Corn Flakes: The US Women Are World Champs (And Why I Enjoyed It So Much)

The U.S. Women's National Team mauled Japan 5-2 to win the 2015 Women's World Cup, thus making themselves (and by proxy all of the U.S., of course) world champions. I watched most of the U.S. games in this tournament, but I confess I don't follow them on a constant basis. I do enjoy soccer more than I have, and I really enjoyed watching this tournament, in fact, I enjoy women's soccer more than the men.

The obvious reason why is because WORLD CHAMPS, but there's another reason and the simplest explanation I have for that is right here

Still the best explanation of women's vs men's sport I've ever seen: pic.twitter.com/gVOuRzBDQg

— Anna (@werna_) July 6, 2015

While there was some flopping going on, there wasn't this constant "I've just been murdered in an international incident but will completely recover as soon as the stretcher bearers come to get me" crap that accompanies the men's game. I'm told the constant drama is part of the game and to accept it.

Well, no.

Besides if I have a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP women's team, why would I even care what the men are doing until they get somewhere near the same level?

That Carli Lloyd goal from mid-field was absolutely beautiful. And a hat trick in 16 minutes? Like I said, who needs the men's team.

(Now you can continue in the comments section with "who needs soccer?")

Incredible photos of Carli Lloyd's first half hat trick - SBNation.com
These are something else.

Carli Lloyd is the weirdest world class professional athlete ever - SBNation.com
She will annoy you to the point of rage, and then she will make the greatest clutch play you've ever seen.

These are the incredible photos following the USWNT's World Cup win - SBNation.com
These should all be posters.

Brad Guzan's wife drops major shade over Carli Lloyd's wondergoal - SBNation.com

This is borderline cruel.

BWWAAAAHHHAAAAAHAHAAAHHAAA

LA County DA Won't File Felony Charges Against Diddy For Fight With UCLA's Alosi - Bruins Nation

The rapper still may face misdemeanor charges from the LA City Attorney.

Why is this here?

NCAA’s newest championship will be called beach volleyball | NCAA.com

The NCAA’s 90th championship will be called beach volleyball.

Previously known as "sand volleyball".....  perhaps now there are officially beaches in Nebraska?

Report: Ohio State QB Braxton Miller to announce his plans next week - CBSSports.com

Braxton Miller is almost ready to return to the football field, but before doing that he sent a cryptic text message to a local newspaper.

I thought this was all said and done and that he's staying at Ohio State. Probably is, but, well, you never know I guess.

Danny Langsdorf Q&A: Putting the puzzle together : Latest Husker News

I’m excited to see (Zach) Sterup and (Ryne) Reeves. I haven’t seen any of them at all except for last year’s film. So adding them to a pretty solid group already is going to be fun. We’re a deeper offensive line than I’ve been used to top to bottom."

Langsdorf speaks about the offense.

Branding in college football: Identity more than uniforms, logos - College Football - SI.com

The power of branding in college football: As Oregon showed, program identity goes far beyond just uniforms and logos.

Then there's this from Andy Staples. He says about Nebraska:

I've written this before and I stand by it. Nebraska needs to go back to a pure option offense. A school in such an isolated location will have the toughest time recruiting elite quarterbacks and NFL-prototype linemen, so why not run an offense that eliminates the need for such players?

It's a repeated theme and one that is sure to draw the web hits. The option offense implies glory years, Tom Osborne, massive success and by it's mere mention it can draw pleasure into the hearts and minds of many a Nebraskan. The problem with running the option offense is you need a Tom Osborne, i.e., the right coach, to run it.

(To be clear I am taking Staples line to mean "triple option", not "spread option" because we just did that.)

As an athletic director, I don't think you make a coaching decision, a hire, based on what type of offense that coach is going to run. I think you'd be limited in your field of eligible candidates. As a head coach, you could find someone who's familiar with the option offense as a coordinator, but, again, you're limiting your selections (notice the need to avoid the obvious pun here) and because the option is typically used by service academies and Georgia Tech at Nebraska's level in college football, you're not going to find an up and coming coach that's going to be willing to come to your program and find their career pigeon-holed after you're fired because it took you two to three years to implement your experiment. We're just not that patient at Nebraska.

Right now (before Mike Riley has coached a single game) it looks like our new head coach isn't having the difficulty in recruiting that we were lead to believe existed at Nebraska over the past few years.

Staples ended his comment with:

His (Riley's) decision to not play mind games with the Blackshirts seems like a good start.

So true. We don't have to have silly discussions about a bunch of shirts before or during the season. Wise move by Riley.