Relegated

Today's schedule seemed completely devoid of hooding so the hooder and I were available for a bicycle ride. We hung around long enough to make selections in the family Indianapolis 500 pool and to see the first two crashes. Then we rode off into what was well on its way to being a spectacular day in Minnesota.

We rode to Vadnais, a long ride for the undertrained hooder. She was holding up fairly well when we stopped at the lake but in perhaps a foreshadowing of things to come she declined to move out of the shade for a photo.Vadnais was its usual summer spectacular.

The corn is off to a good start. The hooder is practicing her "I am knackered" look.
We got home in time to see the last 20 or so laps of the race, long enough to see the hooder's first choice, pole sitter Helio Castroneves cross the line first. It was a satisfying result for all fans everywhere of fence climbing.

The news from France is not good. Yesterday's game in round 37 of 38 in France's Ligue 1 produced this score: Souchaux 2:1 Nantes. The outcome means that FC Nantes faces with near certainty relegation back to Ligue 2 for next season. As reported by Presse Ocean: Salut les amis! "Cette fois, c'est bel et bien fini: le FCN, vaincu à Sochaux, évoluera la saison prochaine en L2. Quel gâchis!"

There is still a mathematical possibility of survival but to stay up Nantes must win next week while Saint Etienne and Caen both lose. Furthermore Caen must lose by a wildly improbable margin large enough for Nantes to overcome a current minus 16 in the first tie-breaker, goal differential. So Nantes must win by say 3-0 while Caen loses 0-14. Wildly improbable.

Photo from FC Nantes website:Il faudrait un miracle... One would need a miracle.