Netflix trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaE5_704KUo

Did you watch today's Formula 1 race from Silverstone? It was the best of the year!

Usually I fast-forward through the competition, otherwise it's just too boring in a whiz-bang world. I keep my eye on the leaderboard and when there's movement, I slow down the recording and replay it. But not today! Today I watched all the way through.

I'm a Hamilton guy. And his switch to Ferrari has not looked so wise with the results of his old Mercedes teammate George Russell this season. However, Hamilton has been improving and he had a great practice session on Friday and nearly as good a qualifying session on Saturday, but Verstappen squeaked by to take the pole in front of the McLarens, the team with this year's fastest cars.

I like Lando Norris, but I actually prefer his teammate Oscar Piastri, it's his intensity, Australian humor and driving skills this year.

However, what made today's race so interesting was THE RAIN! The fact that they even drove in this stuff was amazing. I mean the drivers could barely see! And it became a game of strategy, pitting and switching tires and there were two great moments... When Verstappen spun out, falling back many places and ruining his race, and Hulkenberg ending up third.

HOWEVER, this is about bike racing. "Unchained" is similar in format to "Drive to Survive," but there are differences.

First and foremost, "Unchained" can be more confusing. You see there are many more teams. And each team has many more participants. So it's a challenge to lay out the series, they bounce from team to team, narrative to narrative, but you get into the groove and enjoy it nonetheless.

Now I'd recommend watching the previous two seasons to catch up on some of the personalities who were focused on in the past but don't get the spotlight today, it will add flavor.

And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure I remember who won last year, although I think I do, but...

I've come 'round on Tadej Poga?ar. I used to think the Slovenian was a prick like Max Verstappen, but now I think that was a matter of him speaking in English. Poga?ar is not overconfident and snide, he's got a sense of humor.

As for Jonas Vingegaard... I supported the Dane when he was the underdog, I have sympathy re his comeback from his crash, but now that he's won...he doesn't evidence much personality, he can be vulnerable, but he's more of a machine.

In case you've never followed the Tour de France, it's not that complicated. There is an overall winner and then there are winners of the stages, i.e. the individual races, which are usually twenty one in number. As for the mountain stages... The effort involved in climbing is staggering and the downhills are scary. And then there's the gravel stage...it ultimately lives up to the billing.

This is a dangerous sport. They've got little more than helmets protecting them. It's kind of like basketball in that equipment is not really a factor, it comes down to the athlete themselves. How good are they.

There's raw genetics/biology, not everybody can win, you need the right oxygen consumption number to succeed.

But to a degree it's a team sport just like basketball, no matter how good you are, you can't win the overall unless your team helps you.

As for the individual teams, each has drama... It comes down to money and results.

But the riders are human. They are not machines like in F1. As for psychology...does it really make a difference, can you really implore someone to win? Doesn't look like it.

So what you've got is these lean riders who are in incredible shape and then these old farts who drive around in support cars or sit in buses, acting like fat cats when in truth, they've got little to do with the results. The team principals do not have the airs of Toto and Horner, and since the bikes are not a huge factor, it all comes down to the rider, who has even more importance than he does in Formula 1.

As for the vistas... It'll make you want to visit France, if not even move there.

I can't exactly explain why these foreign sports are so fascinating to me. Maybe because in the rest of the world they mean so much. But it also comes down to the way Netflix constructs these shows, the storytelling and the drama, to the point where you can already know the results and still be on the edge of your seat.

I used to watch a lot of sports. Even though my brethren boomers are deep into baseball, I don't have enough time to watch games. As for the NFL... I watch one game a year, the Super Bowl, as it's a national rite, the injuries, especially the head injuries, are too bad for me to rationalize.

And one of the reasons the NFL eclipsed the MLB was because of the speed and the intensity, which both Formula 1 and bicycle racing have in spades. These two shows have brought me back from the sidelines, maybe because they're absent the rah-rah macho of most American sports. They're intriguing. But like in all sports, the athletes are disposable, they have their moments and then they're gone. It's very weird, there's little loyalty, it's all about winning, you have your era and then you're done, it's cutthroat, you can't drive or ride into your sixties.

But along the way...


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