Kudos to Team USA (In Spite of Ghana Loss)

Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and goalie Tim Howard had an impressive World Cup tournament. We are proud of the American team which won their group over three quality teams in England, Slovenia and Algeria. Even though they lost to Ghana 2-1 on Saturday, we are very proud of team.

Donovan, 28, who scored the goal against Ghana on a penalty kick, will be rejoining his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates soon in MLS play as the team looks to improve on last year when they lost in overtime to Real Salt Lake in the league's title game.

Other countries of the world were disappointed by the weekend's results, including Mexico which lost to Argentina 3-1 yesterday.

A Mexican waiter Los Tres Magueyes Restaurant in Cary, NC, (well actually it was another Mexican restaurant in North Carolina, but this place does really exist!) told me on Friday: "Maybe, we beat Argentina. Maybe, we don't."

Much like the American team, Mexico had a good World Cup, but they simply faced a daunting opponent in Argentina which has yet to lose a game in South Africa.

For other World Cup news, check out our blog entry on Paul the Octopus on our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

You know while I'm doing this, I could actually be watching the Holland-Slovakia game which is going on right now. I imagine we know who tennis player Daniela Hantuchova is rooting for?!

Quote of the Day- Mario Beneditti (Uruguayan Poet)

Ahhh! No, Take Three!

All sorts of things have gone wrong with this entry which is dedicated to The World Cup. Today we quote the late Uruguayan poet Mario Beneditti (1920-2009) who lived almost as long as the great French filmmaker Eric Rohmer (1920-2010) who is best known for his masterpiece "Claire's Knee" (1971).

Today, Uruguay defeated South Korea 2-1 in a rainy mess at The World Cup. The game was played in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and Luis Sanchez kicked in two goals for the Uruguayan side, including the game-winner in the 80th minute.

If Landon Donovan and Team America beat Ghana (the game starts in about an hour), they will face Uruguay in the quarter finals.

Here is the quote from Beneditti:

"After all Death is a symbol that there was life."

SIDEBAR: Slovakian tennis goddess Daniela Hantuchova, whom we profiled earlier in the week lost to Czech tennis player Barbara Zahlavova-Strycova (editorial comment: why couldn't she have just stuck with her maiden name?!) in Wimbledon play yesterday.

SIDEBAR TWO: We don't normally apologize to Republicans on this blog, but we did not spell the name of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) correctly in a blog entry earlier this week.

Quote of the Week- Daniela Hantuchova (Slovak Tennis Star)

Ay Karumba! We royally screwed up the first try with this, so we will keep this one simpler. A tip to other bloggers, try to limit your labels and be sure to save your entries, or else.........?????!!!!!!!!!

So, we turn our attention to Slovak tennis goddess Daniela Hantuchova, born in 1983, as we continue to quote 32 people from the 32 countries in the World Cup.

Slovakia was once a part of Czechoslavakia, but the political split which occured some 20 years ago did not prevent Hantuchova from becoming doubles partners with Czech tennis legend Martina Navratilova.

Hantuchova was among the female tennis players profiled in a 2008 feature in "The Daily Mail" (UK) about young, hot female tennis players from eastern Europe. It was a bit tabloid, but very interesting! Though, I think I found out from some place else that Hantuchova studied classical piano for eight years.

She has also posed for lots and lots of swimsuit photos, and like virtually all gorgeous women in the world with the exception of a few lipstick lesbians, Hantuchova (of course!) has a boyfriend but we don't really care about him!

As for accomplishments on the court, Hantuchova reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Australian Open and she will be the 24th seed at Wimbledon.

Here is her quote:

"I guess the attention paid to appearance is something that belongs to tennis too."

SIDEBAR: If you have time, check out the YouTube video featuring replays of the World Cup soccer game between the United States and England with Leggos! It is on the blog "The Knight Shift" (theknightshift.blogspot.com) which belongs to my friend Chris Knight, of Reidsville, NC.

There were other things we were going to post here, but I want to avoid another disaster in the 'chemical lab!"