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Alex Morgan’s 31st Minute Tea Party Was Just What the USWNT Needed
For the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT), it was red, white and phew.
The USWNT defeated England 2-1 in dramatic fashion today in front of 53,512 fans in Stade de Lyon to clinch a spot in the 2019 Women’s World Cup Final this Sunday. The second semi-final match of Sweden vs. the Netherlands will be played tomorrow.
The score was 1-1 after just 20 minutes, with goals from the USWNT’s Christen Press in the 10th minute (a header) and the equalizer by England’s Ellen White in the 19th minute. USWNT captain Alex Morgan celebrated her 30th birthday with what turned out to be the winning goal in the 31st minute. And while her goal-scoring header was great — her sixth goal in five games at this World Cup — it was her goal celebration that stole the moment for the ultimate troll of England. It was fantastic.
(Because FOX/FS1 has decided to be difficult with sharing its own YouTube video of the World Cup, please click play, watch the video on YouTube and return to Jimmy’s Daily Planet!)
England got iced tea’d by Alex Morgan.
The second half of the USA vs. England provided some drama in France as a supposed equalizer at 2-2 was called back after VAR deemed a very close offside call to keep the game at 2-1. And then there was an English penalty kick in the 84th minute that Alyssa Naeher saved to preserve a 2-1 victory for the red, white & blue.
Megan Rapinoe sat out the game with a hamstring injury but is presumed to be ready for Sunday’s final.
The 2019 Women’s World Cup Final will be the USA vs. Netherlands/or Sweden on Sunday, July 7, in Grand Stade Olympique Lyonnais.
#SaveTheCrew is What We’ll Do
The man, the myth and the legend.
(Columbus Crew winning 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with Lamar Hunt in attendance, pictured above in the center. Photo courtesy of thecup.us)
Lamar Hunt, American sports business icon, and Columbus Crew Founder is crying in heaven right now.
As you probably know, Crew SC owner Anthony Precourt bought the Columbus Crew back in 2013 with every discreet and sleazy intention (as has been reported in recent days) to move the team to Austin, TX in 2019. A previous blog post this week on Jimmy’s Daily Planet gave my first extended impression of this equally heartbreaking and infuriating news.
And the snake in the grass incarnate responded via Twitter last night. Let’s just say his message accomplished the seemingly impossible feat of failing to meet even the lowest standard of decency and self-awareness.
I really do feel for you Crew fans. Its an uncertain time I recognize, and I take full responsibility for the situation I have put us in.
— Anthony Precourt (@APrecourt) October 19, 2017
Then this.
Put you all in, not us.
— Anthony Precourt (@APrecourt) October 19, 2017
Anthony Precourt does not “feel for you Crew fans” because his intent all along was to move the team to Austin behind our backs while lying and, in the process, rip the heart out of this city, longtime Crew fans and the soccer capital of the United States of America. He knew exactly what he was doing from the moment he arrived in Columbus.
It’s an “uncertain time” because Anthony Precourt made it uncertain with his deceitful behavior whilst in concert with Don Garber from the beginning several years ago, who is another snake in the grass and opponent of professional soccer in Columbus.
The “I take full responsibility” is simply another over-sanitized and lawyer-approved line of PR nonsense. How is Anthony Precourt taking “full responsibility”? He’s cowardly hiding behind a Twitter account…and being quite terrible at it. Funny, I didn’t see the words “I’m sorry” or “I lied to everyone from the beginning” or “I’m going to sell the Crew to local investors ASAP to keep the team here at home, as they’ve requested multiple times, and leave Columbus, Ohio immediately in disgrace” or “I will meet publicly with Crew fans to see and listen to them, no matter the humiliation I’ll feel during this event.”
And then there’s the “correction.” Anthony Precourt consciously tweeted, “put you all in, not us.”
That said it all.
Recent reports locally are that major Columbus investors will be meeting with the Anthony Precourt of the MLS head office (Commissioner Don Garber) today.
Concerning next steps, it’s important to know that the fight to keep the Crew in Columbus is not over and I have a feeling that the Black & Gold will be staying. I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy, plus there are positive signs that are pointing towards moving professional soccer out of Columbus (the soccer capital of the United States, with “Dos-a-Cero” for starters) as a massive mistake.
The movement (online and in-person) is called #SaveTheCrew and the website is savethecrew.com. Join the effort and stay tuned!
The USMNT has devastatingly lost its identity and, if Garber’s MLS allows Precourt to have his way, MLS will lose its identity, and beloved home and history, as well.
Saving the Crew is what we must do.
Never Forget
Sixteen years have passed and yet that day will never fade from memory. And that goes for everyone who lived through the day that felt like the end of the world. While part of me wants to write endlessly about 9/11 recalling every detail and memory, the greater urge today has been to look back into the sky.
On September 11, 2001, I looked up into the clear blue September sky thinking how everything I knew had changed. A paralyzingly eerie feeling overwhelmed my entire body in this surreal gaze. And as a sophomore in high school, I was old enough to process what had happened. The tragedy of the day, with its heart-wrenching imagery, the heroism of the first responders and passengers on United 93 and the ever-lasting, sinking feeling that the world would never be the same will last forever.
The fact that my dad was almost in New York City, specifically the World Trade Center, on the morning of 9/11…Luckily, he got the last flight out of New York City back to Columbus on September 10th, completely unaware of what would happen just hours later.
RIP to all the victims and their families from the plane crashes in New York City, Washington, D.C. and the United 93 flight that heroically crashed in Pennsylvania.
Never forget and “let’s roll.”
That 2nd (Well 2-0) Degree Burn
Dos-a-Cero: Enough said.
Okay, here are a few more words.
THE soccer capital of the United States of America will feature the Stars & Stripes vs. That Team Down South (trademark pending) for the fifth time tomorrow night. The forecast for Columbus, OH is projecting weather in the lower 40s on November 11th. Hopefully, it will be the coldest, most uncomfortable 40-degrees in recorded history. Why? Because the visiting opponent/hated rival Mexico That Team Down South hates the frigid weather of a particular Midwestern capital. For the first Dos-a-Cero match on February 28, 2001, the players from That Team Down South refused to warm-up due to the slightly chilly weather (in the teens).
More will be written about the unrivaled history and significance of Dos-a-Cero in Columbus, OH in tomorrow’s post. For now, let’s all enjoy (in the warm comfort of our homes) a throwback this Thursday to this legendary 2-nil series between the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) and, you know…
Again, a Jimmy’s Daily Planet trademark is pending.
Fun Fact: Josh Wolff is currently an Assistant Coach with, yes, Columbus Crew SC.
Hopefully, USMNT Head Coach Jürgen Klinsmann asks Mr. Wolff to give the forwards (and, cough cough, the bench players) a pep-talk before the game tomorrow night.
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