Brett Favre is a man stuck in limbo, he just can’t make up his mind to retire from professional football or not.

In case you haven’t heard, Brett Favre recently said that he can still play at a “high level” if he returns to the Minnesota Vikings for a 20th NFL season. Favre has not yet said if he plans to play, but he’s not sounding like a retired quarterback.

You see, Brett Favre told the Sun Herald on the Mississippi newspaper’s website he would “love to go beat the Saints” in the season opener Sept. 9. New Orleans beat Minnesota in the NFC championship game in January.

“If my body was a wreck, the decision would be made,” Favre said. “But that is not the case. I know the Vikings want to know.

“Hell, I want to know. But I am not going to press it. If I do not play, it does not cost the Vikings a dime. They keep the $13 million. I know they have confidence in the players they have. They had a chance to draft Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen in the first round, but they didn’t want one.”

Favre said his healing on schedule from surgery on his left ankle, and cycling is part of his rehab.

Agent Bus Cook was asked if the 40-year-old Favre has made a decision on playing. His reply? “Nope.” The Vikings declined comment.

Favre enjoyed one of the best seasons of his…

Nine stages have passed and Lance is still playing catch-up.

It’s been more of the same as far as the standings in the 2009 Tour de France is concerned. Rinaldo Nocentini has been hanging on to his spot on top and guess what, after nine stages, it hasn’t changed.

Yes, Nocentini is still hanging on to the yellow jersey Sunday as Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo won the race’s ninth stage held over 160.5km from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes.

Fedrigo, who rides for the Bbox-Bouygues team, handed the hosts their third stage win from this year’s race after outsprinting breakaway companion Franco Pellizotti at the finish line. It is Fedrigo’s second stage win on the world’s biggest cycling tournament, having claimed his maiden win in 2006.

The main peloton containing all the race favorites came over the finish line 34 secs later, having failed to close the gap to the leading pair on the 70.1km descent leading from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet to Tarbes.

On the third and final day in the Pyrenees and ahead of the race’s first rest day on Monday, Rinaldo Nocentini maintained his 06-second lead on Spain’s 2007 Tour de France champion, Alberto Contador.

Lance Armstrong, Contador’s teammate at Astana, is…

That’s right, the annual cycling event nobody probably gives a shit about anymore is on.

Lance Armstrong is attempting the impossible by going for an eighth title in the 2009 Tour de France, the world’s toughest cycling tournament. It is no surprise that the main plot will focus on a certain larger-than-life Texan who has come out of retirement to reclaim his spot on top of the sport. Can he do it?

If you really want to know, Lance Armstrong believes so. The Texan believes he still has the strength in his legs and the wind in his lungs to take an eighth yellow jersey.

But the odds are stacked against him.

At the age of 37, he will have to defy biology and the history books to end up with the yellow jersey in Paris in three weeks time. No rider has won the race at his age before. The oldest winner of the Tour was 36 when Firmin Lambot won way back in 1922. But despite this, it would still be unwise to bet against Lance Armstrong. How come? In case you missed it, his name is still Lance Armstrong.

Whether Armstrong can be on top of the Tour de France again or not, one thing is absolutely clear, him being back is good news to a sport riddled by controversy the last couple of years.

”He’s one of the biggest legends in the sport and the influence he has had has been absolutely incredible and for him to come back shows a lot of courage,” veteran Tour de France rider Stuart O’Grady said. ”It is also great publicity for the sport whether or not he wins.”

If there’s this one guy who can give Lance Armstrong a…

Somebody got away with a very valuable piece of sports memorabilia.

The 2009 Tour de France is still a long way from here but fans of the sport are already feeling all giggly in anticipation for it. Some even can’t help themselves of grabbing a ”piece” of it right now that they decided to just steal one of Lance Armstrong’s bikes just for the heck of it.

You read it, the seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong lost his time-trial bike when it was stolen from the Team Astana truck during the night before the popular cyclist heads for Stage 1 of the Tour of California.

Although Armstrong, in his first competitive appearance in his native country since ”resuming” his cycling career last month, finished a strong 10th place during the Tour prologue in preparation for Stage 1 in California, you just know that he must be pissed after learning that somebody stole his bike in his first official comeback performance.

A few hours after the time trial, someone removed four bikes from the Astana truck outside the Sacramento hotel where Lance Armstrong’s Astana team was residing in.

His time-trial bike, which was closest to the door, was stolen along with three other bikes that belong to Armstrong’s teammates; Steve Morabito, Yaroslav Popovych and…

Yes, he’s coming back.

Lance Armstrong, probably the most popular cyclist in the United States, since the country doesn’t really have that much, will ride the 2009 Tour de France after a long hiatus from the sport.

The Tour begins on the 4th of July and Lance Armstrong, probably celebrating his own Independence Day after finally ending his relationship with the singer Sheryl Crow, figured getting his ass back on a bicycle is the best way to let the rest of the world know that he’s back running his life. Hee hee.

”If you’ve been away for three or four years, it would be silly for anybody to think I could pick up where I left off,” Lance Armstrong said in a telephone interview from Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

”I can tell you I feel better than ever, I feel stronger than ever on Dec. 1. How that translates to racing, we’ll have to see. Mentally, in terms of motivation, this feels like 1998-1999 to me.”

