Women's (and I'm sorry, Football or Soccor) World Cup '07: a final word, well, two:

Silvia Neid

German coach Silvia Neid as Chinese staff members continue preparations September 6, 2007

Silvia Neid coaching her team in the final September 30, 2007

the championship!

champeens'! (from left) Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer, coach Silvia Neid and striker Birgit Prinz October 1. 2007

Photo sources: (in order) Yahoo! News/(oops, but the information is digitally encoded); fifa.com; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Claro Cortes; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Alex Grimm

Osaka '07: Allyson Felix' third gold

Allyson Felix was part of USA's gold medal both 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, but it was that third gold win that was most impressive. NBC highlighted Allyson's 200 meter win by contrasting it with the results of the 100m race. First, the 100 meters:

Now, Allyson in the 200 meters:

The use of these images is not intended to defeat the owner's copyright interest, but are used under the "fair use" exception to the copyright laws for public comment on a public broadcast of an event of public importance. The use here implies no copyright interest of any sort in the images.

Women's World Cup '07: the agony of defeat: it fell to the Germans to send that carriage back to the pumpkin patch

Please click the photo for more images from the September 22, 2007, quarter-final matchup between Germany and the People's Republic of Korea.

Photo source: Yahoo! News.

Osaka 2007: Peepin' Beijing: In my eyes, the anchor of the 4x100 relay nearly gave the gold away: that was Torri Edwards, not Sanya Richards

Torri Edwards threw up her arms and stopped at the finish line in her anchor of USA's 4x100 meter relay team. If a participant in an elementary, or grade, school meet did that, not only would she never be allowed to participate in a meet, but also she would be given a note to her parents that she was a belligerent, undisciplined delinquent. The note would unabashedly encourage the parents to consider home schooling the child. Look at the official photofinish. The US finished .03 hundredths of a second ahead of Jamaica. Torri can legitimately say she didn't see what was happening behind her: you can't turn around in 100 meters. Which is why you keep running at full blast for at least another 50 meters. Click the photo for more from the 4x100 meter relay final.

Women's World Cup '07: the agony of victory: Sweden won 2-1

. . . but the People's Republic of Korea advanced to the quarterfinals. Click the picture for more photos from that September 12, 2007 matchup.

Photo source: Yahoo! News.

Osaka 2007: This, This is Sanya Richards!

I grew up in segregation: every school that I attended my 12 years of public education was at least 99.95% Black. So, all Black people do not look alike to me.

Yes! Sanya Richards anchored USA's 4x400 gold medal winning team on October 2, 2007, day 9 of Osaka

Sanya Richards anchored the four by four hundred team

Oh yeah! Sanya Richards anchored the 4x400 relay

Sanya Richards, anchoring the 4x400 relay team from the USA, receives the baton from team member Mary Wineberg

USA's 4x400 relay team, from left, DeeDee Trotter, Sanya Richards, Angelo Taylor and Allyson Felix

USA's 4x400 relay team, from left again, DeeDee Trotter, Sanya Richards, Mary Wineberg and Allyson Felix

USA's 4x400 relay team: Allyson Felix, DeeDee Trotter, Mary Wineberg and Sanya Richards

Click this image to see the full size official site photofinish image (roll the cursor over the bottom right corner of the full image for the enlargement anchor for full enlargement)

Sanya was golden in the 400 meters at the Golden League final in Berlin and the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart (above), both also during the month of September

Photo sources: Yahoo! News; additional authorship digitally embedded; use here limited exclusive to comment on issues of public concern

Women's World Cup '07: This game is powerful: Who are these people expressing open intensity, involvement and unreservedness?

Japan 1, Argentina 0 Sept 14th !!!SUPER URGENT HEALTH WARNING!!! These images are not for the faint of heart or weak of mind; this is the inner being laid bare. Click here only if you can deal with dimensions of the same reality: in the zone in Sichuan. Should you choose to venture it, click on the slideshow button on the right side of the new page, or click on any thumbnail for the full image (also, with a control on the right side of the page.)

Osaka 2007: high jump, despite the javelin that has cut to the core of this Western . . . reaction: her feminity is her strength, dogg

Above, the high jump podium (from left) Croatia's Blanka Vlasic, gold, Russia's Anna Chicherova, bronze, and Italy's Antonietta Di Martino, silver. Below, Blanka repeated in Stuttgart on September 22, 2007. Please click either picture for more Osaka high jump photos. In the new window, either click on the slideshow button on the right or on any picture for the full size image.

Photo source: Yahoo! News (in the digital image, authorship information is retained in the image itself); use here is exclusively for comment on issues of public importance.

Women's World Cup '07: it started out us v them, them v us to a 2-2 draw

Goldsea.com: U.S.-North Korea May Be Best Match of Women's World Cup

ABC News: U.S. Ties N. Korea at Women's World Cup

Click on the image for more photos. In the new page, click on the slideshow button on the right or on any image for the full size photo.

She is USA's Shawn Johnson, the reigning world all-around artistic gymnast

Click the image for her, and Martha Karolyi’s, incredible and evolving story.

Photo source: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Ina Fassbender

She is USA's Shawn Johnson, the reigning world all-around artistic gymnast

Osaka 2007: hammer

Click here or on the image below, and then click on the slideshow button on the right side of the new page for a selection of photos from the hammer throw competition August 30, 2007, in Osaka. You can also double click any image in the new page for the full sized image. Below, the podium, from left Cuba's Yipsi Moreno (silver), Germany's Betty Heidler (gold), and Zhang Wenxiu (bronze) with one of the two medals won by women from the PROC.

Photo source: Yahoo! News/opps photo story deleted

Who is?

Hint: athletics and women's soccor were not the only world competitions in September.

Photo source: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Ina Fassbender

Women's World Cup: Germany (not the US)

Germany put down Brazil! But in the semis: (local) ABC Channel 13: Brazil shuts out US, 4-0, at Women's World Cup I know not much about soccor, but "own goal" sounds like you can't cause the ball to go into the goal you are defending.

I am coming back to women's world cup: the photos from the tournament are very . . .interesting. FIFA World Cup China official site

Osaka 2007: Peepin' Beijing

It took a month of digging, but, while I watched TV, there was so much said that it appeared nothing was said. I tried to look beneath appearances.

What is startling at this moment is the full IAAF schedule to Beijing:

• WMRA 4th Grand Prix Sat 6 Oct 2007
• 2nd IAAF World Road Running Championships Sun 14 Oct 2007
• CISM Military Games Sun 14 Oct 2007 - Sun 21 Oct 2007
• 14th European Cross Country Championships Sun 9 Dec 2007
• 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships Fri 7 Mar 2008 - Sun 9 Mar 2008
• 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships Sun 30 Mar 2008
• FISU Cross Country Championships Sun 6 Apr 2008 - Mon 7 Apr 2008
• 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup Sat 10 May 2008 - Sun 11 May 2008
• 12th IAAF World Junior Championships Tue 8 Jul 2008 - Sun 13 Jul 2008
• The XXIX Olympic Games Fri 8 Aug 2008 - Sun 24 Aug 2008

That's it: it makes it look like Beijing is already here. Of course, the US national championships will be had. And, at this moment, I don't want to search to see if there will be a Golden League, Super Grand Prix or Grand Prix series next year (because I still want to comment on this year's events.) But . . . close.