Rock Racing... Rocked

Did I ever mention that my cat is psychic?

Let me introduce him as someone introduced him to us, a feral kitten in Southern Connecticut:

Being lured in by food.

Small cat in small room.

Hiding in the closet when we moved last month.

In case you didn't see where he was.

Really. He knows when I'm going to put food down (wet food, the tail quivering kind), he knows when I'm about to play with the Stick (it has a string with a zip tie at the end, and it's extremely entertaining for him to run after the zip tie), and he knows when strangers are approaching. The last bit I have to guess but basically he runs under the bed and hides. This usually means "impending doom for orange cats".

Today he sat next to me (I have a chair for him next to the computer) and looked at me, blinking every now and then. I started thinking free form, kind of whatever came to mind.

Rock.

Blink.

Racing.

Blink.

Is.

Blink.

Here.

Blink.

To.

Blink.

Stay.

Tiger didn't blink.

Um... Rocks?

No blinks.

Err... They have cool kits?

Tiger yawned.

Going away?

Blink.

Really?

Blink.

I can buy the full kit and go Rockin' on some training rides?

Tiger looked at me sternly.

Actually, Twitter was all a twitter with the news earlier. Tiger just blinks every now and then, although, to me, he seems prescient in many ways.

Now that Twitter has superseded Reuters as the quickest way to find a rumor, it remains to be seen just how accurate this report really is, but it seems pretty likely.

If this is true it is unfortunate in so many ways.

First off, there are the inevitable casualties - three current US champions, now without a team. A couple black sheep who found a spot on the black and white sheep Rock Racing team, who, I suspect, will be pressed to find a team this late in the year, in this zero percent from the Fed Reserve economy. I hope for both Justin, Tyler, and Rahsaan's sake that they land new squads.

There are a lot of others too, Fred Rodriguez is one guy that comes to mind, Baden Cooke (how did he end up on that team?), and Michael Creed. I figure Cooke should find his way onto a ProTour squad, he just seems like he belongs on one. Fuji have another spot for him?

Of course there's the support staff, the unsung heros of the team. All their people depended on their jobs to pay bills, to get them through the holidays, and now, well, if what's rumored is true, it'll be a grim holiday season.

I'm disappointed, too, because Rock Racing really stirred up the pro racing pot. They injected some excitement into the scene, some collegiate naughtiness with their controversial signings, loud and obnoxious presence, and even their superhero (or villain) skull and crossbones kit.

Michael Ball lured Cipollini out of retirement, however briefly. I think that this prompted some other retired racers to think about un-retiring themselves. One biggie has announced his intention to return to racing at the highest level, but another, when asked informally if he'd race for them, smiled and shrugged.

"I don't know, it's possible," he said, or at least something to that effect.

Unfortunately he just received a suspended jail sentence. I don't know how that affects potential pro contracts but it probably doesn't help too much. That's not the point though. The point is that if Cipo hadn't come out of retirement, the answer would have been something like, "What, are you crazy?" Cipo's little foray back into the pro peloton opened a previously closed path to pros who still have the itch to race.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll read that, in fact, Rock Racing is here to stay.

But if not, well, I think they have a perfect kit for a nice R.I.P good-bye page.