Whenever I join the chorus of former fans bemoaning the sorry state of the big sports leagues, populated by the likes of Barry Bonds and the Trail Blazers, I wonder if there's anybody out there still playing for the love of the game. Who has values higher than making obscene amounts of money and winning trophies at all costs.

And then I read about Lance Armstrong falling off his bike in the Tour de France yesterday, and I'm stunned -- stunned by what happened. It started when Armstrong got too close to a dangerously over-enthusiastic fan, got his handlebars tangled up in a bag the fan was waving, and went crashing to the pavement.

He quickly got up and rejoined the pack where -- get this -- his closest competitor in the race, Jan Ullrich of Germany, slowed down to let him catch up.

You think that's crazy? It gets better. The reason the guy slowed down? Last year when Ullrich fell in the race, Armstrong did the same for him.

Here's how they tell it in the Dallas Morning News:

Uninjured but for a few scrapes, Armstrong quickly remounted his bicycle and chased back to the lead group of riders, who were waiting for him in a sporting gesture. Armstrong waited for Ullrich in a similar situation when the German crashed in the 2001 Tour.

"I'm really grateful for Jan for remembering my gesture of two years ago. What goes around, comes around," said Armstrong, who finished 40 seconds ahead of second-place Mayo. "The tables were turned two years ago when I did what I did. I appreciated he did what he did today."