USA!  USA!  USA!  Landon Donovan becomes the hero once again.  USA Soccer advances into the knockout round of the World Cup...only the biggest sporting event in the world.  America has still yet to catch on to what the rest of the world knows...soccer is a great sport.  We just don't give it a chance here.  But it is coming on as more kids learn about it and try playing it.  I know that many people have a problem with the timekeeping system in soccer.  But for your future knowledge, here's how it works.  They play two 45 minute halves.  The time is kept on the field by the referee.  Time stops for goals, injuries, substitutions, etc.  The clock in the stadium and on TV is merely a reference.  It runs continually.  At the end of each half, the referee informs the sideline how much time will be added to compensate for the injuries and goals.  This is called stoppage time.  It's not that hard to understand.

Give soccer a chance, and more importantly, USA soccer a chance.  Cheer them on in the next game which is Saturday at 2pm our time against Ghana.

The Savannah area proves to be a grand stage for golf once again!  The Verizon Heritage (Now just the Heritage, but we hope not for long) was again a huge sucess...huge crowds, great weather, and a great playoff finish!  More playoff golf this weekend at the Liberty Mutuals Legends of Golf, and another fabulous finish.  And even though the weather didn't cooperate for the weekend, it was great to see the crowd! widespread panic, allman brothers, mike roberts, patrick fargason

Now to vent about NASCAR!  Talladega was an awesome race...record number of leaders, record number of lead changes and the 8th closest fininsh in NASCAR history.  But I hated the finish.  I despise the green-white-checker rule.  There have been many rules in NASCAR that were or are just dumb.  Lucky Dog - still around, 2nd round qualifing - gone, top 35 guarenteed starting spot - still around, pushing up race times so they will end at prime time - GONE!  I could keep going...but the GWC rule is just stupid to me...do it once if need be, but 3 times is rediculous!  Case in point yesterday...at Talladega and Daytona, it will be next to impossible to get a clean 2 lap run going for the win.  And yesterday proved that!  Alot of great cars taken out.  I understand the "BIG ONE" is inevetiable, but it shouldn't happen 3 times for just 2 laps.  Jamie McMurray should have won that race.  I HATE GREEN WHITE CHECKER. Earnhardt, stewart, Aaron's 499, bubbles.

Just a side note as a Viking fan, thanks Broncos for drafting Tim Tebow so the Vikings wouldn't even be tempted.

And P-hutt, have a nice day!

So Duke wins their 4th National Championship...what a fabulous game and congrats to the Butler Bulldogs for making it that way and for showing other schools that it can be achieved!

Happy Birthday...err...Anniversary to R.E.M.!  4/5/80 the played their very first show in the old church.   And what a huge band they turned out to be.  And a major musical influence for me.  Went to several R.E.M. shows, including a road trip from Milledgeville to Savannah on 4/26/89 to see them in the civic center with Drivin' n' Cryin'.  Fabulous show!  Or 11/13/89 in the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, a benfit for the Nature Conservancy, where they play all of their Murmur album in order, took a break and then came back and played all of Green in order plus a select variety of song for an encore.  My hat is off to these guys!

Enjoy the great weather and stay safe.

Oh and Pat...have a nice day.

Did you see the Olympic coverage on Wednesday night.  What a great day for the U.S.A.  Shani Davis won the gold in the men 1000m speed skating, Lindsey Vonn overcomes injury to win the gold in the women's downhill, ans Shaun White, the "Flying Tomato", was awesome in winning the gold in the halfpipe.  Shaun is unbelievable on a snow board.  He flew about 5 feet higher than anyone else and does some crazy tricks!  Way to go U.S.A.

I know there are a lot of people who don't care for the Winter Olympics.  Personally, I prefer them to the Summer Games.  I love anything that has to do with snow boarding, downhill skiing, and, as odd as this sounds, I love curling.  It's more like chess than a sport, but I enjoy watching it.  Maybe, one day, I'll get to try it myself.