Saturday, July 4, 2009

Independence Day musings

- It's pretty cool to see an all-U.S. Womens Final at Wimbledon on Independence Day as well as the Bryan brothers playing in the Mens Doubles Final today. And, let's not forget Andy Roddick against the great Roger Federer tomorrow at the All-England Club.

- Isn't it amazing that two of our country's key Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both died on July 4th--Independence Day--in 1826?

- On this day 15 years ago, I attended the U.S. Mens Soccer team loss to eventual champion Brazil in the World Cup. The match, at Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, CA, reinforced how far the U.S. still had to go in global soccer even though the team had advanced to the round of 16 after an upset win over Colombia, a tie against Switzerland and a loss to Romania. Last week's loss to Brazil in the finals of the Conferederation Cup, the first FIFA final ever for the U.S., was certainly a sign of our progress since that game in the '94 World Cup.

- There aren't many good Independence Day-themed movies. One of the best is The Patriot, the film which launched Heath Ledger's career. Ledger is on the cover of the latest Vanity Fair.

- Fifty years ago, Alaska was admitted into the United States and on this day in 1959, the 49-star U.S. flag debuted in Philadelphia. Ironic then, that 50 years later that state is in the news after the announcement yesterday of Governor Sarah Palin's resignation.

- Did you know the Bomb Pop was invented in Kansas City? The red, white and blue version of the summertime treat was always a favorite but I was most partial to the banana-flavored Bomb Pop. Now, that was good eatin'.

- Famous people with a July 4 birthday: Calvin Coolidge, Rube Goldberg, Meyer Lansky, Eva Marie Saint, Floyd Little and Geraldo Rivera.

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