US Women Ascend as Champions, 5-2

July 6, 2015

I couldn't believe that I sat down twenty minutes late for the game, and it's already Four – Zip! I got stuck in the grocery store getting some last-minute onion dip and was going to catch up on the DVR. I made the bonehead mistake of turning on the radio, and the announcer gives me the update before I could change the channel. GRRRH.

So, I finally get to my destination, and my nieces are watching, and of course, they are there to fill me in about the amazing Carli Lloyd. Then they want my chips and dip. One niece was already cheering for the Japanese team to score so it wouldn't be so boring. I get it since over seventy minutes left, and that's a long time for a teenager to stay that focused.

Through years of sports viewership and years of seeing championship games for multitudes of sports, I have seen this scenario and song played before. One team has risen so high, meshed, and unified so well that they are invincible. The US women were so good that when Carli Lloyd scores from fifty yards out, you know that it's their day. It was a day when the offense side of the ball gave their defense a little break. They played aggressively throughout the first half, with more passes going into the box than ever before.

In all due respect for the Japanese team, the US looked more physical, bigger, faster, and aggressive on my big screen TV. On offense, the Japanese women looked like they were trying to set up plays and create scenarios, but the US was too fast to allow for the breakaway pass. The two goals were a credit to their perseverance and focused after getting bull-rushed the first third of the match. The US defense tightened and put the clamps down before the Japanese could mount a comeback.

The World Cup tournament ride is one of the best for any sports fan, and this one was no exception. There are stories to be told with any tournament, winners, and losers, and future predictions to be made. It only takes a few minutes after the championship match has ended before the blabber starts, and the could of, would of, and should of begins. You will hear everything from the artificial turf hypocrisy to officiating to England blowing it. I will let the other blogs and sports rags fill their pages with this banter, and I will move on to other great things. The onion dip controversy will never happen again on my watch.

The US women win the Cup for the first time in sixteen years after Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey. Now we have this year's face, Carli Lloyd playing like no one else and Abby Wambach playing in her last World Cup. Then there is the coach, Jill Ellis, who has had her share of criticism thrown her way, but when I saw her smiling on the sidelines during the game, I got a little choked up.

If I was offering any criticism and you can see for yourself, don't you think the World Cup Championship Trophy is dinky? Shouldn't it be an enormous cup like the Stanley Cup? The Stanley Cup is just for National Hockey League, and this is the damn World Cup. It should be big enough to take a bath in. Cheers!