R.I.P ALAN BALL

Lawrie McMenemy, who twice signed him for Southampton, told the BBC: "He was my guest at St Mary's on Saturday and I should have been playing golf with him this morning.

ALAN BALL FACTFILE Born: Lancashire 12/05/1945 Playing career: Played for Blackpool, Everton, Arsenal, Southampton, Philadelphia Fury, Vancouver Whitecaps (player manager), Blackpool (player manager), Southampton, Eastern (Hong Kong), Bristol Rovers Made 975 appearances in a 21-year career Managerial career: Portsmouth, Colchester, Stoke, Exeter, Southampton, Manchester City, Portsmouth Honours: World Cup (1966), league title (1970)

"We were very, very good friends.

"I was very fortunate to manage him. I wanted him badly not just for his ability but for his enthusiasm. Once his feet touched the grass he was like a performer on the stage.

"In his early career he was a runner, a scrapper, a fighter, a workmanlike player. At the end of his career he became the best one-touch footballer in the game.

"Alan started life as a road sweeper and ended up as the best lead violinist Southampton ever had.

"They were a tight-knit family that World Cup team but he has gone to join Bobby Moore now.

"He was about to move up to his close pal Mick Channon and start a new part of his life that he was very excited about.

"He had an enthusiasm for life, not just football, and it spread. He was a lovely fella."

THIS IS PROFESSIONAL CYCLE RACING AT IT'S BEST PT4

TAKEN FROM WWW.CYCLINGNEWS.COM


Raisin announces engagement at TdG
By Kirsten Robbins

Saul Raisin made an appearance at the start of Stage 5 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia in his hometown of Dalton, Georgia. He rode one parade lap of the neutral circuits and later announced his recent engagement to Aleeza Zabriskie.

The young Credit Agricole rider has spent the last thirteen months recovering from a life threatening crash at the Circuit de la Sarthe in April of last year. His crash resulted in a hematoma the size of a lemon in the right side of his brain. He spent one week in a coma and awoke with a temporary paralysis to the left side of his body. Raisin claims he has been given a new perspective on life because his near death accident last year and does not take life for granted.

Raisin attended the Tour of California in February to ride each course ahead of the professional peloton to raise awareness for his foundation Raisin Hope, an effort to help those who suffer from brain and spinal cord injury. On the way home he was recognized by, now fiancé, Zabriskie. She had attended the Tour of California to watch her brother Dave Zabriskie and his CSC team in competition. Raisin commented on their short encounter. "She came up to me to introduce herself to tell me that she had prayed for me everyday since my accident," Raisin said. "I knew then that she was an angel watching over me and we have been together ever since. She has been to my home in France and this month I took her to a little chapel near my home behind Nice to propose to her."

THIS IS PROFESSIONAL CYCLE RACING AT IT'S BEST PT 3

TAKEN FROM WWW.CYCLINGNEWS.COM


Jörg Jaksche is another Operación Puerto rider who has found a team and rejoined the pro peloton. Riding for Team Tinkoff, Jaksche says that he has nothing to fear from any further steps in the doping scandal. "I have done everything that the UCI has asked, " the 30-year-old said in an interview with sport1.at. "I was even the only rider who declared himself ready to give a voluntary DNA sample. But everything is very unclear. Who knows, what will happen. I have the impression that something has to happen, because certain people have leaned too far out the window."

The 30-year-old explained further: "These people have to figure with legal steps against them, if they have falsely accused riders like Ivan Basso of doping. Our status has fallen from a respected rider to that of a beggar. Someone has to pay for that damage. That's why they are so interested that the investigation reach the results they want."

Does he believe that Basso will be allowed to ride the Tour de France this year? "He will definitely ride. His sponsors will make sure of that. Nike is Basso's main personal sponsor and an official partner of the Tour. Versus (an American television network that used to be called Outdoor Life network and that broadcasts the Tour de France in the US) belongs to Discovery Channel, and as far as I know, has bought the US TV rights to the Tour for the next four years. So theoretically speaking, Basso shouldn't have any problem in France."

Jaksche sympathized with landsman Jan Ullrich. "I'm sorry that Ullrich has been so massacred. It's really awful. I don't believe that he cheated. I have information from every possible side -- there are many rumours going around, all concerning Jan's innocence. They sound plausible. He's never been found to have cheated."

Jaksche is confident that there will be no match of his DNA samples to blood bags taken in the investigation. "Why else would I agree to a DNA test? If I didn't have a clear conscience, then I would never have offered the comparison, rather I would have tried to stop it. I am ready for it at any time. As soon as the UCI has the documents out of Spain, it will happen."

He doesn't like the suggestion that Tinkoff has a bad reputation because it has hired several prominent riders who have been involved in doping cases, such as Tyler Hamilton and Danilo Hondo. "That's just hypocrisy," he said. "Why do they always pick on Tinkoff? Gerolsteiner has two Directeur Sportif who were caught, and numerous riders who have something dirty to hide. Certain people make it easy for themselves, in that they simply forget the past."