July 14, 2014

 

Germany wins World Cup; Messi takes Golden Ball

Germany will take the 2014 World Cup trophy home as they beat Argentina yesterday 1-0. Germany’s Mario Gotze scored in the second half of extra time, 113 minutes into the game, for the win. Gotze had been subbed in in the 88th minute for Miroslav Klose, the most prolific scorer in World Cup history.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi won the Adidas Golden Ball trophy as the tournament’s top player. Many people did not think the award was deserved. A Spanish newspaper conducted a poll of its readers where Messi finished third. James Rodriquez of Colombia, the Golden Boot winner with six goals in five games, was the player many thought should win. Diego Maradona, the Argentina legend and former National Team coach, called awarding Messi the trophy “part of a marketing plan”.

St. Louis Cardinals one game back in National League Central at All-Star break

The Cardinals got pounded by the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday 11-2 in their last game before the All-Star break. A 10-2 Cardinal win on Saturday at put the teams in a tie atop the division. The Cardinals’ recent play, the team had been 6 1/2 games out of first place on July 1, has stirred excitement among the fan base and led St. Louis Post-Dispatch scribe Bernie Miklasz to write a column titled “The sky isn’t falling”

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny will manage the National League team by virtue of the Cardinals winning the pennant last season. It was announced today that Adam Wainwright will start the game vs Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners.

John Oliver on America’s Wealth Gap

 

2014 MLB All-Star Game festivities in Minneapolis

The 2014 MLB All-Star Game festivities yesterday in Minneapolis. Taco Bell All-Star Sunday featured the Futures Game and the celebrity softball game. Actors like James Denton competed with personalities like Andy Cohen, athletes from other sports like Jennie Finch and Kevin love, rappers like Nelly and former big leaguers such as Ozzie Smith and Mike Piazza. Although played yesterday, the game will air on ESPN tonight after the Home Run Derby. Spoiler Alert: Cardinal fans Nelly and David Nail both showed some power at the plate.

In the Futures Game, is was U.S. 3 – World 2. Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers was the MVP and 17-year-old Julio Urias was pretty darn good in his one inning of work for the World team.

With the All-Star Game at Target Field in Minneapolis, the 29th Home Run Derby will be held in the same city as the first Home Run Derby in 1985. Giancarlo Stanton with 21 homers on the season, has the most of the Derby field. The event, with a new bracket-style format, will air live tonight beginning at 7 pm on ESPN. In St. Louis, you can head over to Ballpark Village and participate in their Home Run Derby to benefit Stray Rescue. It’ll be played outside on the Busch II Infield, which sits directly where the infield at the old Busch Stadium stood.

Horse-drawn carriage rides on the outs in St. Louis?

St. Louis health director Pamela Walker was out walking her dog Saturday night when she noticed a carriage horse that appeared to be struggling and “showing classic signs of heatstroke.” She stopped riders from getting on that carriage and another that was going by. Police, the Humane Society and Animal Control were called to the scene as well Jerry Kirk of Brookdale Farms,which owns the horses. There was a disagreement between Walker and Kirk about when horses can be worked on hot days downtown. A veterinarian brought in by Walker has since diagnosed one of the horses with a chronic lung condition. Kirk disputes that diagnosis and says that his own vet says otherwise.

Walker says she will try to get the horse-drawn carriage rides banned in the city. I just really want to know who in the world takes those anyways?

 

Nike release RE2PECT video honoring Derek Jeter

The video was released by Jordan Brand, a subsidiary of Nike, and it features a slew of regular folks and stars.

 

Immigration surge continues

Then immigration surge that has been highlighted in this post in recent weeks is continuing. Now there are reports that dead children are washing up in the brush alongside the Rio Grande. It’s all but assured that these children died while trying to cross the river into the United States. Border Patrol Agents are being exposed to diseases that haven’t been seen in decades here in the U.S. The leaders of Mexico and Guatemala recently agreed to a “Regional Visitor Card” program that will make is easier for immigrants from Central America to travel to the United States border and attempt to enter illegally. A Border Patrol Agent told Fox News that as many as 70% of his agents were being forced to handle paperwork from the surge rather than be out protecting the border. 200 immigrant children were recently sent to Nebraska. Over 400 unaccompanied children have been sent to the Chicago area since June.

Doctor Who Series 8 trailer

 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes pulls in $73 million

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes exceeded expectations in its opening weekend, blowing past the $70 million mark. Rise of the Planet of the Apes opened just shy of $55 million back in August of 2011. Transformers: Age of Extinction dropped to second place with $16.5 million in its third weekend of release. Tammy finished out the top three with almost $13 million in its second weekend, a 40% drop. While Melissa McCarthy’s project has performed below expectations, its has still brought in more than $50 million on a $20 million budget. 22 Jump Street and How to Train Your Dragon 2 rounded out the top five with $6.7 and $5.5 million, respectively. Look for a more in-depth look at the box office, as well as new releases on Redbox on Thursday in our Weekend Movie Guide.

Arena League Football fan gets clocked by receiver

See the video on Deadspin.

 

Kid takes picture with Warren Buffett and Paul McCartney

This kid wins.

 

 Weird Al Yankovic releasing eight new music videos

The entertainer tweeted the following yesterday afternoon

 

I’ll be premiering 8 brand new music videos – one every single day for 8 days – starting TOMORROW MORNING. (11 AM Eastern, 8 AM Pacific)

— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) July 13, 2014

The video that went up today is called “Tacky” and is a play on Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”

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