ST. LOUIS (ESPN) — It’s Albert Pujols’ town. It was Albert Pujols’ night. And this is Albert Pujols’ personal All-Star extravaganza.

But it was NOT Albert Pujols’ Home Run Derby.

No, instead, the 24th Derby in All-Star long ball history was hijacked by a very large tofu-eater from Milwaukee named Prince Fielder.

He launched 10,087 feet worth of home runs into the Missouri ozone, 23 of those bombs altogether. And that was more than Pujols, more than runner-up Nelson Cruz, and nearly three times as many as the eight his father, Cecil, once hit in three Derbies COMBINED.

“It’s pretty cool to actually win one,” Fielder said afterward. “As a kid, you never think you’ll win one. You just want to be in one. So [winning the Derby is] kind of like a dream come true, I guess.”

OK, true confession: This was not the most mesmerizing Derby show ever. Just for perspective’s sake, we should announce right here that Fielder hit five fewer home runs in THREE rounds than Josh Hamilton hit last year in just ONE round — and Hamilton didn’t even win.

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Elsa/Getty ImagesPrince Fielder said he never hit a ball 500 feet before. Well, on Monday, he knocked one 503 in the Home Run Derby.

But there’s always one magic moment, one indelible swing of the bat, that leaves its imprint on every Home Run Derby. And let the record show that Prince’s signature moment came on his 32nd swing of the evening, late in the second round.

He already had whomped 16 homers at that point. So he was already on his way to the finals.

But who knew the next baseball he’d hit would find itself on its way to Mars?

His personal pitcher, Brewers minor league hitting coach Sandy Guerrero, laid in a vintage BP fastball. Apparently, it was Prince’s kind of pitch.

Fielder coiled, connected and almost toppled over, thanks to the sheer overpowering force of hitting a ball that looked for a moment as if it might clank off the Anheuser-Busch brewery.

It roared through the night, flew OVER the bleachers in deep right-center, found a wedge between those bleachers and the center-field upper deck, and then disappeared into the concourse behind the center-field seats.

It was estimated at 503 feet. Which is a whole lot of feet. But the man who threw the pitch that produced that shot didn’t need a yardstick or a computer grid to measure it.

No, said Sandy Guerrero. He measured this one with his ears.

“It sounded like a cannon,” Guerrero would say afterward. “Not as loud, but very crispy.”

Hmm, did he say crispy? What, like a tortilla chip?

“No, I’m telling you,” Guerrero went on, “that feeling, of seeing that ball come off the bat and hearing that sound, you just turn around and go, ‘Oh, my God.’ I couldn’t follow the ball. But just from the sound of the ball, I knew that one was hit harder than all the others.”

And how right he was. Which was saying something, too, because Fielder hit 11 home runs on this night that traveled 450 feet or farther. And there were some serious whoppers in that collection.

There was a 497-footer that landed six rows from the top of the center-field upper deck. There was a 488-footer that soared beyond the auxiliary scoreboard in right-center. There was a 480-footer that found the center-field upper deck, above the seemingly unreachable Holiday Inn sign. And there was a 466-footer that flew OVER the gigantic grassy knoll in dead center.

But when that 503-foot NASA launch left his bat, it made the rest of those shots look like pop-ups.

“That was amazing,” Guerrero said. “To hit a ball like that, everything has to be exactly perfect — the speed of the pitch, the speed of the bat. Mechanically, you’ve got to be perfect. I mean, he hit a ball 500 feet. We say he makes it look easy. But to stand on the field and see where that ball lands, it’s amazing that he could do that.”

Fielder didn’t do quite THAT much gushing over that majestic hack. But he did say: “I’ve never hit a ball 500 feet. So that was pretty cool.”

What was also pretty cool was that he took teammate Ryan Braun along for this ride — by stealing his bat. During the first round, Fielder ditched the Rickie Weeks model he’d started out using, picked up one of Braun’s bats and used it to do some ridiculous damage.

But afterward, Braun didn’t sound like a man who was real worried that Fielder was in any danger of wrecking either (A) that bat or (B) his swing with this eruption.

“No, his swing is MADE for this thing,” Braun said. “He was hitting line-drive home runs, too. They were just going 500 feet.”

In another bizaare story, a US soldier claims he will not deploy due to the fact that he believes that President Barack Obama is infact  not a US citizen.

Here’s the full story:

Obama birth certificate deniers won a small victory in court on Monday. Meanwhile, one such conspiracy theorist refused to deploy to Afghanistan on the grounds that Barack Obama isn’t a legitimate president.

A judge said he would listen to “the merits” of Alan Keyes’ case challenging Obama’s presidency. While a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the move was merely procedural, birth conspiracy proponents are encouraged:

Supporters of a case that disputes the legitimacy of Barack Obama’s presidency claimed a small victory today when U.S. District Judge David O. Carter told them to fix their paperwork and that he would listen to “the merits” of their case. But others present for the hearing Monday at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana stressed that the case remains a long way from ever getting a full airing in court and may never get to that point. [...]
Perhaps because of that history, Orly Taitz, the lawyer who filed the current suit, was greatly cheered by Monday’s hearing. “He’s very determined to hear the case on the merits,” Taitz said, referring to the judge. “He stated, the country needs to know if Mr. Obama is legitimate, if he can legitimately stay in the White House.”

