Cyclist Chris Horner [RadioShack] is the kind of guy you’d want to kick back and share a beer with. Affectionately dubbed “the Redneck,” by Lance Armstrong, Chris is as down-to-earth as they come. But don’t let his laid-back nature fool you, Chris is one of the world’s foremost cyclists and recently snagged 10th place overall at the 2010 Tour de France. Not too shabby for a 38-year old dude who swears by a steady diet of hotdogs and hamburgers.

He’s an NBA superstar, and household name.
James’ age of 25 years, coupled with his unparalleled talent, makes him the most distinctive athlete of our era.
His sign-and-trade deal from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat caught headlines recently, leaving a bad taste in the city of Cleveland’s mouth.
But it’s still hard not to respect his flair and athleticism

I went to the first day of training camp for the Denver Broncos at Dove Valley. I had never gone to a training camp before. I thought it would be an experience, and it definitely was. Over three thousand fans showed up to the morning practice session and another few thousand fans showed up to the evening session with a combined total of over five thousand fans for the day.

As of this writing (July 5, 2010) Lance Armstrong is back in the Tour de France. He’s got some unfinished business, having lost the race last year to former Astana teammate and rival Alberto Contator. Can Lance win the Tour an unprecedented 8th time? The jury is out.

“I would never ever bet against him,” says Bill Strickland, the editor at large of Bicycling Magazine and author of the recently released book Tour de Lance (Harmony Books). And Bill should know.

It’s ridiculous and funny that there has been such an uproar over the scheduling of the 2014 Super Bowl, in, dare we say it, New Jersey!
Football and cold weather are synonymous. The game of football isn’t played in the spring or the summer when the breezes are blowing and the hot dogs are on the grill.
No, this is a game that is played regardless of the weather conditions, and we like it that way.

As a disruptive force at outside linebacker, he revolutionized the game with his relentless pursuit of the quarterback – racking up a remarkable number of sacks throughout his illustrious career.

Taylor significantly altered pass rushing schemes, offensive line play and offensive formations used in the NFL because of his intense, hard-hitting style of play. But away from the field, his intense, hard-partying, and reckless lifestyle has earned him a quite another reputation.

Nearly 30 years ago, when Taylor was drafted by the Giants with the No. 2 overall pick, Coach Ray Perkins said, “He was the cleanest player in the draft. By that I mean there was no rap on him.”

One of the best quarterbacks in college football, Florida Gators Tim Tebow was drafted to the Denver Broncos during the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. He was the Broncos second pick, drafted in the 25th position. Unlike many people who did not think Tim Tebow would be drafted during the first round, I believed he would be. Who wouldn’t want an incredible quarterback of Tim Tebow’s caliber and moral compass, especially with all the bad press the NFL is getting lately with players being suspended and going to jail for gun and sex charges, and other crimes. It’s nice to have a player with good moral and family values for a change. Tim Tebow is a role model kids can definitely look up to!

I can’t keep silent anymore.
The antics of Big Ben, who apparently either has, or think he has, a gold plated Big Johnson, have finally derailed his celebrity ride.
In the world of “He Said”, “She Said”, it is fair to conclude that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

As I enter this new decade, I am surprised that I am looking and thinking about the future. For nearly all of the past decade, I literally withdrew from contact with friends of many years, having experienced an unexpected major setback whose ferocity sucked all of the usual resilience from my spirit. For that, I have paid a heavy price from which I may not fully recover.

My reawakening has been marked by hesitant and slow steps of outreach to those I abandoned by my failure to take charge of myself. Writing an occasional article is a part of my recovery process. I may never become the Grandma Moses of writing, but I still have a point of view on a lot of things, including, of course, the main focus of Femmefan: sports in most of its facets.

The Tiger episode has given me two different perspectives.
The first is this:
Tiger’s situation is, in some ways, a take-off of the Wizard of Oz.
He has created an imaginary wall of protection to protect himself from contact with the general masses. From behind that wall Tiger speaks.
Or does he? In reality, only a select few know anything about how or where Tiger is.

Growing old provides an occasional opportunity to reconnect with youngsters who are now adults with families and careers of their own. I’ve lucked out and have now reconnected with 2 such persons whose lives engaged mine decades ago.
The first was with Femmefan‘s creator (a story, perhaps, for another day), and the other with Josie Washington McQuay of the greater Philadelphia area.
Each followed a path of balancing the responsibilities of raising a family, maintaining a professional career and later found challenges and established new, but different, vistas for women in the arena of sports.

This week I am making my picks and leaving it at that because I want to tell you about New Orleans and the object of their affection, the Saints.
I though that by now the city and the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina would be restored and life would be normal again.
It is sad to say that in this great county of ours, with all the riches we possess and in spite of the hard work of many wonderful, humane and compassionate people, things are still not back to normal in New Orleans.
But, there is one positive in New Orleans, the love affair the City of New Orleans has with its team, the Saints.
The Saints did not reach the Super Bowl in 2006 and yet to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Just when I thought that there were very few things that could occur within the NFL to make me love the league, its employees, and the fans even more; well, they have officially found a way to make me fall in love all over again.

If Chicks Ran the NFL is back for more fun and insightful ideas from all Female Fans.
We have had a little time off recently, but, the NFL 2009 season is ready to kick-off.
Another season full of fun, food, booze and big bodies colliding.
What can be better than that?

Femmefan and I have been treated wonderfully by the San Francisco Forty Niners since the start of Femmefan.
Over the last nine years they have given me access to players, something typically reserved for the media big boys.
You know the ones, the media types that do this for a living.
It is a bit unusual to get player access when you are writing for a web site, and a female fan website at that.

In November of 2006 I conducted an interview with San Francisco Forty Niners fullback Moran Norris.
This link to that archived article is here.
Moran played for the Forty Niners in 2006 and 2007, paving the way, through his blocking, for two record setting seasons for Forty Niners running back, Frank Gore