Sometimes a good nickname simply comes from one's obvious and innate characteristics. Other times, it's a poor decision and a laugh at one's expense. Oftentimes, it involves many cocktails. But rarely does one actually volunteer for said nickname. And nearly never do all of the above circumstances align at the very same moment in time. That's when the nickname actually sticks. Colby, this one's gonna be around for a while. And by a while, I mean forever.
Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne): "If he did come back, he’d be ready to race the Tour, even though I don’t know if he could win it. I know that he hasn’t lost his physical form and if he begins to train in earnest he could be right there. I find it hard to believe that he’d come back, but if there are rumors, maybe something’s there. Astana with Contador and Armstrong would be one hell of a team!" True. But what about Levi?! Would somebody please let him ride? Let Levi ride. PLEASE.... SOMEBODY!
UPDATE: Apparently Johan won't. He had this to say about Astana's position at the Vuelta: "The team order is strictly put in place, though. "Alberto is the leader of the team. If the logic is respected, he is the best climber. The Angliru is very steep, in theory it should be good for him. But it's always good to have a second guy up there." So Levi is the second guy. The second guy doesn't win. The second guy is the first loser. The Mainstay knows that.
You could...or you could just flush it down the toilet. It's all the same, really. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And desperate measures call for clutch hitters. And when it comes to knocking down a pint in 1.376 seconds, the Shrinking Man is clutch. Pacesetter had three wins in three days going into the post US100k TourDeCatur. Big Poppa brought down a W in the West Oak masters race on Saturday (and unfortunately he's got the t-shirt to prove it). Super Pooper won the Pro/Semi-Pro mtb race in Chattanooga on Sunday (and a Hello Kitty backpack to go along with it)...and TAdams took first place (out of the money) at the US100k NRC on Monday... with a fine 36th place. So in rolls the TourDeCatur, and Colby was looking like he was in danger of losing the King of the Cougars jersey. No sooner than it was thought, it was done. Philpot ran off with the goods. Unfortunately for Colby, he ran off with the cougar too. Pacesetter quickly shifted the game plan to focus on the sprinters jersey (a black GA Cup t-shirt, as it turns out). As you'll see, Shrinking Man stepped up and delivered. Some considered him an underdawg. Not this amateur. Unbeknownst to the tall, skinny, messenger that thought he won (even though he still had half a glass of beer left), this thing was over before it started. Word to the wise. If you don't do it all by yourself, the Shrinking Man WILL make you look silly. Most of us "forgot" how to do this somewhere around the second semester of our junior year in college...if not high school. Shrinking Man isn't "most of us". Watch and learn.
In Ireland it was said that the cure for a hangover is to bury the ailing person up to the neck in moist river sand. That's a lie. In America, it is said to never trust a Leprechaun with a bunch of moist river sand.
