The Brosnans struck first with a run in the top of the first when Baltimore’s Julius Benedict knocked in Manchester’s Jacob Hampton with a sacrifice fly-ball. The Paxtons didn’t answer until the fourth with a Mike Dunn RBI. Boulder’s own Leonard Strike brought the crowd to its feet when he hit a home run in the seventh to bring the game to a 2-2 tie. The tug-of-war contest would not end for another six innings.

Going into the matchup, it was speculated that the Paxtons were far too strong for the Brosnans, but after the all-star game, the two leagues appear to be evenly matched. This bodes well for the second half of the season, as it appears that whoever emerges from the Pierce Brosnan race will be a formidable opponent for the Paxton champions.

However it all pans out, no one can deny that BH Baseball’s first all-star was nothing short of exciting. This game is a notch in the belt for a league that is already surpassing initial expectations.

It is curious to wonder, however, whether the Pierce Brosnan League, with its assortment of teams east of the Mississippi River, can compete with the all-powerful Bill Paxton team which houses the teams out west. The Paxton League dominates myriad statistics in hitting and pitching. Critics, however, argue that most of these statistics are dominated by one team: Boulder. They go on to argue that the combined might of the Brosnan League may prove very competitive with the combined might of the Paxton League. “Simply put,” Jacob Hampton, BSBN contributor said, “the Brosnan League beats up on each other.” The all-star game, it seems, could go either way. At least the viewing public will finally see a compact version of a Charleston/Boulder match-up, a match-up that many see solidifying itself in the Goldblum Cup at the end of the season. If the Brosnan League wins the all-star, it truly makes Charleston look quite the contender for the Boulder juggernaut.

Jeff L. Horner, league commissioner and owner of the Virginia Opossums commented on the game’s importance: “This game is the premier showcase of talent that Blue House Baseball has to offer. In that respect, it is our best display of the overarching ability of our players. With that in mind, it is one of the most important games ever played in this league.”

The promises to be a battle of wits as the strong pitching of the Pierce Brosnan League battles the powerful hitting of the Bill Paxton League. It may actually turn out to be an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.

Here are the rosters for both teams:

The man of the match during the Uruguay - Ghana match. Vladimar Crossbar, during his days in the youth league.

The Quarterfinals had a bit of everything:

The Netherlands overcame a 10th minute goal and dominated Brazil.  During the match, much of the Brazilian had a melt down, and ended the match a man down.  Wesley Schneider scored his 3rd and 4th goal (after a Fifa overturn of Brazil’s first ever own goal) as the Netherlands prevailed 2-1.  Uruguay added the controversy as Suarez was red carded for a game saving hand ball at the end of extra time.  The arrogant Asamoah Gyan missed the ensuing PK, sending the game to a PK face off.  Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera stopped two consecutive PKs ending Ghana’s run, much to the joy of the BHSN.  Germany dominated Argentina in what most people thought would be the most impressive match of the round.  Germany won 4-0, however Thomas Muller received his 2nd yellow card and will have to miss Germany’s semifinal match.  Spain and Paraguay displayed a clinic of how not to take PKs as both teams had attempts blocked within a 60 second period.  The Spain miss came after a made PK that they were forced to retake, after encroaching on the first.  Later on David Villa used the power of the soul patch to rebound his own shot, scoring his 5th goal of the cup and landing Spain a date with Germany in the Semis.

Best players of the tournament:
Bastion Schweinsteigger comes in at 5th place. He’s been a beast on the defense, and never ceases to find the open player. His assist on Friedrich’s first ever goal, drew 4 Argentinian players off out of the box before allowing the defender to tap the ball into the goal. He’s been the catalyst of the counterattack, and has an amazingly beautiful girlfriend. That’s bonus points.

Louis Suarez is next in 4th place. He propelled Uruguay past a South Korean squad that controlled the pace of the match. He’s scored 3 goals and had two saves in the 122 minute versus Ghana. While one of them was a hand ball, you can’t blame him as Uruguay would have went home had he not committed the foul. Many analysts have asked “Why didn’t he just head the ball?” Images of Denmark’s own goal in their defeat at the hands of The Netherlands is still clear in my head.

Wesley Schneider lands in 3rd place with 4 goals and a single assist. He’s been the most dominant player on a very talented Netherlands team. Granted Robin has drawn a lot of attention, but Schneider has came through when needed. His two goals vs Brazil pushed them past a Brazilian squad many had picked to win the entire competition.

