Holy smokes THANK YOU RICK REILLY

I stumbled upon Rick Reilly's column at espn.com about 30 seconds ago. Flat out, I COULDN'T AGREE WITH IT MORE. He pretty much took the words straight out of my mouth.

For now, I gotta digest Stage 16. I'll be back in a bit with some Tour thoughts and a few other odds and ends...

Le Tour, British Open predictions, and MLB second half predictions

I've really enjoyed waking up around 10:30 each morning and turning on the Tour De France for the past week and a half. Once you take the time to figure out what everything means (from jersey colors to the word "Peloton") its actually pretty cool to watch. Obviously, Lance Armstrong's return this year has heightened everyone's interest, so that has played a part in my devotion to viewing at least part of each stage.

The biggest rival to Lance's shot at winning is Alberto Contador, who ironically rides for the same team as Lance (Astana). I'm not gonna lie - I want Lance to win. He's the man, and I remember back in the glory days of my youth riding my mountain bike as fast as I could day after day in honor of Armstrong's tour domination.

But can I root against Contador? I desperately want to. I wanna see him crack next week in the Alps and fall behind Lance. However I have a hard time pulling myself to whole-heartedly hope for that. Maybe now is Alberto's time...maybe this is HIS tour...maybe Lance has had his moment(s) to shine. This debate is definitely what keeps me coming back to the TV each morning at 10:30 (in case you are wondering, each stage tends to wrap up between 10:30 and 11:30am, so I typically catch the last 50 miles or so).

- The British Open began today and a couple of old farts are at the top of the leaderboard as Tom Watson turned in a 5-under round of 65 and Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 6-under 64. I say good for them, I mean I gotta give props to anyone over 50 that can play golf like that (Watson is 59; I'm unsure of Jimenez's exact age, but I know he's up there).

Will they continue their success into the weekend? Probably not. I'm horrible at predictions so I'm not gonna go down that road, but I will give you three names of players that I am rooting for: Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, and John Daly. Here's why:

Paddy Harrington has been gettin criticized left and right lately due to his lackluster performances this year. Yeah, he's in a slump, but he's won the past two British Opens, so we know the dude has game (not to mention a pretty kick-ass Irish accent). Padraig - do me a favor

and shut up the critics...I'd much appreciate it.

Sergio Garcia has come close to winning this tournament in the past. He still doesn't have a major victory. I'm not a big fan of the guy, so I hope he wins to end all this talk about him being one of the better players without a major title, that way I won't have to see or hear about him for hopefully a long time.

John Daly has pretty much been to hell and back. His battles with substance abuse are well known, and he is just now starting to get his game back together. I don't know what is up with his clothing selections, but I wouldn't mind seeing him take home the title to prove that there really is hope for anyone struggling with substance abuse or any sort of similar ailment.

-And finally, some quick MLB predictions for the second half of the season. I have actually been

following baseball more this season than in the past, mainly because the San Francisco Giants have actually been doing good (I'm becoming a huge Tim Lincecum fan). So I'm probably gonna

sound like a homer when I say that the Giants will make waves in the second half of the season (it's my blog, I can do what I want, right?)

The big news of the day concerns Giant pitcher Barry Zito, and his possible placement on the trade block. His contract is massive (over $90 million) so that could handicap any trade

possibilities. But what the Giants need more than anything is another quality bat in their lineup, and using Zito as bait could help land a boost to the lineup.

Even if the Giants don't end up moving Zito, they still have a great shot to catch the Dodgers. Their pitching is fantastic (arguably the best one-two punch in the majors with Lincecum and Matt Cain), and they have an up-and-comer at third base in Pablo Sandoval. Look for people to start paying attention to the Giants in the second half - especially if they add another legit bat to their lineup.

USA Soccer beats Spain??

Yeah, I was just as shocked as everyone else. I turned on the TV and saw the 1-0 score in the 50th minute and couldn't believe it. Then Clint Dempsey made it 2-0 and I was beside myself - was this really the U.S. national team handling the mighty Spaniards?

Next up for the Americans is powerhouse Brazil in the final of the Confederations Cup. To be honest, I don't care so much about that game at this point. The Americans showed the other day that they can contend in next summers' World Cup. They proved that they can hang with the big boys on any given day. So if they lose to Brazil, I don't think my opinion of U.S. soccer will diminish that much. That being said, if they can somehow defeat the Brazilians, I will be that much more energized about the United States' chances at the World Cup.

I gotta mention the U.S. Open because I haven't posted since then, but I was saddened to see Phil Mickelson come up short (again). Here's the biggest reason why:

At just about every hole, Phil waves to the crowd. He gives a thumbs up or slaps hands with spectators, showing his true appreciation for their support. Tiger Woods? I haven't ever seen him do that. Sure, maybe on the rare occasion he has waved to the crowd or done something of that nature. I'm not saying Tiger is a bad guy. I'm just saying that because of Phil's obvious appreciation it is much easier to root for him than it is Tiger or anyone else who refuses to acknowledge the fans.

I'm sick and tired of hearing about Manny Ramirez and all of his crap, so I'm not gonna mention anything about him playing four innings for the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate Albuquerque Isotopes yesterday in preparation for his July 3rd return. However, I will mention that the Albuquerque Isotopes have the greatest name in all of minor league baseball. What the hell is an Isotope anyway? Honestly I don't really care, I just think it sounds cool.

I leave you all with this clip of T.O. getting chewed out by some bimbo supermodel. Sure, it was probably all staged, but I still enjoyed it.