Agent Palmer

The United States Women won their third FIFA Women’s World Cup title in Canada, in spite of looking and performing below their World #2 ranking at times.

But before I examine what it all means and what is next in the riddle that is Soccer in America, let’s take a look at how they got the Cup.

It’s almost time to “Play Ball!” And as a fan of not just the Baltimore Orioles but the game itself, I feel it’s time to address a few items before the first pitch is thrown, the first strike is called, and the first batter rounds first base.

It all stems from the changing, or more accurately, tweaking of the game because of rule changes, but I’m going to start by addressing some of the points from Rob Manfred’s letter to the fans, as the new Commissioner of Baseball, before I get into the changes themselves.

Many years ago, back in my college days, I would mindlessly play FIFA 2005 to take my mind off school. Playing FIFA mindlessly meant playing on an easier mode and scoring a ton of goals, and my good friend Chris (a.k.a. Agent Parker), would hear the announcer yell “DONOVAN!” repeatedly as I would maneuver Landon Donovan for a goal.

Well, it appears that the real Landon Donovan has been playing on easy mode for a long time as the career goal-scoring record holder for both the United States Men’s National Team and for Major League Soccer.

The 2014 Tour de France ran from July 5th to July 27th. This 101st edition of the Tour was made up of 21 stages and covered 3,664 km, containing nine flat stages, five hill stages, six mountain stages with five mountaintop finishes, one time trial and two rest days.

The Tour started in England lost a few big names along the way to Paris. In their absence the race was still competitive, for the Sprinter’s Green and King of the Mountain’s Polka Dot Jerseys. The Yellow Jersey and General Classification was decided early quite early on, with Vincenzo Nibali’s performance in Stage 2 and the withdrawal of both Christopher Froome and Alberto Contador.

Germany stands atop the game of football (or futbol or even soccer, depending on your country of origin) as the 2014 World Cup Champions. This isn’t a shock as they’ve been here before – three times, in fact – making this their fourth World Cup.

This makes them a powerhouse in their sport, but it was how they managed to get to World Cup Championship No. 4 that makes this impressive.