David Villa has almost been Spain’s only weapon. Spain has 6 goals. Villa has 5 and an assist. Without him, they drop in group play, even with a very favorable group. Somehow they even got past a Portugal squad that only allowed 1 goal (in their 0-1 loss to Spain) during the cup, and only 2 goals in their last 13 international matches.

Saving the best for last, we have Thomas Muller. It’s a pity he will miss the semis, as the handball he received his 2nd yellow on hit his arm after bouncing off of Messi’s. He opened the floodgates versus Argentina in the 3rd minute, is only 1 goal away from the lead in the quest for the Golden Boot, and is tied for lead in assists.

Honorable Mentions: Diego Forlan, Miroslav Klose, and Casillas

Semifinals predictions

Uruguay – Netherlands
Uruguay will play without Suarez during the semifinals and will lose half of their fire power. They have a good defense, but without Suarez threatening the counter attack they shouldn’t give Holland much trouble.

Germany – Spain
Germany has displayed the best football of the cup. They have 3 different players with 3 assists, 2 different players with 4 goals, and totals of 12 assists over 13 goals. The entire team will drop into the defense, and the speed of the German counterattack is awe inspiring. Often 3-5 passes end with a shot on goal, with 3 Germans ready for the rebound. However Spain has the best goal keeper in the cup and can be just as dangerous with a counterattack led by David Villa. Fernando Torres has yet to come alive and if Spain has any chance of winning they’ll need him to take a little pressure off of Villa. Even without Muller Germany should still be the better team, and should meet Holland in the Finals.

Results to date
32 – 16 – 12

In other news, can anyone beat Boulder? With only fourteen games down, the Bunions already have a five game divisional lead. With one more win, they will clinch their second ten-game winning streak in team history. That’s more than any other team by two. It’s rumored that Boulder fans have already started gobbling up postseason tickets at a record pace. Predictably enough, they are only buying four at a time. The Goldblum Cup looks to already been birthing a twin at Boulder’s headquarters.

Wichita, Wichita, Wichita, let me count the ways. It seems that expelling Virginia from the Central Division was the best thing that ever happened to the Somethings. They’re 10-4 and cruising. Is it possible that those hopeful preseason predictions were actually correct with regard to them?

Doing the Charleston, but not too loudly. The Windjammers are also 10-4 but hold a slim one game lead over scrappy Virginia. Maybe it is sad to criticize a team for losing two of their last four, but with all due respect, Charleston was dominating the early season. Now their series with Baltimore later in the week look extremely crucial. Virginia, sitting tight at 9-5, would love to spoil Charleston’s swing with a down-home southern-fried dance of its own.

See Almanac

As if I needed another reason to be jealous of Bastion Scheinsteiger, meet his girlfriend Sarah Brander.

The deeper we get into the World Cup the greater the excitement grows, and the more intense the games get.

Saturday was almost like watching the same game twice.  Both South Korea and The United states outplayed their opponents for 80% of the game but still managed to lose.   Uruguay scored in the first half on a lapse in Korea’s defense, but South Korea came out strong and dominated the pace in the second half.  For some reason however, they became lax after knotting the game up, in the 72 minute and Uruguay went right back ahead less than ten minutes later.  Clark tried to be clever and looked foolish as Boateng took the ball and went straight to goal, once again putting the USA down in the opening minutes.  From there the US fought back and created multiple shots, but just couldn’t beat Kingson.  At half Bradley went with the lineup most expected with Altidore and Dempsey up front with Edu and Feilhaber coming forward to add pressure when needed.  The change was successful and earned the US a PK, which Donovan struck truthfully, finally beating the Ghanain keeper in the 62 minute.  The score stayed that way into Extra time and it was deja vu all over again as a weak play by an American defender allowed another quick strike, and this time the “Comeback Kids” couldn’t recover.

Sundays opener pitted Germany vs England in what quickly looked to be another German rout, with Germany quickly going up 2-0.  England quickly recovered though finding the goal twice, unfortunately the 2nd bounced out after hitting the ground two feet behind the line, and was missed by a very underwhelming referee.   It is hard to say whether England would have continued at that pace or not had the goal been allowed.  Germany played the entire 90 though, adding another 2 goals in the 2nd half.

Argentina Mexico were met with controversy as well, with another bad off sides call.  Argentina however won by 2, again bailing out less than stellar officiating.

