A Hearty Debate on the Final Presidential Debate Night.

Nope, not getting political on this one. Tonight's hearty debate is about the return of Lance Armstrong to professional cycling.

I have stated in the past that I'm not convinced that he is coming back for the right reasons. But in a recent announcement, he states that he intends to ride the Giro d'Italia, or the Tour of Italy, the second greatest stage race in the world (The Tour de France being number one, of course), and skip the Tour de France. Why skip the Tour de France? Because the media circus that surrounds the greatest race in the world would acutally hamper his efforts to raise global awareness about the cancer struggle.

I believe these statements to be true. Maybe not for the noble reasons Mr. Armstrong might say. But perhaps more of a peace offering to keep stability on team Astana. All Contador wants is the Tour de France win, Lance has his 7, let the kid play. There are other places he can make a mark, The Giro being one of them.

The other side of the debate, would be that it's impossible for Lance to be anything but number one. He may say these wonderful things, but deep down inside, he's going to ride the Tour de France to win. Look for an announcement right after the Giro (assuming he doesn't win) stating he will ride the Tour de France in support of Contador, and then take him out in the time trials. My buddy, (who will remain nameless) put's forth these arguments. He also beleived two riders (Schumacher and Kohl) to be doping during the Tour this year, and recent reports proved him right. On this one, I hope he's wrong.

I would hope that Lance would be mature enough now to realize what is better for the sport and not what is better for him. I think it will trying times next July in France if Lance and Alberto ride the tour. And my support will be for Contador. Although, the American based team, Garmin-Chipotle (formerly, Slipstream-Chipolte) was granted a UCI license next year and will be competing at the highest level. Maybe I should root for them.

Nah, go Contador.



Now for my baby art pictures.

More pictures of Sean Patrick. Took these pictures today, well, Nicole took one of them and I took the other. Who can say if he's grown some or not. He was a big baby to begin with. I had no comparison for his size, since we were always isolated in a room. It wasn't until we checked out when he was next to another baby that I realized, we've got a little sumo wrestler on our hands.

Anyway, here's two more pics...

It would be Dan without a picture containing dramatic lighting. As Matthew would say, "Ho! Check out da manapua cheeks!"

This picture was designed to make Lindsay cry. How'd I do?

I'll tell you the story of the birth next time. It's kinda cute. But now it's shift change at the Boland residence, I get to rock the kid until 1AM and then Nicole comes back for his next feeding...

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