As much as I like Heras, (as hombre mentioned) US Postal's buyout of his Kelme contract last year and the high salary he receives may not have been for the best. That money could've been used to keep Levi and Tyler this year, while also allowing Levi to captain the VaE campaigns. Then the terrorist attacks and anthrax scare forced its way back into the consciousness ... Levi's courageous performance after the terrorist attacks under the US Postal banner and yet the team let him go. Lack of discretionary budget disallowing a contract buyout of Danny Pate. (Raelesque thinking.)

I'm just looking for some scapegoats for not re-signing Levi and Tyler. I hope you're right that its all for the best. Also, I'm sore that Mercury's division 1 efforts fell apart, as this pair would've made them into a nasty team. Did Lance accept a below market value contract or did he offer to renegotiate his contract to make room for them? Isn't LeMond partly to blame for Mercury's misfortune? Blah, blah, blah.

(More positive end of the year postings to come later.)