Monday’s games were less than competitive with the Netherlands dominating the Slovakian side,  scoring 2 goals and only allowing a pk in the final seconds of stoppage time.  Slovakia prevented the shut out and their hero Vittek became the highest scorer in Slovakian history, but in game terms the goal was trivial with the final whistle being blown as soon as the ball was in the net.  Brazil came out and controlled the game early.  They didn’t find the net until the 35th minute, but added another less than 5 minutes later.  They scored again during the 59th minute, and that was the games final goal.

Tuesday’s first game found Japan and Paraguay evenly matched.  Neither allowing a goal (though the Japanese defense had to handle many shots) during regular or extra time.  The game went to PKs with Paraguay hitting all 5 and Japan missing their third.  Spain defeated possibly the best defensive team in the league as they toppled Portugal, and scored the first goal on them of this tournament.  Who knows what might have been if Ronaldo had gotten a free kick, next to the Spanish box on a missed push by David Silva, but they shouldn’t be ashamed of going out of the tournament with a 6 goal difference.

Gonzalo Hiquain – 4 (ARG), Robert Vittek -4 (SLO), David Villa – 4 (SPA)Thomas Mueller -3 (GER), Luis Suarez -3 (URU), Lius Fabiano 3 (BRA), Asamoah Gyan -3 (GHA), Landon Donovan -3 (USA) and 14 other players tied at 2.

My pick for Player of the Tournament so far would be Mueller with him also netting 3 assists and having his 3 goals on only 8 shots.  With runner up and my pick to take the Golden Boot David Villa.  He’s been playing lights out, assisting himself to score the only goal in Spain’s Victory over Portugal.

Friday July 2nd

Netherlands fall to Brazil

Urugray defeat Ghana

Saturday Juy 3rd

Argentina falls to Germany

Paraguay fall to Spain

Results so far:

29 – 15 – 12

The round of 16 looks to be truly exciting with two teams favored to meet in the finals, Germany and England, facing off early.  The USA has a chance for revenge vs Ghana, and with a victory find themselves with an excellent shot at the semis.  Uruguay and South Korea face off in what should be a defensive battle, while Argentina / Mexico should be an explosive match up.  Paraguay and Japan have already surprised many, and one of them is guaranteed a spot in the  quarterfinals.  The round of 16 wraps up with 2 rivalry matches, Brazil vs Chile and Portugal vs Spain.  Spain and Portugal have incredibly similar styles, rankings, and global positioning.  I doubt we will see a more evenly matched game this round.

Predictions

Saturday

Uruguay is a defense powerhouse.  However the mechanical play of South Korea can be enough to wear down the toughest of defenses.  South Korea wins a close one.

Landon Donovan after his amazing goal, that most American's actually loved.

The USA is coming in off of the high of a 91st minute game winner.  Ghana defeated the USA the last time they met on the strength of a penalty kick.  What is it with Ghana and PKS?  Anyway, the USA has already had its share of bad calls this cup.  USA wins.

Sunday

Germany has been a powerhouse, with the exception of their game 2 loss to Serbia.  England hasn’t quite lived up to the high expectations they had coming in.  England will turn it around, but lose in a shootout.

Argentina are the deadliest team in the world cup (with the exception of Portugal’s 2nd half rout of North Korea), and Messi hasn’t even come alive yet.  Mexico has the potential to put a lot of shots on target.  Two high scoring games in one day, make for a very exciting day at Soccer Taco.  Any takers?  Argentina prevails.

Monday

Slovakia stunned the world by defeating Italy and taking their spot in the Round of 16. However, the Netherlands starting 11 are some of the best team players in the international game, and won’t wait till the 2nd half to come alive.  Holland advances.

Two of South America’s power houses meet in what will surely be a heated match.  Brazil started off rock solid, but couldn’t find the goal vs Portugal in their last match.  Chile also started off on fire, but not only couldn’t topple Spain, but lost a man in the process.  One thing is for sure, I see a red card in the works.  Look for Brazil to take advantage of at least one of their many coming free kicks.  Brazil wins.

Tuesday

Paraguay came into this World Cup, with the expectation of merely advancing.  Taking their group allows them to avoid the Dutch, but places them against a Japan team that has been incredibly efficient win given opportunities.  I leaned on Brett Favre for this decision.  He took Japan.

