Time-honored tradition

Sorry, folks: This year we (or "you") did not even place in the running for Time's Person of the Year. Landing the top spot this year is Russian President Vladimir Putin.


Not completely sure about this, but the article about him is fantastic, a very deep look into his every move and his motivations. Personally, my favorite part is when he reveals to Adi Ignatius that his favorite Beatles song is Yesterday. Or that he's never sent an e-mail in his life.

The runner-up was Al Gore--no surprise there.

And also not surprisingly, author J.K. Rowling placed second runner-up--I mean, she was 2007's Most Fascinating Person, according to Barbara Walters.

Don't forget to check out the list of "People Who Mattered" in 2007, which includes a lot of question marks and some shockers, like Miley Cyrus and Radiohead?? And my favorite is that silly snowmwan who asked the global warming question during the presidential debate--even he made the list!

The force is strong with this one...

I guess I wasn't the only one who thought Coach Greg Ryan made a mistake:

"It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that. There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore. It's 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that's what I think." - Hope Solo.

The "greatest" team you've never heard of

Not sure if this will be the post to win me the most frequent visitors, but I just have to ask...

Did anyone even realize the World Cup was going????

The Women's World Cup, that is.

And if you did, was it because of those Nike commercials with the weird PR manager, poking fun at the well-known fact that though there are a few people in this country that even care about soccer, there are even less who care about women's soccer?


The #1 ranked U.S. women's team had a shot to make people care about them this morning when they took on Brazil in the semifinals. They went into the game with a 51-game unbeaten streak and a wonderful all-time record against the #8 ranked team. If they won, the girls would face Germany in the finals, a game they were favored to win.

But could they grab underrated soccer glory and at least have people think, "Our men's team sucks, but at least our women can win something"?

NOPE.

Instead, the team lost its momentum after an own-goal in the 20th minute. They were completely outplayed and the best female player in the world (no, not Mia Hamm), Brazil's Marta, made them look like spectators.

And Coach Greg Ryan...nice managing calls, idiot. Not only did he start a goalie that had started less than 10 games since he took over the team, but when they needed goals, he wasted his subs on defensive players. Hope Solo deserved to start that game; terrible, terrible coaching job.

There was a really bad call by one of the referees that led to Shannon Boxx being ejected (which left the already outplayed US playing a man down), but anyone who uses that as an excuse is as dumb as Miss Teen South Carolina.

What a huge disappointment. But then again...if you don't get up at 4:55 a.m. when the games are on, the Women's World Cup is probably news to you. So then...carry on.