Alberto Contador gets the European treatment for his "unintentional ingestion."

On the same day Lance Armstrong announced his second retirement from competitive cycling (that's bicycling, not steroid cycling), Alberto Contador was cruising the Tour of the Algarve on his Trek Madone to European cheers, basking in the glow being cleared of doping charges.

In an earlier post, I talked about how Alberto Contador was most definitely doping during his Tour de France win, but hadn't been stripped of his laurels because Europeans are not held to the same exacting zero tolerance when it comes to performance enhancing drugs as Americans.

Apparently, the Spanish Cycling Federation believes that it is very European to consume "tainted meat" through a plastic IV bag (the plastic residue of which was also found in Contador's bloodstream). So Contador is free to continue peddling through the hearts of continentals while Lance Armstrong, even as he retires, is STILL enduring probes for potential performance enhancing drug use.

The take home message for me is twofold. First, one cannot win the Tour de France without some kind of dope. Two, one cannot win the Tour de France without a European Union passport.

Superbowl Prop Bets, 2011

Here are some prop bets that the people are betting on for Super bowl XLV.

(Update 2/16) The winning bets are in bold.

1)  Will Christina Aguilera don a cowboy hat to sing the national anthem?

A) Yes

B) No

2)  How long will Christina Aguilera hold the word "Brave" at the end of the national anthem?

A) Longer than 6 seconds

B) Six seconds or less

3) Will the result of the coin toss be heads or tails?

A) Heads

B) Tails

4) Will either team score in the first 7 minutes of the game?

A) Yes

B) No

5) Which team will score the first touchdown?

A) Green Bay Packers

B) Pittsburgh Steelers

C) Neither team will score a touchdown

6) Which Celebrity will appear in more commercials during the Super Bowl broadcast?

A) Betty White

B) Kim Kardashian

C) Justin Bieber

D) Draw/None in any commercials

7) Will a field goal be kicked and made from more than 42 yards?

A) Yes, 43 yards or more

B) No, 42 yards or less

8) Will the first coach’s challenge be successful?

A) Yes

B) No

9) Will Brett Favre be mentioned by the FOX announcers during the game?

A) Yes

B) No

10) Whose hair will the Fox Announcers mention first?

A) Clay Matthews 

B) Troy Polamalu

C) Neither

11) Will any player do a Lambeau leap during the game?

A) Yes

B) No

12) Will Fergie dress as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader at any point of the Black Eyed Peas halftime concert?

A) Yes

B) No

13) What color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach?

A) Blue (10-1 odds, according to BoDog.com)

B) Clear/Water (7-2 odds)

C) Lime Green/Yellow (7-3 odds)

D) Orange (7-4 odds)

E) Red (5-1 odds)

F) Other

14) Who will win the Super Bowl?

A) Green Bay Packers

B) Pittsburgh Steelers

15) Who will the Super Bowl MVP thank first?

A) Coach

B) Family

C) Fans

D) Teammates

E) God

F) Other *Rogers didn't thank anyone at the podium, though he did thank his coaches first in a later interview.