Don't forget the Frenc

French Open starts May 24th. And Sharapova is almost certain to compete (10th best odds to win, so they must figure she'll enter.) This might be my favorite Sharapova picture ever. It is not hard at all to imagine my hand holding that ankle in the air.

Immediate future preview

The standings are updated to the minute. Of note is that with the exception of Hermann, the teams at the top are all in serious contention to expand their lead greatly over the next few weeks. And Hermann at least has the Dodgers, the closest thing to a sure-thing playoff team.

In basketball, remaining are Pat, Ben, Matt, and "Campbell." The former three are among the top four teams in the league and, to be honest, it looks like any of them could win the championship.

In the Champions League, teams 4 and 5, Matt and Lyons will be battling for the championship next Wednesday.

Only in hockey where myself (#6), Ziggy (#8) and Matt comprise the remaining contenders is there a chance of a team upsetting the standings a bit.

Oh, and in the Giro, I read a power rankings article somewhere on the web that tells me it is likely a two man race between my Menchov and "Campbell's" Leiphammer (I made no attempt to spell this name correctly).

Giro in the stats?

Not sure if Scallet has been updating, but here are the stage winners through 11 stages:
1 [Team Award]
2 Petacchi
3 Petacchi
4 Di Luca (Yay!)
5 Menchov
6 Scarponi
7 Boasson
8 Siutson
9 Cavendish (Boooo!)
10 Di Luca (Yay!)
11 Cavendish (Booooo!)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009//giro09/?id=results/giro091

Transactions 5/18 to 5/24

Somebody pick up the Royals.

Final 4's

The standings are updated through last nights results, with the exception of a day of baseball. Hawks passed by Lyons into 4th place as his Lakers won their game seven a few hours before Lyons's Celtics lost theirs.

Consequently, we're down to four teams in the NBA and the NHL. In the NBA, Pat's juggernaut Cavs will take on "Campbell's" Magic while Hermann's Nuggets will take on Ben's Lakers in what should be a very interesting and competitive series.

In the NHL, Ziggy's Red Wings already have a one game lead on my Blackhawks while unowned Carolina is taking on Matty's Pittsburgh Penguins in game 1 tonight.

Also at the moment, Lyons's cyclist Danilo Di Luca has roughly a one minute lead over his main rivals in the Giro d'Italia. I have no idea his chances of holding on.

Next week is a big one as it will have the beginning of the French open in tennis and the Champions League finals (Lyons v. Matt).