Kat's Playbook

What a day in sports....Here's some more to ask your Sports Lover:

The U.S. needed this game.  Needed it badly.  And it took over the 90 minutes of playing time to determine that win.  Landon Donovan scored the winning goal 45 seconds into the 4 minutes of injury time (Injury Time - in world cup soccer, the clock is not stopped for injuries during the game and instead added at the end.  I like to think that this started because early football players didn't have anyone to man the clock.)  But either way, think of it as scoring in the last inning, under the 2 minute warning, that final buzzer shot.  It may have not been the most spectacular goal or the prettiest, but as Chris Harrison would say, "It was the most dramatic rose ceremony Goal of the season."  I mean look at these guys, you just have to smile and feel warm and fuzzy looking at the pure joy and celebration on their faces:

This is one of the things I love about Soccer.  The games may not be high scoring and keep the typical American engaged, but when they score....it is quite the emotional celebration.  No one ever thinks, what a cocky guy and they definitely do not get penalized for over-celebration.  For me...I constantly had goosebumps this morning watching all the highlights again.  (Damn you legs...I had just shaved!)

Next up for the U-S-of-A....Ghana.  USA! USA! USA!

Holy Moley....these two men put my 5 hour run to shame.  At Wimbledon yesterday, John Isner (USA) and Nicolas Mahut (France), played for an AMAZING 10 hours.  10 freaking hours.  This is by far the longest tennis match is the history of the sport (surpassing the 6 hours and 33 minutes of the previous record).  The scoreboard actually broke when it was tied at 47-47 and they finally called it quits at 59-59.  But wait...its not quits...its a pause...and continuation.  Just like the disappointment you feel when your favorite show spans "To Be Continue..." across the screen, that's how these fans felt after they invested their entire day.  But it was getting dark and even though electricity has been around since the good ol' Benjamin Franklin days, Wimbledon has still decided not to install the high sky lights to take the matches past the sun going down.  

And so....these two men will continue today.  Continue after playing for 10 straight hours and only one bathroom break.  This is all unheard of in Tennis where matches are typically around the 2 hour ball park and see scores like 6-4 or 7-6.  Its so rare to see double digits, let alone numbers in the 50s!!  Check out what other Tennis stars like Federer, Williams, Djokovic have to say here.  Even though we should all throw our hats to both Isner and Mahut, I obviously have to cheer for the American!!  Get 'em again U-S-of-A!!