Speaking of Olympics, I'll be keeping an eye on US Fencing. The US was the 2nd best nation in fencing in 08, taking 6 medals, only getting beat by Italy's 7, and besting France's 4. It helps when the US sweeps the Women's Saber event 1-2-3. Those fencing medals were the first the US won in the 08 Olympics, even before Michael Phelps won his 8 Golds.

Nice article, Gymfan! It's a good reminder to casual fans like me that gymnasts work as hard as other athletes (I know that, but coverage tends to be limited to big events).

I enjoyed your gymnastics discussions during the Beijing Olympics and look forward to your analysis this year as well.

The Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas is today at 2:00 EST. Looks like a good one. I'll be watching it for sure.

Didn't watch much of the race. Tony Stewart got the victory, with Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, and Ryan Newman finishing 2nd 3rd and 4th respectively.

Is anyone else counting the days until baseball starts? I'm so ready to watch the Cardinals!

Did anyone else watch the Big 12 Championship? It was awesome! Love those Tigers! So awesome to win the Big 12 before leaving for the SEC.

SnowAngel

I enjoy watching MLB, SnowAngel (though my younger brother's the biggest baseball fan in our family). Hopefully the Twins will improve on last season. (I also hope to catch a few more games in Target Field while it has that 'new stadium smell.' )

Is anyone else counting the days until baseball starts? I'm so ready to watch the Cardinals!
SnowAngel

THE CARDINALS!!!??? As an Astros fan, I must take offence! No seriously, the Cards are an extremely well run organization and a very, very good team in recent years. I think that they'll be able to deal with the loss of Pujols just fine. At least this won't happen again!

Is anyone else counting the days until baseball starts? I'm so ready to watch the Cardinals!

I still can't get over the fact that it's time for that again. It kinda feels like the World Series just ended. (well, not JUST just ended... like it was a month or two ago or something)

Hope I can keep better tabs on the Redbirds, than I have been on the Blues. I haven't seen a single game this season! The only hockey I've watched this year was a match-up between the Ducks (2nd fave) and the Blackhawks (main rival). AND THE DUCKS WON!! Ducks beating Hawks? That game made me feel like I was watching the first movie (for the first time) again.

Ok, see ya later, sports fans!

I enjoy watching MLB, SnowAngel (though my younger brother's the biggest baseball fan in our family). Hopefully the Twins will improve on last season. (I also hope to catch a few more games in Target Field while it has that 'new stadium smell.' )

It's my older brother's fault that I love sports so much, stargazer. If he hadn't talked about football and baseball with me so much, and if he hadn’t taught me how to throw a football and a baseball. I would probably be like my sisters when it comes to sports - boring! But since he did, I love football and baseball.

So sorry you are a Astros fan, AstroWolfD. I have been Royals fan my whole life, so I know what's like to have a team that's not really good. The Royals have not been good in my lifetime. You're a better sport than Elanor is (she's a Brewers fan ). I think the Cardinals will be just fine without AP (or the traitor, as my younger siblings call him).

Hey Princess! Haven't talked to you lately. In some ways it does seems like the World Series just happened, but we have had a lot going on lately, so it feels like a long time ago right now.

I'm off to watch Get Smart with my siblings.
SnowAngel

It's now official. Peyton Manning has selected Denver. What will come of Tim Tebow is yet to be seen. But it is now certain the Tebow will not start for Denver this upcoming season. I won't make judgements just yet, but the Denver brass has to be very careful now due to the heavy fan base that brought Tebow in to starting to begin with. This will be interesting.

Now the Broncos are definitely going to trade Tebow. I think the Raiders would be a good trade partner.

It's now official. Peyton Manning has selected Denver. What will come of Tim Tebow is yet to be seen. But it is now certain the Tebow will not start for Denver this upcoming season. I won't make judgements just yet, but the Denver brass has to be very careful now due to the heavy fan base that brought Tebow in to starting to begin with. This will be interesting.

I love Tebow, I was absolutely mesmerized by what he did last season, but honestly, I think Peyton Manning is going to make Denver fans forget all about him. I don't think John Elway and the Broncos front office ever really wanted to keep Tebow, but couldn't get rid of him because of fan pressure. Manning, however, changed all that, and though I don't know how long it will take him to adjust to the new team, I think he's going to tear it up. It's really a shame for Tebow though, because I think with a whole offseason to learn the offense and work on his passing, he could have made some real progress. Now, he's probably going to end up on some cellar-dwelling team where he doesn't have a chance.

Don't forget. Tebow was on a cellar-dwelling team that wouldn't have had a chance with him, and he still took them to the playoffs and won a game. Denver was 4-12 the year before and starting 1-4 looking never to get more than a couple wins for the rest of the season. Then Tebow lit it up. I hope they keep Tebow if nothing else for gratitude for resurrecting the franchise. I think Tebow would be a quality back-up for Manning while he practices and learns from the QB that is probably the most brilliant in the game. Manning isn't just good, he's smart. Denver really needs to consider who will be Manning's backup because one bad hit and that 5 year deal is gone. Manning can't afford another concussion and he is getting old (for football). He'll be 42 when his contract ends. If not Tebow, they need a much better back up QB to come in.

Well Tebow to Jets is official. Not my favorite destination for him. Guess we'll see how this will work out in regard to playing time, etc.

On something completely unrelated to professional sports talk, I had a pretty good fencing tournament today. Due to my schedule and the fact that I live an hour away from the nearest club, I have not been to practice since April....last year. I have just been going to competitions. Today was the third one I've been in this year and it was my best performance of the year so far.

I started out in foil, and we had a low turnout of just six fencers. I had some really good bouts and in the quarterfinals, I drew an quality opponent. In a very tight back and forth bout, I found myself down 12-9 in the final of the 3 three-minute periods. I rallied to take a 13-12 lead before my opponent tied it up with 11 seconds left. I set up my attack, to avoid overtime, and my opponent's blade slid under mine and got me. Time ran out before I could tie it up again. Had I advanced, I would have lost in the next match anyway, so it ended up being a one-touch difference between 4th place and 5th but it was good.

Right after that, I fenced in epee. We had 10 in this tournament and it was even stronger in terms of quality fencers. In the quarter-finals, I drew the #3 seed, who had beaten me in overtime in the pool round, 2-1. This one was even tighter. Like in foil, it was back and forth, with neither of us staking more than a 3-touch lead. My opponent eventually took a 14-12 lead, with 15 being the winning score. I willed myself more than he did and I rallied to tie it at 14-14. It was sudden death and the only thing that could delay the bout was a double-touch (both fencers hit at the same time (really, by less than 1/25th of a second)). We set up our actions and ...double touch. The spectators went wild with excitement. At last I got what I wanted and with a long lunge, I scored the winning touch. That got me into the semi-finals and the top 4, but my next opponents were simply better than I was and I settled for 4th out of ten.

For being out of practice in nearly a year, I did quite well and my coaches were impressed overall. I am looking at one, maybe two tournaments left in the spring semester. One will be Summer National Qualifiers. I will compete to qualify but I am not going to be going unless I get a major financial gift (it would cost towards $1000 for registration fees, hotel, transportation, and food in Anaheim, CA). I love this sport and when I get a teaching job (I'm just in training right now), I am going to explore starting a club to coach. Good stuff.