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"Clint, Tim?" "Hello Mr. President, hows it going?" The US World Cup campaign formally ended Wednesday with a cosy two minute chat on the phone between the President, the captain and Americas latest superhero. The team might not have scaled 2002s quarterfinal heights, but they leave Brazil with something not even Qatari petrodollars could buy. They have changed the conversation with how old football perceives soccers new frontier. No one connected with the United States Soccer Federation could have dreamt that. Or for that matter Major League Soccer. Especially when you factor in they were drawn in a group with a nation thats made it through to 15 straight quarterfinal appearances, another still smarting from how extremely close they got in 2010 to finally become Africas first ever semi-finalist and Ronaldo who proved in the playoffs one player could indeed carry a nation. How very American of him. Bookies in London had the US at even money to finish bottom of the group. Defy those odds they certainly would. It was one thing to target victory in their opening fixture and quite another, the manner in which they achieved it. Ghana should have been home and dry well before John Brooks Jr. popped up on the edge of the six-yard line in the 86th minute. Then to discover afterwards Brooks had disclosed to a couple of team mates on the eve of the match he dreamt hed score the winner was that Hollywood moment all of America could relate to - underlined by a visit to the victorious locker room by none other than Vice President Joe Biden. On to the Amazon Rainforest and that much anticipated date with Ronaldo was next on the agenda. The drama that unfolded that particular prime time Sunday evening was watched by over 25 million. To put that into a clearer sporting perspective last falls World Series averaged just a shade over 15 million whilst the NBA Finals averaged 15.5 million. Speaking to the beautiful games growing stateside support that 25 million viewing audience represents a 20 per cent leap on the number which watched the US v England match at South Africa 2010. Going into the tournament it was well established that outside of Brazilians, the US was the second largest ticket buying nation with close to 200,000 tickets purchased from US Zip codes. What that figure didnt tell us was what percentage of those 196,000 were immigrants who would be in Brazil to cheer on their nation of birth. That question was answered by the pictures we witnessed on match day and did not go un-noticed by the English media in attendance for US games. Back home in the living rooms and pubs in cities right across the US it reinforced the message of soccers growing appeal and allure. Come Tuesdays round of 16-match against Belgium viewing parties stretched right across the MLS landscape. Fabled NFL stadiums Soldier Field and Cowboys Stadium drew crowds of 25,000 and 20,000 respectively. As Barrack Obama and his 200 strong staff settled in to watch the game at a White House viewing party workers across the country went on a collective dental appointment which according to Yahoo Finance would cost the US economy over $700 million. These types of things were only supposed to happen in Asia, Europe or South America. With the USs World Cup over, as MLS players return to their clubs and European based players finally get their delayed vacations now comes the hard work to ensure those part time fans become connected to soccer year round. Just because someone will willingly don the stars and stripes in support of their nation doesnt mean theyll automatically transfer that emotional connection to Major League Soccer. Certainly as in previous World Cup cycles MLS and its clubs will register an uptick at the box office and the merchandise store. This will be especially so for the clubs who had players who featured in Brazil. A nice problem MLS faces will be keeping hold of the players whose stars shone in Brazil. An entirely different one stems from yesterdays France v Germany quarterfinal. Listening into ESPN Radio a tweet was read out from a listener saying, "Im enjoying your commentary whilst spraying my corn in Alabama. Last time I checked Alabama doesnt have an MLS franchise, and yet here was a soccer diehard listening on the radio whilst working on a Friday afternoon. The defining image for me of the US World Cup wasnt a Tim Howard save, Demspeys or Julian Greens goals. Or even Jürgen Klinsmann berating the fourth official in his best Anglo-Saxon when only one minute was added to the end of extra time in the Belgium game. Instead it came from the twitter account of Major League Baseball. "Looks like @ussoccer is the only thing that matters right now," was accompanied with various images from MLB Stadiums of players watching the big screens as they took in the action of the US v Belgium during batting practice ahead of that evenings MLB games. Bill Clintons Soccer Mom has evolved into Barrack Obamas Soccer Sophisticats. Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel TSN Radio is an official licensed radio broadcaster of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ Brazil. Check www.tsn.ca/radio for the broadcast schedule in your home town. Clark Gillies Jersey . Noah finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 34 minutes. He was headed for his fourth triple-double of the season, but sat down with about three minutes left because of the lopsided score. Kirk Hinrich scored 19 points for Chicago, going 5 for 6 on 3-pointers, Carlos Boozer added 18 points, D. New York Islanders Jerseys . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-mike-bossy-islanders-jersey/ . According to Dave Stubbs of The Montreal Gazette, preliminary talks have begun between Markov - an unrestricted free agent this summer - and general manager Marc Bergevin. Custom New York Islanders Jerseys . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Billy Smith Jersey .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. BEIJING -- Kevin Koes curling team accomplished what has been a rare feat this season, winning its opening game at the 2014 world mens curling championship. Koes Calgary squad of third Pat Simmons, second Carter Rycroft, and lead Nolan Thiessen methodically cruised to a 6-3 victory Saturday over Denmarks Rasmus Stjerne. "We lost the first game at the (Canadian Curling) trials, we lost our first game at the provincials and we lost our first game at the (Tim Hortons) Brier," Rycroft said, laughing. "Coach (John) Dunn said, I dont want that to happen again. "Mission accomplished: 1-and-0." It took some time for both teams to adjust to ice conditions in an arena more noted for hosting the 2008 Olympic volleyball competition. Canada pounced on Danish misses in the third end to score two, then stole single points in the following two ends to take control. Canadas airtight defence went to work the rest of the way. "If youre up, your shots are usually simpler, and with the ice being tricky, thats a big advantage," said Koe. "If youre having to play come-arounds and freezes to get back into it, those arent easy to begin with, let alone when the ice is tricky, so if you can throw them hard, which we like to do, thats always a good sign." Stjerne, who skipped the Danes to a fourth-place finish at the 2013 worlds in Victoria, said Canada is a "tough team to come back on." "They never gave us an iinch," Stjerne said.dddddddddddd "I felt like we had a couple opportunities to get a deuce, but we never took advantage and it bit us in the end." Canada returns to the ice Sunday morning against Japans Yusuke Morozumi, a 9-5 loser to Norways Thomas Ulsrud on Saturday night. "You know what? (The Danes) are a good team, they made the playoffs last year, so theyre one of the better teams here," said Koe, who was scored at 96 per cent for the night. "And weve got off to a slow start everywhere this year, so to get the win under our belt feels good." In other Saturday games, Oskar Eriksson of Sweden (2-0) topped Pete Fenson of the U.S. (0-2) 8-6, while Johnny Jahr of Germany, who was 0-9 at the Olympics, improved to 2-0 with a 9-5 win over Evgeny Arkhipov of Russia (1-1). Earlier Saturday, Russia edged Switzerlands Peter de Cruz 8-7, Jiri Snitil of the Czech Republic downed the U.S. 9-7, Germany beat Chinas Rui Liu 11-5 and Sweden doubled Scotlands Ewan MacDonald 8-4. Koe won gold in his only previous appearance at the world championship, taking top spot at the 2010 tournament in Cortina DAmpezzo, Italy. Koe had a strong performance at the Tim Hortons Brier earlier this month and is enjoying another solid year on the World Curling Tour. Canada has won gold three of the last four world championships. Jeff Stoughton was victorious in 2011 in Regina and Glenn Howard won at Basel, Switzerland in 2012. 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