Thanks Landon; Thanks Isner; Thanks Italy....Wait, No

Way to show up, Italy.  Defending freaking champs.  Well played, well played.  We've got two no-name tennis players playing 47 straight hours of competitive tennis, and y'all can't muster 90 minutes of solid team play?  These guys have absolutely nothing left, truly leaving it all on the court.  One dude is a 7 ft behemoth.  I mean, imagine just living a normal life at that freakish size, it would be exhausting.  But he somehow manages to use adrenaline and put his heart on the line and play tennis for 11 hours till he somehow won the match.  Did anyone care who won at that point?  No.  The effort and guts displayed will be remembered forever.  I wish I could say the same for Italy.

You may ask.....You're American Guy, why do you care so much?  Well, you know, when I was creating World Cup shirts, I kinda focused on the teams I positively knew were going through to the Round of 16, and the highly seeded defending champions looked to be a sound investment.  The longer the team is playing, the more momentum they pick up, more and more fans are going to go crazy, therefore buying more of their shirts.  It's T-Shirt Sales 101 people.  But, I should have listened to my friends.  Like my buddy always says, "Never lie down with an Italian because they'll crap the bed."  Or something like that.  Well, I'm at her place right now lying in a big freaking mess.

Big discount people, get these Italy shirts out of my sight.  I'm pretty sure American Apparel sells these blanks for like $20, and you can get them with a cool "Italy" graphic on them for half that.  Yep, $10.  Don't be embarrassed to wear it.  Just tell people it's a 2006 World Cup Champion commemorative t-shirt!

http://www.shirtsbyguy.com/product/italy-world-cup-flag-shirt

Don't let this overshadow the reedonkulous Landon Donovan stoppage time goal to send us from packing our bags to winning our Group.  In my lifetime, only 3 or 4 truly American moments in sports really stick out in my memory.  In random order, Michael Phelps 8 Gold Medals in Beijing (the relay comeback to be more specific), President W throwing out the 1st pitch after 9/11 in the World Series at Yankee Stadium (from the rubber mind you), Donovan's goal on Wednesday, and the 2002 LSU Football Spring Game.

And, Wednesday was just another typical American day.  First, Landon Donovan waits till the last possible minute to accomplish something that could have been done way earlier.  Very American.  Then a seven foot tennis freak, with lungs of infinite capacity, and tireless legs plays for 3 straight days.  Of course, he's American.

Now, GEAUX USA!!!  We play Ghana on Saturday at 230PM EST, so be sure to start drinking well before noon.   Oh, and buy a shirt.

Pretty cool video of the world's reaction to Donovan's goal below.