The Oh-Tour Theory

As I've mentioned in the past, these pages were never intended to be about politics, just something to be discussed along with everything else.  Then, Trump World took over -- and still rears its ugly head on a daily basis.  I periodically try to return to the normalcy of the early days around these parts, but it's hard to ignore reality, though Republicans seem to do a good job of that.

Still, I try to get the balance back.  And the truth is that there is plenty of news and commentary overflowing like lava to cover the ground really well whenever one steps back here.

And so we continue our balancing act.

Yesterday, I wrote about loving to watch the Tour de France every year, which is carried on NBCSN, the NBC sports network channel.  What I left out is how weird this is, to watch the race -- even more than it would normally seem, watching a bike race for hours a day for three weeks -- given that I really don't understand any of the rules.

This includes not understanding how teams work or even why there are even teams at all in what appears to be an individual sport.  And not understanding what the reason is for the peloton, the large pack of riders behind all the leaders.  It took me years to figure out why there is a points leader and also an overall leader.  Nor do I know how points are even given.  Or how the time trials work.  And I still have no idea why, along with giving yellow, green and white jerseys to category leaders after every stage, someone thought it would be a good idea to also award a polka dot jersey, unless it was meant to ridicule the rider in last place, or to honor the fastest clown in the race.)