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Lance (Briggs), White Lies, and his Lambo (NFL)

i guess Lance Briggs can't do anything this season without a little intrigue...

it appears as though shortly after the accident early Monday morning where Briggs made a little "boo-boo" by smashing up a car worth more than some homes in the United States, he put a little call into the local Chi-Town Blue and reported the vehicle, a $300,000+ Lamborghini, stolen...

according to a statement he made earlier today from Briggs, the linebacker stated that:

"When it happened the first thing I did was I panicked. I didn't want there to be a big thing there so when I left I called a tow truck. I also was startled and called and reported my car stolen. Within 10 minutes, I called and took responsibility for what I did because it was ridiculous in the first place."

do you think the Bears are looking at this a little differently? according to the way his teammates and his head coach have approached it, it looks as if they've all got his back... Lovie Smith has come out and made statements of support, while several of his Bears' teammates have also showed some kind of support to the linebacker.

it will be funny to see how the NFL handles this in light of all of the other happenings this offseason with various players and legal issues, and right on the heels of Michael Vick's confession and guilty plea.

full story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0708287-briggs,0,6431518.story

National Perspective (SF 49ers): ESPN's TMQ

with a little more than a week before the opening of the NFL regular season, i thought it was high-time that we got a little more in-depth national perspective on the 49ers' upcoming season.

first look goes into the first real preview i ran into today and the one that gave me this genuinely brilliant idea: ESPN.com's Tuesday Morning Quarterback (or TMQ, as it shall be referred to from now on). writer Gregg Easterbrook writes this for his NFC Preview for the 49ers...

"But this is still a team that was weak statistically on both sides in 2006 and finished 2-5 versus playoff-bound clubs."

it was not the in-depth look that you'd expect to get from most sources, but it was an interesting little snippet nonetheless. then Easterbrook talks about Bill Walsh and the naming of the field...

more of these later on.

Where was this in April/May/June/July??? (SF Giants)

it just becomes a little more depressing when you see what could have been...

the geriatric Giants have their second five-game winning streak this month. meanwhile, as the other races around them get interesting, a funny feeling comes over me... where the hell was all this production earlier in the season?

more new hobbies...

here i am... all set, ready to watch another edition of Monday Night RAW on USA when I change the channel and see... Venus Williams on my television screen. Ahhh... it's that time of year again, when the U.S. Open takes over the network that once houses the beautiful show that is John Cena, Randy Orton, and even the return of Triple H... but as i change the channel over to Sci-Fi to catch the opening segment of RAW... i think to myself, tennis seems like a fun sport to get a workout, right? i can involve mrs. fastest mouth in sports to play with me and we can both get fit...

i really began to think... it's not the cheapest of sports. i want to get started, but there's a mess of equipment that i need to get in order to go ahead and do this... you gotta have tennis shoes, tennis rackets, tennis balls, and other similar equipment. i guess it'd be fun, if i can find somewhere to get all of that stuff...

there aren't many tennis stores in the area, and the local sporting shops aren't always good for the best prices. so i did a little searching and found the perfect site: www.tennisplaza.com. you head over there and it makes perfect sense... everythin you could need to starting to play tennis was there. they had tennis equipment for all skill levels, whether your a putz like me or someone like Andy Roddick... you can get your equipment by type, or, if you're like me and love Nike, you can go by brand as well. nothing beats some fresh Nike tennis shoes and other Nike tennis apparel.

besides, whether you spell in racket or racquet, they've got all the tennis gear you need at some great prices. looking at all the tennis apparel and equipment on this site, it really began to look like it would be the perfect website to get my tennis stuff to start playing tennis with mrs. fastest anytime we wanted to. with the hot summer winding down, tennis could be a way to get in some nice, relaxing exercise without having to worry about the hot sun beading down on the tennis courts.

i'll probably give it a shot... who knows, i could find a sport i could really enjoy. all i need is some motivation, a little bit of fun, and www.tennisplaza.com...

now, onto WWE RAW.

Bonds Hits 2 Shots in Chi-Town, But Giants Still Lose...

it appears to be the same old story this season for the Giants... whether or not Barry Bonds is playing well. i mean, 2 HRs and 6 RBIs and the G-Men still lay a fat one in the loss column. you can't even go to the old cop-out of blaming Barry for this season, he's not doing that badly. 19 HRs, 48 RBIs, and an OBP of .497. the problem is, well... a number of things i guess.

the one beef i have with Barry is the fact that him hanging around has caused GM Brian Sabean to be very limited in what he does with the team. they've spent a few seasons now sacrificing some of the few young prospects we've had in order to try to "win now" with Barry on the roster. don't get me wrong, they've made some decent moves lately (Bengie Molina has been a Godsend this season), but trades and signings have me scratching my head more often than not. they were able to sign Barry Zito, but they grossly overpaid for him (we'll get into that in another post)...

the fact remains, the Giants are a miserable 39-54. who's really to blame? i don't think it's the right time to try and figure it out right now, but it is a question of what's left in 2007? this season is quickly becomes about Barry and the incredible chase... i happen to share the opinion of most of the local sports station KNBR hosts and even some of the Giants' broadcasters: this, for me, has become the season of Lincecum...

