U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
The U.S. women's national team moved by England 2-1 to get to another Women's World Cup Final. It's the U.S.'s third straight trip to the title match.
It was not without some controversy, and no we're not talking about the awesome goal celebration from Alex Morgan sipping from an imaginary tea cup - pinkie extended and everything - after her awesome goal gave the U.S. the lead for good.
An equalizing goal - and yes, we discussed the glory of the term 'equalizer' on Press Row on Tuesday - was overturned after review of instant replay. The English player was determined to be offside and the coal was negated.
There was also the details of Megan Rapinoe not playing because of injury and a clutch PK save late in the match.
It was just the latest speed bump of angst - real or concocted at times - for the U.S. team in France at this World Cup.
And, to be fair and respectful, every single time the U.S. has rallied to challenge and respond. Every time.
That's pretty awesome.
Ranking the QBs
OK, it's July gang. July 3 in fact and we are all racing to get wherever we're heading for the Fourth of July weekend.
(The 5-at-10 clan is headed to beautiful downtown Henderson, Tenn., for the 8-year-old state baseball tournament. Giddy-up.)
Looking around this morning for topics of discussion, this one caught my eye. I almost did not include it because, it feels like a list and a cop-out. The top 10 QBs in the NFL OK.
It's from the voting of the CBSsports.com team of NFL writers and editors. It has a lot of the usual suspects and familiar names.
But there were a couple of surprises that jumped out at me. Follow along.
Here are the 10, in order: Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan and DeShaun Watson. First point of order, Mahomes was a unanimous No. 1, which begs the question if the voting was a big over-reactive after Mahomes' awesome and MVP-winning one season as a starter?
Second point: Big Ben is entirely too high in that ranking.
The there is this: There was only one QB not on the list that received multiple votes to be included, and that was Carson Wentz. Two other quarterbacks - Baker Mayfield and Cam Newton - were named on a single ballot.
So among more than a dozen NFL media types at CBSsports.com, there is a clear dividing line about the top 13 QBs in the league. Which brings us to an even more interesting conversation: If you are say a team that sounds like the Bennessee Bitans and you have a quarterback that is clearly not a top-tier guy, do you pay him franchise QB money?
Or what about Jared Goff? Or Jameis Winston?
Yes, the conversation about a mediocre quarterback being better than no-quarterback has become the baseline of thinking for NFL GMs. But the truth is a rookie quarterback - and again and again and again until you find one - on an affordable contract is better than an at-best-mediocre quarterback on top-tier quarterback money.
Has to be. And it will be interesting see which of these teams flip the script on that belief.
Running scandal
We have long discussed - and dissed - the golf rules guy who calls in a possible infraction from his basement while streaming the action on PGATour.com.
Well, meet MarathonInvestigation.com, a website that obsesses about times and trying to find race rule breakers. Site operator Derek Murphy believes they caught a 70-year-old who turned in a time too good to be true in the L.A. Marathon.
The runner, Frank Meza, set a record for the fastest time ever, but Murphy and race organizers say he left the course and violated several rules.
Meza's record-time was less than three hours and it included a 5K stretch that would have set the world record for a 5K in the 70-74 division; the next-best time his his age group was 4:10:07. Meza disputes the claims and maintains his innocence.
In a story, the L.A. Times describes Meza as a community activist who mentors Latino students and is an assistant high school track coach. the story also called him a serial marathon cheater who has been banned from the California International Marathon.
(Side question: Man, seems like a rotten tag, that 'serial marathon cheater,' no?)
This and that
- Holy buckets of bull-headed bull-you-know-what. I wrote about Colin Kaepernick earlier this week and referenced whether the Nike decision about doing away with the shoes with the original U.S. flag on them meant we would have to shun all of our history from the era of slavery. The question was more rhetorical in nature. It appears to be somewhat prophetic. According to this story, Thomas Jefferson's hometown of Charlottesville, Va., will not longer recognize his birthday because Jefferson - the history-making man who deserves as much credit as anyone for crafting the guts of our beloved nation - owned slaves. Yes, you read that correctly.
- Braves played. Braves lost. Dallas Keuchel pitched well - seven innings, two earned - but Aaron Nola pitched better. So it goes. The Braves lead over Philly after the 2-0 loss is now 4.5 games.
- We are in mourning this morning. No it is not for Lee Iacocca dying. He was 94. It's because a massive fire at the Jim Beam facility has destroyed at least 45,000 barrels of bourbon. Oh the waste. Oh the humanity.
- That's it. It's a done deal. Put the Lakers in the NBA Finals. They have added another free agent. A monster deal for. Jared Dudley.
- John Sterling, the Yankees play-by-play voice, is taking a couple of days off this weekend. That's news because Sterling has not missed a Yankees game since 1989. That's more than 5,000 in a row friends. And he's called every inning since 2005.
- Speaking of the Yankees, their 31-game streak with a home run ended last night. It is the new league record.
- Here's TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer on UTC football coach Rusty Wright's decision to dismiss three Mocs football players. If I knew what those dudes did, I would share it friends. Alas, I do not know beyond the announced and all-too-familiar 'violation of team rules' at this point.
- Some elected official named Frederica Wilson has announced her intentions to prosecute anyone who makes fun of members of Congress on social media. Wow. Uh, Frederica, why don't you and the rest of Congress stop doing so many dumb things - like worrying what's on the Twitter - that make it so easy to make fun of you first.
- Speaking of politics and social media, the world's most controversial Tweeter, President Donald Trump, is raising money at an amazing rate. According to this story, Trump's re-election campaign raised $105 million in the second quarter of 2019.
Today's question
Which way Wednesday starts this way: Which is the better holiday for you and your family - Memorial Day or July 4?
Which quarterback not listed in the CBSsports.com top-13 is the best?
Which actor looked the most like the real-life character he or she played/ (We ask because Jim Morrison of The Doors died on this day in 1971, and Val Kilmer looked just like him in the movie The Doors.)
As for today, July 3, well Tom Cruise is 57 today.
Rushmore of Cruise movies. Go.