1. USA World Cup soccer team lost today to Germany, 1-0, but nevertheless snuck into the knockout (one loss and you're out) round of 16 (32 originally qualified to get to Brazil). Why is this significant? The U.S. had never before advanced to the second stage in back to back World Cups. American coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, is from Germany, and coached their team to the World Cup championship in 1990, about a quarter century ago. Our next game will be next week Tuesday at 3:30 PM ET (9:30AM Hawaii time), most probably against Belgium. The next World Cup in 2018 will be in Russia, followed by Qatar in 2022, maybe. Heck, what's a mere $5 worth of bribes, unfortunately common in Olympic competitions. For the record:
- Value of Real Madrid $3.4 billion, Barcelona $3.2 billion, versus the New York Yankees $2.5 billion and Dallas Cowboys $2.1 billion
- Annual earnings: Tiger Woods $78 million, Cristiano Ronaldo (right, who scored the goal for Portugal to put the USA into the next round) $73 million
2. Oh, by the way, they're already in Day Four of The Championships at Wimbledon, which, if you're from another planet, is about tennis.
- Viewers will "accidentally" watch Day 5 because ESPN also televises the tournament, AND FRIDAY WILL BE A DAY OFF FOR THE WORLD CUP.
- The Wimbledon final is a week BEFORE (July 6) the World Cup's (July 13).
- Players MUST wear only white, including underwear!
- The last American to win this tournament was Peter Sampras in 2000.
- Of course the USA has never been close to a World Cup final, and never even made it to the World Cup from 1954 to 1986. The USA soccer team is listed at #13 in the World.
- The highest ranked American male tennis player is John Isner at #11:
- In the 2010 Wimbledon, he beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68.
- That clincher was the longest tennis match in history!
- He is 6 feet 9 inches tall.
- But, Serena Wiliams is #1, although the next American woman is Sloane Stephens at #18. Li Na of China is #2 and Simona Halep (right) of Romania is #3. This is how she looked before breast reduction surgery. How does she look today? Watch the Winbledon. Oh, by the way, the TV coverage now picks up sounds made by the players, and the groans and grunts emitted mostly by the women can be gross or entertaining, depending on your point of view. Umpires are armed with grunt-o-meters to control the sounds. No penalties yet.
- But back to the men, can you believe that the next highest American is Sam Querrey at #67?
- #1 is Rafael Nadal of Spain,
- #2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia,
- #3 Stanislas Wawrinka (never heard of him--to the right) of Switzerland and
- #4 Roger Federer of Switzerland.
3. Michelle Wi won the Women's Open this weekend. Unfortunately, 11 year old Lucy Li, who is about a foot shorter than Wie, did not make the cut. Michelle credited her 4.5 years at Stanford for maturing her and preventing any burnout.
5. This qualifies as a sport: coming to your theaters in October is The Interview in North Korea, with James Franco and Seth Rogan. They will attempt to assassinate Lil Kim, also known as the Chubby Leader. Already, Rotten Tomatoes has given this film a 99% audience like rating. Randall Park plays the Great Successor.
I suggested a total makeover for Kim Jong Un last year:
- Get a new hairstylist.
- Exercise some and eat less.
- Replace your severe female TV announcer with Katie Couric.
- As President Barack Obama has several times now ignored my 10% solution, crash the next G8 Summit and provide your 10% vision for World Peace. My services for details will be pro bono.
- Ditch Dennis Rodman and pick up Michael Jordan.
- Soften your provocative overblown rhetoric.
For example, North Korea just today denounced The Interview with this threat reported in the New York Times:
“If the United States administration tacitly approves or supports the release of this film, we will take a decisive and merciless countermeasure,” a spokesman for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
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