Armstrong, who’ll likely join 2007 Tour champion Alberto Contador in the Astana team, will be a part of one of the most star-studded lineups in France. Joining Armstrong and Contador is Germany’s Andreas Kloeden, American veteran Levi Leipheimer and top support rider Yaroslav Popovych.

The Astana cycling team, now considered by far the strongest multistage team EVER, is so ridiculously powerful they might…

FINALLY, after all the doping scandals that have plagued this year’s Tour, we finally have a winner.

Of course, I won’t be surprised if this guy gets tested positive for dope as well but for now, Spain’s Carlos Sastre will be recognized as the winner of the 2008 Tour de France.

10 days have passed since we last saw another guy tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. And when the Tour concluded last Sunday with Carlos Sastre being crowned champion, guess what, another doping allegation came out of the woodwork.

He he… You read it. These doping scandals have tagged along with this year’s Tour from start to finish and it was only fitting that we have one last one before they crown a new champion.

This time, according to the head of France’s anti-doping agency Pierre Bordry, it was Dmitriy Fofonov who was tested positive for a ”very heavy dose” of…

Because doping scandals have really been the flavor of this year’s Tour.

The 2008 Tour de France was rocked once again by a third positive doping scandal following the news that Italian biker Riccardo Ricco tested positive for banned substances. Surprised? Not us.

Riccardo Ricco, who won two climbing stages already, was taken into custody by French police amid scenes of chaos outside his Saunier Duval team bus before the start of stage 12. Ricco was expelled from the race and detained, leading to his team pulling off from the Tour and pausing all of its activities. His Spanish team initially took to the start line for the 12th stage from here to Narbonne, however, because of Ricco’s stupidity, the yellow-clad riders returned to the team bus.

”We’ve decided to suspend all cycling activities until we find out what has happened,” team spokesman Matxin Fernandez said. ”Ricco is not just any rider, he’s a top rider. So for the sake of our team and the Tour de France we have made this decision. We can’t act as though nothing has happened, we have to accept the reality.”

Riccardo Ricco’s positive test for the banned blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) was confirmed by the French national anti-doping agency (AFLD), which is carrying out all tests on the race as the race is being held under the auspices of the…

Aside from Cadel Evans of course.

The 2008 Tour de France is almost ready to conclude despite all these doping scandals that have fucked it up for us already.

Of course, this year’s Tour is still something Cadel Evans to lose. He already has a firm grasp on that title and if everything works out as planned, I won’t be surprised to see this guy winning it. So who else will win this year’s Tour if Evans finds himself being tested positive for performance enhancing drugs? (Hey, you never really know right?) Hopefully, these guys won’t be tested positive for dope.

First we have Damiano Cunego. He has shown considerable growth as a rider since winning the 2004 Giro d’Italia, the type of results and maturity that is needed to win the world’s biggest cycling race.

The 26-year-old won the young rider classification in his only Tour de France appearance in 2006 but failed to live up to his earlier promise until he won the Giro di Lombardia last fall. Add to the fact that he is a former winner of the Giro d’Italia, the ”little prince” who rides for Lampre is a huge talent in stage racing, especially in the mountains. Next we have Alejandro Valverde. Known as the ‘Green Bullet’ in some circles, he might just be blasting his way to the top of the Tour de France podium.

The 28 year-old Spaniard from Murcia who was brilliant throughout 2006 has that same spark this…

Because quite frankly, you’ll never know who’ll win it even after the tournament is over.

It has been well documented that doping scandals have always plagued cycling’s premiere event. And these doping scandals can snatch the title away from whoever wins it, like last year when Michael Rasmussen should’ve been the winner but because of him getting his ass DOPED, the 2007 title was then literally handed over to Alberto Contador. Guess what, we already have THREE in the 2008 Tour de France.

Sad huh? The latest of which? Riccardo Ricco. The guy already won two stages of the Tour de France as people are probably starting to marvel his endurance in what is a very very grueling spot. When he was tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, it was all over.

The biggest question now is, who will will don the maillot jaune of best overall rider when the three-week race concludes in Paris? Who will be the next Lance Armstrong? Sure, whoever comes out the winner will probably be tested like crazy for dope anyway but hey, he’s a champion until proven DOPED eh?

The list of favorites boils down to just five men; Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne), Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Carlos Sastre (CSC-Saxo).

But since Cadel Evans is the first guy we mentioned, let’s find out if this dude can…

Now THAT was only a matter of time.

After 10 stages of the 2008 Tour de France got off with just one steroids scandal, it seems the sport was finally free of doping issues until this year’s Tour concludes. When the 11th stage got here Wednesday, guess what, another doping scandal erupted.

You read it, after Kurt-Asle Arvesen won the 11th stage of the 2008 Tour de France, a much bigger news story (for some reason) came out after Spain’s Moises Duenas Nevado was tested positive for the banned performance enhancer EPO.

The arrest of Moises Duenas Nevado is this year’s second arrest for performance enhancing drugs. That’s probably why it left International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid puzzled why their cyclists just keep on biting the ”enhancing” dust.

”I just can’t understand when are these guys are going to learn,” Pat McQuaid said. ”If the ‘B’ sample is positive, then all I can say is the guy’s a fool. The net is closing in.”

”The Tour is the biggest event in the world and people will…”