Too much of a good thing

There's a veritable smorgasbord of sport on offer over the next few nights. 

The Open Championship has begun at Muirfield, and some of the world's best golfers can already start thinking about what to do with their weekends, as they are unlikely to be competing for the Claret Jug. Notables such as Jim Furyk and Ricky Fowler (both +7), Rory McIlroy (+8)  and Luke Donald (+9) have already played themselves out of contention. Former Masters champion Zach Johnson leads on -5, former Open champions Mark O'Meara (-4) and Tom Lehmann (-3) defied Father Time, and a couple of blokes named Phil and Tiger are lurking menacingly at -2. Muirfield was the first day winner though.

Down in London, the second Ashes test has started at Lords with Australia having a slight edge at the end of day one. England finished the day at 289 for seven, thanks to an Ian Bell century at the home of cricket. A fascinating second day begins tonight at 10pm.

Fast forward to France, when the Tour de France has reached the Alps. However English rider Chris Froome would have to make an unplanned mountain bike excursion to lose his commanding grip on the maillot jaune. It's brilliant television however; the camera work is as ever outstanding.

But it's too much of a good thing. MySky is wonderful, but short of staying up all night then being unable to function in the morning, it's impossible to cover all three. We suppose that's a good dilemma to have, but it's frustrating nonetheless.

So here's a question for sports fans; which would be your viewing of preference? It'll get worse over the weekend with rugby and league added to the mix, but we're out of town, and will be watching live rugby in Christchurch!

It never rains but it pours, and it's a tropical downpour of sport this weekend. But is it too much of a good thing?

Now THAT'S tough!

Various sports require various degrees of toughness. Wellington hooker Norm Hewitt played in in the 2000 Air NZ Cup final against Canterbury with a broken arm. Bert Sutcliffe played a brave hand for New Zealand against South Africa at Ellis Park in 1953 after suffering a sickening blow to the head. And Buck Shelford played on against France in 1986 at Nantes with his scrotum torn open, and a testicle hanging out.

But this one is right up there; Stuff reports:

The Tour de France is gruelling enough, with its punishing mountain climbs and brutal descents in a three-week pursuit of the feted yellow jersey.
But how about tackling all of that with a fractured pelvis?
That's the agonising situation Welshman and Sky team member Geraint Thomas finds himself in, following a spectacular crash near the finishing line during the opening stage of cycling's most prestigious event.
Thomas, a dual Olympic track cycling gold medallist, went over his bars and landed on his back on the narrow roads leading into Bastia, after the Australian team's Orica GreenEdge bus became lodged under a banner at the finishing line.
With riders bearing down, race organisers temporarily moved the finishing line back three kilometres before restoring the route once the bus was removed. There were several pile-ups amid the confusion.
Thomas, 27, underwent scans on Saturday night and was cleared to ride the following day.
He climbed back into the saddle, only to endure what he described as "one of the worst days I've ever had on a bike", finishing 17 minutes and 35 seconds down on the leaders.
A further MRI scan on Sunday night revealed a small fracture to his pelvis.
But, in what sounds like a mind-boggling decision to most people, Thomas has vowed to battle on through the epic endurance event with a fractured pelvis.
On Monday, he needed help to lift his leg over his bike's crossbar before the start.
Even his mother thinks he's mad.
"I'm going to continue, to give it a good go even if my mum doesn't want me to," Thomas said following stage three of the Tour.
"I have not come here just to do a lap of France.
"I've done so much to lose weight and get fit for this.
"I'm not going to give up straight away.
"The experts have said I am not going to do any more damage by riding. It is just a matter of if it improves."
James Heathers, an applied physiologist at the University of Sydney, said Thomas' vow to battle on exemplified the single-mindedness of world class athletes compared to everyone else.
"It's very difficult for 'normal' people who don't have that mindset to understand how impossibly competitive and single-minded you have to be to succeed at something like this," Mr Heathers said.
He said he did not know the extent of Thomas' injury, and it was possible that "it may sound worse than it is". But world-class athletes were extremely driven. 

We're with Geraint Thomas' mother; he IS mad. But he is also one tough rooster. Surely there couldn't be a sport that was less friendly to someone with a fractured pelvis than road cycling.

Thomas may not complete the Tour de France. But he deserves a medal for even trying, when anyone with less resolve would simply walk away.