every fifth day, i want to see the kid pitch. he's going to be something when he puts it all together, you can catch glimpses of it already. next start: Saturday v. the Brewers.

thank goodness, training camp is next weekend for the 49ers...

more cool websites... myfitnesspal.com

so, for those of you who don't know, the never-ending quest to get me at an 'ideal' weight continues... i've lost 15 pounds in the last few months, something i am definitely quite proud of. but i haven't been able to lose much lately... i've kind of balanced out at my current weight...

i am always looking for new sites online that can help me in my goal. i know i've been to places like the Men's Health site or any number of different diet or fitness sites. one of my latest discoveries was this site, My Fitness Pal.

i really wasn't sure if this site could really offer me anything. but i got interested from what i read on the front page, so i signed up. i mean, i get my workouts from Men's Health and i just run... but this site actually gave me some excellent tips and offered some great features; it focuses on food and what you eat.

for example, go to the front page: My Fitness Pal and you can see a lot of their features. after i signed up, one of the first things i did was set up my diet profile. i entered in my weight, my height, my goals for weight loss (i.e. target weight, type of dedication and regimen) and it spit out a profile for me to adhere to and try to meet daily. not bad.

as i got deeper into the site, i found there were many other tools. things like a measurement chart (which keeps track of your weight) and a large list of foods that you can log as having eaten to keep calorie counts. that calorie counter on the site has proven to be a very useful tool.

check it out, it's a great site: My Fitness Pal.

A Different Kind of Football... (Australian Football League)

as much as i love my comfort sports... baseball, football, basketball, even a little hockey and arena football league and some open-wheel racing, there's always room for some brand new sports experiences. recently, i've decided i wanted to check out events like the World Cup, maybe in South Africa, or world events similar to that.

the most recent event i was looking at was the Australian Football League's Grand Finals. i realize that i don't understand their rules fully yet, but there is no better time to learn about it than attending the league's final, held in Melbourne. if nothing else, it's a nice excuse to head over to Australia...

don't know much about this event? this is probably one of the biggest sporting events in all of Australia. well, after 22 weeks of teams in fantastic competition, the top 8 make this final series, until only 2 teams remain. for this final event, close to 95,000 fans can be expected for this incredible event. (editor's note: for more info, check out the AFL website). now I guess all that would be left is trying to find a good hotel in Melbourne, huh? it could be quite the unique experience in the 'Land Down Under'...

me being me, i took this one a little further. i checked out the date and saw that it happens towards the end of September, on the 29th. so i decided to check things out, like prices for tickets and hotels to stay in when i would be in Melbourne. there seem to be a lot of choices as to hotels in Melbourne, so i had to do a little more research. after doing some preliminary searching, I found that there was a lot different hotels in Melbourne... you really don't want to end up in the wrong hotel, it could really be confusing to pick the right hotel. it would make or break the trip, and I would want to find the perfect hotel in Melbourne because since I've neven been to Australia, I'd want to be as close to the action as possible. i actually found some good prices for the Melbourne Hotel (i don't want to divulge, just check it out for yourself). needless to say, it's not the only hotel in Melbourne, but it's just one of the ones that Cheaper than Hotels has to offer.

one of the sites i suggest is Cheaper than Hotels as it offers some great deals for hotels in Melbourne. with a lot of different sites out there, you have to love this one because it pinpoints exactly the area you are looking for. they've got lists of all kinds of hotels, from the top 5 star hotels to the 2 stars in Melbourne. you can find the perfect hotel for you within the city, close to the AFL action. whatever hotel in Melbourne you are looking for, I think that Cheaper than Hotels is definitely one of the best sites available for finding a hotel in Melbourne.

better still is the fact that Cheaper than Hotels also has a guide to the town on the page itself, giving you basic information on some of the more popular hotels and a little background on the city, including your prospects of getting around the city. not only can you find out about the best hotels in Melbourne, but you can also get a good idea of the city through the website. not that bad considering I was only looking for the best hotels in Melbourne and some good prices for comparison.

i don't know if i'd be able to make this trip this year, although it could be a good sports trip/vacation. but i know that i'll probably check out Cheaper than Hotels once i finally decide to make this trip. for a good database that provides different Melbourne hotels and information about the city, I would defintely suggest that site.

Series Recap: San Francisco Giants v. Arizona Diamondbacks

the Giants get another series victory and end their 9-game homestand with a winning tilt heading on the road to Cincinnati. maybe even more positive for the Giants is that they'll get Barry Bonds in the starting lineup for the All-Star Game next week.

the most impressive thing about this Arizona series was Sunday's game, where the Giants put up 13 runs on the D-Backs. it wasn't so much the offensive explosion, but the dominating performance by "the Franchise" Tim Lincecum. 12 K's in 7 innings and only 96 pitches. he threw a lot of those strikeouts while ahead in the count; rarely did we see Lincecum down 3-2 or even at 2-2 in the count. he looked dominant, and now has stretched his scoreless innings streak to 16... where does the future take us?

well, immediately, Cincinnati and St. Louis before the All-Star break hits.

Maddux Wins 340th, Padres Top Giants (Game 3)