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USWNT Celebrating in NYC
(NBC News)
A ticker-tape parade was held today in NYC for the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) for winning its fourth World Cup trophy in France.
For the team’s most recent World Cup trophy, the USWNT defeated the Netherlands — a women’s national team on the rise — 2-nil in the World Cup Final played on July 7. The red, white and blue won thanks to goals from Megan Rapinoe (61st-minute PK) and Rose Lavelle (69th-minute laser from outside the 18-yard-box).
The 2019 Women’s World Cup, including the years leading up to this summer’s tournament — was an incredible journey for the USWNT. Whether people want to continue to refuse to acknowledge the reality that soccer is a popular sport in the United States, Alex Morgan, and her teammates will continue to play their part in the sport’s clear popularity and growth domestically and abroad.
As reported in the LA Times article titled “Viewership of Women’s World Cup final exceeds 14 million on Fox.”
Fox’s audience of 14.271 million made the U.S. victory the most-watched soccer match on English-language TV in the country since the record-setting 2015 Women’s World Cup final audience that recorded 25 million viewers in prime time. The 2019 audience peaked at nearly 20 million.
In addition to the team’s triumphant victory, the big issue being pushed by the USWNT and its fans — including today during the post-parade ceremony — is the call for equal pay, which seems to be building momentum. Between now and the 2023 Women’s World Cup, it will be interesting if changes will be made with this issue. FIFA will ultimately play a definitive role in this ongoing debate.
Once again, congratulations to the USWNT for winning its fourth World Cup trophy and earning its fourth star!
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.
Bob Ley’s Legacy Is Exceptional, Sportive, Professional & Newsworthy
Bob Ley, 64-years-old, was one of the original ESPN SportsCenter reporters from 1979. Now, 40 years later, Bob Ley has announced he’s leaving the same yet different ESPN.
In addition to his sincere thanks to ESPN senior leadership and his loyal ESPN viewers for the past four decades, Mr. Ley posted the following on his Twitter account. This is an excerpt.
“Now it’s time for a change.
I will be retiring from ESPN, as of the end of this month.
To be clear, this is entirely my decision. I enjoy the best of health, and the many blessings of friends and family, and it is in that context that I’m making a change.”
In the final part of his Twitter statement, Mr. Ley ended with the following.
“In September, I signed off my last show saying, “I’ll catch you on the flip side.” Now it’s time to take that vinyl off the turntable (ask your folks), flip it over, and drop the needle on the B-side. There are always great cuts, and hidden gems on the B-side.
Thank you for a great run.”
What is Bob Ley’s next step? He didn’t say.
One thing we do know is that he is one of the original anchors who helped make ESPN the worldwide leader in sports. He has been — and surely will continue to be — a reliable sports journalist with wit who delivered uncompromised trust and authority to his audience. And as a soccer fan, I always enjoyed his high-quality analysis and reporting during ESPN’s past coverage of the FIFA World Cup.
As a matter of fact, the image below is Mr. Ley’s Twitter profile picture.
As a matter of another fact, Dan Patrick — an anchor of ESPN from 1989-2006 — shared his thoughts on Bob Ley’s retirement announcement from the “DaDaDa, DaDaDa” network on his radio show.
Bob Ley will be viewed as one of the standard-bearers and nostalgic reference points for what made ESPN the worldwide leader in sports. He did his part by taking journalism as seriously as he took having fun and covering sports as a future unfolds in which that revolutionary network is being challenged by a wide variety of sports network upstarts — and established network giants — attempting to replicate those original (and wildly entertaining) sports journalists with those iconic four letters sewn on their jackets.
Thank you, Bob Ley.
And good luck with your future, which will hopefully involve covering the beautiful game in either human form or in 16-bits.
Happy Monday!
Two wins, a +16 goal differential, zero goals against and six points. I’d say the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) has kicked off the 2019 Women’s World Cup with the right stuff with an astronomical first two games in Group F that began with a 13-nil win against Thailand.
The USWNT defeated Chile 3-nil yesterday. Here are the highlights from that game.
(Because FOX Soccer has decided to be difficult regarding seamless video playback on websites other than YouTube, please click play and then click the link for the video to pop-up in another window. Then return to Jimmy’s Daily Planet!)
The third and final game in Group F for the USWNT will be against Sweden — a team that’s also earned six points — this Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. Both teams have already advanced to the knockout round, but the third game is still of consequence because it will determine potentially favorable or unfavorable matchups for the USWNT and Sweden in the knockout round.
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 