http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs Fearless. Thoughtful. Witty. Canadian. And Opinionated. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:25:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Lance Armstrong returns to the Tour De France, as our Parisian sports correspondent reports... PARIS—He’s baaaaaaaaaack. Four years after he last wore the Maillot Jaune on the Champs Elysees – 2005 was his seventh consecutive Tour de France victory – Lance Armstrong, or as I like to call him, The Wristbanded One, ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/07/03/le-tour-de-france-avec-lance/ Ken Loach's new film swaps trade unions and the Spanish civil war for... Eric Cantona? PARIS—“I have a lot of good moments, but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan.” That famous quote, no doubt delivered in his heavily accented English, perfectly encapsulates the career of Eric Cantona, one ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/06/05/looking-for-eric/ PARIS—Handsome footballers, huh? Well, two can play at this game. When France’s sporting daily, l’Équipe, recently published an online slideshow of the 25 sexiest football players, my first reaction was, “Yes! Awesome! Perfect!” Because what better excuse to outline a project that’s been long-simmering in the Trotter household than to post ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/05/10/you-aint-got-no-alibi-all-ugly-team-edition/ PARIS—The Italian slalom whiz Alberto Tomba, who won five Olympic medals between 1988 and 1994, had a particular pre-race tradition: downing a shot of espresso right before skiing out of the starting gates. Even disregarding the recent scholarship that argues that caffeine is one of the last totally legal performance-enhancing drugs ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/04/10/i-get-around-arc-de-triomphe-edition/ PARIS—If this was America, Congress would be up in arms. No way you could get away with calling a nation-wide “day of action” on the third Thursday of March and giving millions of workers the day off. Too fishy. Obviously there’s a hidden motive there, beyond the earnest value of ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/03/20/its-a-mad-mad-mad-mad-march/ PARIS—The concept of the sports bar is not one that has yet captured the hearts and minds of Parisians. I proclaim this fact to you with an air of historical frustration, but also with a newfound sense of hope courtesy of the website AlloMatch.com. I’m back in France after a ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/02/26/where-is-my-match/ PARIS—I've been waiting all year for this. No, I don't mean the Super Bowl, the 43rd edition of the big game this Sunday being contested by the NFC’s Arizona Cardinals and the AFC’s (and Mlle Trotter’s) Pittsburgh Steelers. The local broadcast on France 2 is at 12:20am Monday morning, Paris ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/01/31/top-of-the-props/ PARIS—And so what if I hate winners? Does that make me a bad sports fan? A good fan? A bad person? A good person? Who knows. Mostly I think it just makes me a monumentally confused person. I’ll admit it. All things being equal, all loyalties and betting interests aside, I’m cheering ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/01/27/who-dares-win/ PARIS—Bonne année, mes amis! No, that's not a typo in the title of this post (unless I ended up spelling playoff “pleighophe” – whoops, good thing I just checked it!). I’m retiring from this whole predictions business, at least for the rest of the NFL postseason. I did, if you’ll recall (hint ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/01/02/playoff-predilections/ PARIS—One year ago, when The Walrus accidentally gave me permission to write about the wide world of sports on their website, I announced a set of goals for the upcoming season. Now, every good sports writer knows that revisiting one’s archived opinions and predictions is the recipe for a healthy serving ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/11/28/last-years-man/