Liger

Is it a good move to name you companies first bike after Napoleon Dynamite's favorite animal?? Massimiliano Lelli throws caution to the wind with the Liger....
I have mixed feeling about Lelli's reemergence. Riding for Cofidis near the end of his career, Lelli was often highlighted in the media as a mentor to David Millar. Possibly mentoring him on all the wrong things. Lelli got caught up in some doping accusations as well.-Although he and Millar were acquitted by the French in the bigger "Cofidis Affair".
So is he a wily old Italian road captain? or is he a desperate ex-doper trying to make a buck? Or do those 2 things go together for Italians from the 90s? And most importantly is the Liger any good?

Offenders "I Hate Myself" 45

Early 80s hardcore often had a overdriven trebly production that only magnified the angst and aggression being laid down(No Labels and Neon Christ for example). "I Hate Myself" is blessed with searing guitar sound that makes it twice as brutal.
This is a perfect slice of American Hardcore and American Music period.
Rabid Cat Records 1984. "Bad Times" is on the flip, but I don't think I've flipped it over since the first time I listened to it
The Offenders were along with MDC,Dicks,Big Boys, part of a wave of in you face, anti-redneck, anti bullshit Texas Punk and Hardcore that is hard to comprehend. I can't imagine the puds from falloutboy having the balls to try their schtick in the early 80s in Texas let alone this anti-everything agenda.
First heard the Offenders on the Peace Comp and tracked down their LP Endless Struggle. All of their offerings were good, but "I hate Myself" was the kind of all out reckless anthem that would fuel you to do almost anything. This is without a doubt one of the top ten US Hardcore tracks.

Looks like someone redid the cover art and reissued it. New art looks like some junkie meets loverboy bullshit, but grab this crucial track however you can. You can check it on myspace... of course.
Props to something I learned today blog for dropping some more MP3s
Good Discography here.

Power of Zeus Gospel According to Zeus LP

It's not very often that you get to thank Obie Trice and Nick Salomon in the same sentence, but thanks to the eternal glory of Power of Zeus I am able to do so today. First heard the band sampled on Obie's second album. Total Sabbath overload-who were these guys?. I gave up searching and hoped I would figure it out one day. One year later, I grab the incredible "White Lace and Strange" comp on Psychic Circle. Fourth song in is the none other than the Uber-Sabbath song Obie sampled. Damn. Power of Zeus from Detroit on Rare Earth Records 1970. A Motown connection? Not to big a stretch for a Detroit rapper to sample.
So the record has been reissued and isn't so hard to track down. 10 tracks of "hard rock". No track reaches the Sabbath worship of "it couldn't be me", but elements of B.O.C and Bad Company are in the house. The can ramble on in a pseudo spiritual Zep/Sabbath type vein for epic lengths-for example on the mega opus "death trip" that closes side one
They open side 2 with a mega guitar and piano groove monster called "no time" that works the Sabbathy groove again before tripping out into outerspace. "Hard Workin Man" keeps the cow bell beer drinking plod going strong.
Lots of odd hits when you google the name. They may also be the first band to use the name Gangrene -at least the Skate to Hell crew spelled it better.
A quick check over at thebreaks.com shows that "Sorcerer of Isis" is more sampled than "it couldn't be me" with Nas,Tribe,Common,Eminem, Spider Loc, 50 Cent, and Wiseguys all sampling it. The slow long,opening drum break should make it clear why. When the vocals kick in it is veering very close to Flower Travelling Band-it just never pushes the vocals to FTB's heights.
Perhaps most of this record resides closer to Vanilla Fudge than Sabbath but it is still a prime slice of forgotten US hard rock. The Motown connection only makes it better.

TDF another 2 cents

The TDF recap issue of Procycling had some pretty interesting doping allegations. They were pushing a France + Germany=clean vs Italy and Spain=doped agenda pretty hard. The DS of Bouyges Telecom (JM Bernaudeau) claims the UCI was distributing a dossier that should young red blood cell counts that were consistent with no doping for France and Germany, but "other nationalities were identical to each other, but in a completely different place on the graph". If the UCI really has this info and the science shows that to be consistent with doping, why aren't they dropping the hammers?

Sandy Casar had an interview that was pretty interesting. He didn't drop any names, but called a lot of things like he saw them. He called out Phonak,Pozzatto, Riis, Moser, and Armstrong for behavior he didn't agree with. He also cites Pat McQuaid and some UCI stat that 60% of Spanish and 50% of Italian rider's blood had "anomalies" in them. Again, why isn't the UCI cranking up the pressure?
It used to be easier to write off guys who were out of contention as "Sour Grapes" but as more and more winners test positive, they seem more and more credible.
In addition to conjecture there was a very MLB stat geek breakdown of Rasmussen's time trialing.
No matter how you cut it. This was not your usual TDF puff piece but an above average issue of a great cycling mag

Tons of racing this week

Unlike the TDF, other races aren't afraid to go head to head with the Vuelta. So this week you can sample race results from Poland,England, and Missouri.
Shocking result yesterday was CSC last in a team time trial???? Weather was the issue, not legs, but still that is strange to see. Especially with well drilled vets like Jullich, Voigt, etc. Big names like DiLuca,Ricco, and Ballan are all in Poland. Liquigas and CSC seem favorites. Tyler Farrar is reping for the US.
In Britan, Mark Cavendish grabbed the prologue win for queen and country. T-Mobile have a lot to look forward to with him. Weaker team selection than Poland due to Poland's Pro Tour status. T-Mobile looks the strongest. JJ Haedo and Robbie Hunter's presence will guarantee some good sprints. Rabobank's line up should be a mystery to all but the most diligent cyclo-stat geek. Navigators are back in action in the UK
Vuelta podium is coming into focus Menchov,Evans, Sastre perhaps?? Devolder looked good in the TT but paid the next day in the hills. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Sammy Sanchez to battle onto the podium and I really hope Sastre can find a way onto the top step.
Race of the future stars -the Tour D'Avenir is in it's 5th stage with Craig Lewis in 9th.
Finally the Tour of Missouri or Discovery Farewell Race will be underway tomorrow. Disco have a stacked team and Levi should be strong after his Nationals performance. All domestic teams have sent strong squads. Navigators, Slipstream, and Health Net look good. I am pulling for Svein Tuft. Tecos, Sparkase, and Saunier Duval add the international element.
That is a lot of racing for September 10th!