The Show

If I seem a little down, bear with me. Went to see Seabiscuit, got shut out at the window.

TOUR DE LANCE...TAKE FIVE
Armstrong won his fifth straight Tour, despite falling twice and completing stage 9 on a recumbent bike.

In his closest win yet Armstrong defeated Jan Ullrich by 61 seconds. But, to be fair, Lance could have increased his lead another two minutes if he'd been willing to fall a few more times.

Lance now has five yellow jerseys, tying him with Miguel Indurain and four others, including a guy who broke into me Padres' locker room in 1974.

Meanwhile, Tyler Hamilton became only the sixth American to win a stage of the Tour. And he did it using a spare handlebar as a collarbone.

KOBE GIVES WIFE $4 MILLION DIAMOND RING

I was shocked. It's not like Kobe to give up the rock.

The ring contained an eight-carat purple diamond. Oh, I get it. Eight, to match his number. Purple, because it happened on the road.

The Lakers are standing behind their star. Not only that, Phil Jackson urged Kobe to hire a third lawyer so he could come up with a triangle defense.

This case has everybody on edge. Earlier today Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale and his wife held a press conference to announce that their four-way deal was consensual.