The top blogged story this week was, unsurprisingly, Lance Armstrong taking his seventh Tour de France. Most of them were summary posts saying congrats. There were a couple of common threads that came up. Here’s one common sentiment, from JimPorett.com:

Unfortunately many of us Americans will probably not pay as much attention to the Tour de France, now that Lance has retired. That is a shame because these guys are true athletes and should be respected for that.

Thanks Lance for your example to never give up no matter the odds stacked against us.

It’s probably true that Americans will lose interest, but we’ll have to see next year if any American is even a serious contender. Some other bloggers were bummed that he doesn’t give credit to God for his surviving cancer and his seven victories. It’s an interesting question depending on how you view the world, and marks a departure from what we hear from many other athletes.

The second most blogged story this week was the Pistons signing Jasikevicius. This was the guy that tore up the U.S. during the Olympics for Lithuania. It will be interesting to see how he does here in the U.S. He was arguably the best player in Europe for many years. Looks like the Central Division fans are a bit worried about the new look Pacers:

His addition to a bitter Central Division rival, one that will feature the return of 2004 Defensive Player of the Year Ron Artest, will definitely raise the bar in the Eastern Conference. [ Cavaliers blog at MVN ]

and

I must say, Indiana’s looking very dangerous. O’Neal, Foster, Bender (if he’s magically healthy and learns how to dribble), Artest, Jackson, Granger (he should get a decent amount of PT), F. Jones, Tinsley, Jasikevicius (avoids having to play Anthony Johnson and his brutal jumper). Sure, Jones is the only real SG, but they’ll be alright. They’re better than Miami is right now. Detroit maybe, but certainly the Heat. It’s too bad the dumb division rule is there, the Eastern conference champion will be decided in round two (like we figured it would in the 2005 season before Artest went out). [ Motoring, the Pistons blog at MVN ]

A couple of moves in the NFL, MLB trade rumors, and some of the fallout from the NHL deal (Jagr leaving NHL?) round out the rest of the week’s top blogged stories. Click the link below to see the full list.

25 - OLY/TDF2005 - Armstrong wins Tour de France [Read Blogs]
13 - NBA - Lithuanian star Jasikevicius agrees to deal with Pacers [Read Blogs]
13 - http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index [Read Blogs]
11 - NFL - Michaels, Theismann to host ‘Monday Night’ on ESPN [Read Blogs]
10 - NFL - Seahawks sign Alexander to one-year, $6.32 million deal [Read Blogs]
10 - Page 2 - Hruby: Golden rules [Read Blogs]
9 - Page 2 - Hruby: Golden rules [Read Blogs]
9 - Page 2 - The Sports Guy: Game on [Read Blogs]
8 - MLB - Manny to Mets? Three-team whopper looking less likely [Read Blogs]
7 - MLB - Stark Market: Who’s hot? [Read Blogs]
6 - NHL - Rules: Changes are widespread [Read Blogs]
6 - MLB - Clement carted off after ball strikes head [Read Blogs]
6 - Page 2 - Bayless: Enduring Lance [Read Blogs]
5 - Page 2 - The Sports Guy: Game on [Read Blogs]
5 - http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players [Read Blogs]
5 - http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4217 [Read Blogs]
5 - NHL - Jagr unhappy with CBA, considers Russian club [Read Blogs]
5 - NFL - Ricky apologizes to teammates, fans at camp [Read Blogs]
5 - NHL - Goodenow resigns from NHLPA [Read Blogs]
5 - MLB - Source: Manny-to-Mets deal ‘99.9 percent dead’ [Read Blogs]