Twistity Sports Exclusive WEEKEND IN REVIEW: We are the World (Cup), golf, baseball, NBA

 
Say this for Germany’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in the World Cup championship game on Sunday – it was not decided by penalty kicks. That would be like shooting free throws to decide the NBA title or holding a Home Run Derby to snap a tie in the World Series.

No, it would not come to that. Germany broke through in the 113^th minute on Mario Goetze’s goal and socked away its fourth World Cup title. It saved the best (and, presumably, the wurst) for last.

Americans lost a little bit of their fervor after the United States Mens National Team fell to Belgium in the round of 16. Earlier, the USMNT had lost 1-0 to Germany. So if that’s any measuring stick, the U.S. came quite a way in this World Cup and appears capable of competing effectively, if not winning, on the big stage.

Brazil won and lost. As a nation, it seemed quite unprepared for its role as host, with unfinished venues, demonstrations by the populace against the expense ($11 billion) of this event, and transportation woes. Yet those stories faded, which was good, but so did Brazil’s team, which wasn’t. Its final two defeats came by a 10-1 scoring margin, hardly making fourth place seem worth it.

LET’S GO, MO: She didn’t make it to the LPGA Tour until she was 29, a struggle of seven years. On Sunday, Mo Martin won the Women’s British Open, propelled by an eagle on the 18^th hole. She hit a 3-wood from about 240 yards and the ball reached the green, rolled and hit the pin.

It was a marvelous shot, the shot of a lifetime. “I could hear it hit the pin from the fairway,” Martin said. “That was a fun feeling.” … Colin Montgomerie won the U.S. Senior Open at Oak Tree National in Edmond, Oklahoma.

It took three extra holes for him to defeat Gene Sauer in the first U.S. Senior Open playoff since 2002.

BASEBALL BREAKS: The All-Star game takes place in Minneapolis on Tuesday night. Target Field is a lovely venue that almost no one has seen. The home of the Twins for the last five years, it has hosted only one playoff series as the Twins have struggled with 90-loss seasons. … Going into the break, the Texas Rangers are on an eight-game losing streak and have the worst record in the majors. Dishonorable mention here goes to the Kansas City Royals, who lost three in a row to the Detroit Tigers and are 7 ½ games behind the Detroiters in the American League Central.

NBA THAW: After LeBron James announced his return to Cleveland on Friday, the NBA free-agent freeze ended. It was an unofficial freeze but no one was going anywhere until James did. The jilted Miami Heat quickly moved to retain Chris Bosh, Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers and should wrap up Dwyane Wade soon. They also signed Luol Deng away from Cleveland, though he wasn’t planning to stick around. … Carmelo Anthony reupped with the New York Knicks, Pau Gasol left the Lakers for the Bulls, Paul Pierce exited the Nets for the Wizards and Trevor Ariza left the Wizards for the Rockets, who previously had traded Jeremy Lin to the Lakers.

Today’s question: Will LeBron James, who is pleased to be returning to northeast Ohio, ever win another NBA title? Put your answers in the comments box below (along with your heartfelt and effusive praise for this blog) and tell us why you said yes or no.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .