Tour de France Tour: Stage 8: Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Lorient (PLUS a little tennis and soccer)
July 9th 2006 06:15
Bonjour tout le monde!!
Today’s post includes a short review of the Tour de France and then mention of France’s other recent sporting exploits. Stage 8 takes us from Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Lorient: a length of 181 kilometres. Saint-Méen-le-Grand is a small town in the Ille-et-Vilaine département and is located south-west of Rennes, while Lorient is a seaport in the Morbihan département in Brittany. Most of Lorient was destroyed in World War Two, so Lorient’s architectural style reflects that of the 1950s.
Onto other sport. I must congratulate Amélie Mauresmo, who beat Justine Henin-Hardenne last night to become the first French woman in 81 years to win Wimbledon. [Score: 2-6, 6-3, 6-4] Amélie is the current World Number One in the women's professional circuit. I think it's fantastic that she was able to win - she might actually gain some more respect as a player.
Now, the other event which will stop the world at 3 am our time tomorrow morning. Yes, the 2006 Soccer World Cup Final between France and Italy. Before I start this, I will confess now: soccer is not one of my favourite sports. I thought it was an incredibly boring game where a group of people kicked a ball around, lost possession constantly and occasionally took a shot at goal. I must also say though that the Socceroo's "fairytale journey" to Germany (and that phrase hasn't been overused since last November) did make an impression on me. At least now, I will acknowledge that soccer can be an interesting and exciting game to watch when the players are incredible and there's something on the line (like a World Cup).
A soccerball (picture is licensed under the GNU Agreement and can be found at wikipedia.org)
Unfortunately, I still have a major problem with the “world game:” diving and ref-bashing. This World Cup has really opened my eyes to a few elements in soccer which just aren’t sport. Diving (particularly by the Italians and THAT penalty against Nell) is just disgraceful. To think that players are that desperate to win that they would outright cheat, rather than use their skill to win a game.
Then there’s the ref bashing, which has been in every game of the tournament. I’m not trying to sound self-righteous or stand up on a soap-box. Anyone who’s ever played a sport of some kind has been unhappy with one decision or another. I’m guilty of it myself, but these guys are professional athletes and role models to kids. What is this teaching amateur sportspeople, young and old alike? I’m a netballer and an umpire, and I umpired the annual State competition last weekend. One particular incident made me really angry and showed the new direction of sport in Australia. A girl on one team pushed another girl from behind. Seeing the infringement, I blew my whistle. This girl (I think she was 14) turned to me, glared me straight in the eye and yelled “What do you mean? I didn’t touch her!” I warned her to stand beside the other girl (in netball you must stand beside the player you pushed “out of play” until they have released the ball as punishment), but she refused. This really shocked me!! Players of all sports have got to realise that umpires and referees around the country give up their own time for every game and shouldn’t have to put up with this rubbish. If it weren’t for them, sport wouldn’t exist.
Well, so much for not being on the soap box. This is one issue that really annoys me. So perhaps, all we can ask for tomorrow morning is no diving and no back-chatting. If the call was wrong, deal with it!! Referees need to be respected and remember: they are only human. No one is perfect.
So, I think I say for all Aussies “Allez les Bleus!!!” (Go the Blues, as they are known in France). Fly the Tricolore high and proud. And make sure you beat the Italians as a little bit of revenge
A demain
Melinda
P.S - Rest Day in the Tour tomorrow.
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