Sports high and lowlights: MLB, WC, Stanley Cup and NBA Final

First of all, may MLB hall of famer Tony Gwynn rest in peace. It's sad to see him leaving at such a young age (54) probably due to chewing tobacco usages. I saw his Padres playing against the SF Giants many times during his playing year. What an exciting player to watch as he always seem to find a way to get on base. Even after retirement from pro-ball, he still contributed to the sports by coaching his Alma Mater (San Diego State)

Speaking of the Giants, I took the kids to the park and witnessed Giants' gigantic collapse in the 9th inning (led 4-2 and ended up letting the Rockies to score 5 in that half inning) Closer Sergio Romo was not in his usual "shut-you-down" mode. Who knows if this might be the turning point of the season (which I expected the LA Dodgers would catch up and win the division hands down with their star-studded lineup)? The Giants haven't won a game since then. (And lost 6 out of 7)

As usual, this world cup is full of drama, including the surprising landslide defeat of Spain (to Holland and Chile) and Portugal (to Germany.) However, the biggest story here is of course USA beating their nemesis from the last 2 cups, Ghana, 2-1 (Even the sports radio host Jim Rome who is known for bashing soccer mentioned the game in his promo!) The USA's first goal came way too fast (< 1 min) and seemed too easy. Then their players went down one-by-one (weather, physical play) and finally gave up the equalizer to Ghana. At that point a lot of fans would be happy with a draw but that's obviously not what the team thought and they fought back with the game winning goal.

World Cup fever obviously overshadowed the Stanley Cup final (yeah, LA Kings, the team I really dislike, beat NY Rangers, the team I really like and won the cup 2-times in the last 3 years. Still remember watching LA beating NJ for the cup in a Dallas hotel on that rare biz-trip 2 years ago) and to a certain extent, the NBA final (San Antonio Spurs, the team I really respect, beat Miami Heats, the team I really don't care, and won the championship for the 5th time while the latter went 2-for-4 in the finals during the last 4 years. Gotta be considered as a disappointment given the Miami "Big 3" made it such a big deal joining force 4 years ago)