Spain vs Portugal.  The excitement will be high.  The tension palpable.  If this game goes to PKs Spain and Portugal might literally break off from the rest of Europe.  Two evenly matched teams (ranked 2 and 3 respectively), with similar playing styles will make for a very interesting game.  Portugal has a better defense, as proven today vs Brazil.  Spain however has Casillas.  Fernando Torres and Christiano Ronaldo have both been relatively quite this World Cup.  Whichever one fires it up is likely to lead their team to victory.  Spain is playing incredibly well.  Too well in fact for me to pick a Portugal team that has only scored on a very lacking North Korean keeper.  While my heart says “Go Ronaldo”, by head is forcing me to pick Spain.

Hampton Forecast’s: 24 – 12 – 12

Despite all logic, no one has been messing with the score board.

History has been made at Wimbledon.  It’s day 4, and while most participants are having their 2nd match, or even preparing for their 3rd, John Isner (USA) and Nicolas Mahut (FRA) have finally finished their 1st.  The match was the longest in history, and shattered several other records as well:  Longest set, most games in a set, most aces in set, and most aces in a match.

The previous record for longest match was 6 hours and 37 minutes.  The last set alone went 8 hours and 11 minutes and the match totaled 11 hours and 5 minutes.  The previous records for games in a set was 18-20.  The fifth set between Mahut and Isner more than tripled that, ending 68-70, a full 100 games over the previous record.  The absurdity doesn’t end there however as both players shattered the record for most aces in a match.  The previous record was set just last year, at a remarkable 78.  Both players had over 100, and Isner’s 112 is a record that may never be tested.  Both players, as well as the umpire, were honored with an award dedicated to their parts in this historical match.  It was a hard fought battle, with both players holding serve, but not much more.  It wasn’t a pretty.  Over the 11 hours there were under 20 break points.  It looked as if it would come down to a mistake, but in the end Isner managed to string together a few returns and cracked the 138 game stale mate.

The 138 game 5th set was the equivalent of over 2 full matches, with each set going to a tiebreaker (Sets 3 and 4 actually went to a tiebreaker as well).  Here are some comparisons to show just how long this match lasted:

MLB – ~32 total innings

NFL-  Full game plus 12 overtimes

NCAA football- Full game plus about 18 overtimes

Basketball – Full game with 28 overtimes

All of that would be with no substitutions allowed.

Both players showed tremendous endurance and fantastic composure in what will likely be one of, if not the, fiercest match in tennis history.  It’s a pity someone had to such a long and grueling match, and best of wishes to Nicolas Mahut.  Mahut had served to stay in the match 64 consective games before finally being broken for only the 2nd time in the match.  The victory was Inser’s 1st at Wimbledon, in only his 2nd outing .

While we couldn’t obtain a personal sit down with Isner, we have used the extent of our resources to provide you with the official Wimbledon coverage located here.

The Blue House Sports Network would like to wish Isner the best of luck as he competes in the singles competition for his forth consecutive day tomorrow, and for the rest of the slam.

Maicon's physic defying ball broke North Korea. Who will break the Ivory Coast?

Day 10

Slovakia falls to Paraguay

Italy over New Zealand

Brazil over Ivory Coast

Day 11

Portugal over Korea DPR

Chile falls to Switzerland

Spain over Honduras

Day 12

Mexico over Uruguay

France over South Africa

Nigeria falls to Korea Republic

Greece falls to Argentina

Day 13

Slovenia falls to England

USA over Algeria

Ghana falls to Germany

Australia falls to Serbia

Day 14

Slovakia falls to Italy

Paraguay over New Zealand

Denmark falls to Japan

Cameroon falls to Netherlands

Day 15

Portugal over Brazil

Korea DPR falls to Ivory Coast

Chile falls to Spain

Switzerland over Honduras

Results thus far

12 – 6 – 8

Portugal are my pick to take the group of death

Day 4

Netherlands over Denmark

Japan over Cameroon

Italy over Paraguay

Day 5

New Zealand falls to Slovakia

Côte d’Ivoire falls to Portugal

Brazil over Korea DPR

Day 6

Honduras falls to Chile

Spain over Switzerland

South Africa falls Uruguay

Day 7

Argentina over Korea Republic

Greece falls to Nigeria

Mexico over France

Day 8

Germany over Serbia

Slovenia falls to USA

England over Algeria

Day 9

Netherlands over Japan

Ghana over Australia

Cameroon over Denmark