focused on each other; Lars Bak took advantage and sprinted away. Casar let him go; he wanted the pink jersey, not the stage win. Bak time-trialed to the line, winning by eleven seconds. Casar won the sprint for second, picking up 12 bonus seconds, while Andrey Amador took third. Santaromita finished fifth, out of the bonus.

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Lotto-Belisol’s Lars Bak crosses the finish line to win the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia. (Luk Benies/AFP/GettyImages)