Orly Taitz, the lawyer in Keyes’ case, is also representing a soldier who refuses to acknowledge Obama as his president. U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook has argued that he shouldn’t have to go to Afghanistan because the man sending him there isn’t really president.

In the 20-page document — filed July 8 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia — the California-based Taitz asks the court to consider granting his client’s request based upon Cook’s belief that Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Cook further states he “would be acting in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President’s command. … simultaneously subjecting himself to possible prosecution as a war criminal by the faithful execution of these duties.”

A hearing to discuss Cook’s requests will take place in federal court this week.

This is  just ridiculous. I understand that you don’t have to be pleased with the way an election turns out. That’s fine, one side always loses but to take it this far is just absurd. Why was there no questions about any other President? I do not seem to recall anyone even checking to see if Pres. G.W. Bush even had a birth certificate.  The fact that a select few people cannot come to grips with a President who was elected, in a landslide victory might I add, and who has endured almost more scrutiny than any other elected President, impart because of his race, is just sad. We must learn to look beyond our own wants so that we can see the needs of a country. Now we may not agree with everything Pres. Obama does but we do believe him to be our President and will follow suit as we have done for so many previous President’s whether we voted for them or not.

President Barack Obama, left, congratulates Dr. Regina Benjamin, center, as Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius applauds, following Obama's announcement of his nomination of Benjamin to the post of Surgeon General, Monday, July 13, 2009, in the White House Rose Garden in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama turned to the Deep South for the next surgeon general, choosing a rural Alabama family physician who made headlines with fierce determination to rebuild her nonprofit medical clinic in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Dr. Regina Benjamin is known along Alabama’s impoverished Gulf Coast as a country doctor who makes house calls and doesn’t turn away patients who can’t pay _ even as she’s had to find the money to rebuild a clinic repeatedly destroyed by hurricanes and once even fire.

“For all the tremendous obstacles that she has overcome, Regina Benjamin also represents what’s best about health care in America, doctors and nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the sake of their patients,” Obama said Monday in introducing his choice for a job known as America’s doctor.

He said Benjamin will bring insight as his administration struggles to revamp the health care system:

Saying she “has seen in a very personal way what is broken about our health care system,” Obama said Benjamin will bring important insight as his administration tries to revamp that system.

Benjamin called the job “a physician’s dream,” and pledged to be a voice for patients in need _ and to fight the preventable diseases that claim too many lives each year, including nearly her entire family.

Her father died with diabetes and high blood pressure, her only brother of HIV, her mother of lung cancer “because as a young girl, she wanted to smoke just like her twin brother could” _ an uncle now on oxygen as a result, she noted.

“I cannot change my family’s past. I can be a voice in the movement to improve our nation’s health care and our nation’s health,” Benjamin said. “I want to be sure that no one falls through the cracks as we improve our health care system.”

The surgeon general is the people’s health advocate, a bully pulpit position that can be tremendously effective with a forceful personality. Benjamin has that reputation.

Pushed by the need in her own shrimping community of Bayou La Batre, Ala., and its diverse patient mix _ white, black and, increasingly immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos _ Benjamin, 51, has emerged as a national leader in the call to improve health disparities. She became the first black woman and the first doctor under age 40 elected to the American Medical Association’s board of trustees, and in 2002 became the first black woman to head a state medical society.

“She’s always been very ambitious from a political standpoint. She has always, always been motivated by that ambition,” said Dr. James Holland, CEO of Mostellar Medical Center in nearby Irvington, Ala., where Benjamin spent about three years in the early 1980s as a National Health Service Corps scholar.

Holland said Benjamin’s selection as surgeon general “doesn’t surprise me at all. The only thing that surprises me is that it hasn’t happened before now.”

Medical groups welcomed her ability for straight-talk, whether to patients or politicians, about the dire health needs of much of the country.

“We want to emphasize prevention, primary care and early intervention, and we have somebody now who does that for a living,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, no relation, of the American Public Health Association.

Added AMA President Dr. James Rohack, who has known Benjamin for more than two decades. With “her recognition that if you don’t have health insurance, you live sicker and you die younger, she can bring the real-world perspective as surgeon general of the things as a nation we need to do to keep ourselves healthy.”

Benjamin made headlines in the wake of Katrina, as photographs showed her laying patient charts out to bake in the sun and lamenting the lack of pricey but more hurricane-resistant electronic records. Her nonprofit clinic was rebuilt by volunteers only to burn down just as it was about to reopen. Benjamin later told of her patients’ desperation that she rebuild again, recalling on woman who handed her an envelope with a $7 donation to help.

“If she can find $7, I can figure out the rest,” Benjamin said last fall as she received a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation “genius award,” money she said she’d use to help finish that job.

Her nomination for surgeon general requires Senate confirmation.

Season 6 of “Entourage” premieres on HBO Sunday night, and the cast came out for the premiere in LA Thursday night.

All the guys were there – Adrien Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon and Rex Lee, as were some of their more beautiful sidekicks, like ‘Mrs. Ari’ Perrey Reeves, Turtle’s girlfriend Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Emmanuelle Chriqui, better known as E’s on-off love interest Sloane.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With joblessness rising, President Barack Obama said Thursday he was “deeply concerned” about unemployment and conceded that too many families are worried about “whether they will be next” to suffer economically.

In a White House interview with The Associated Press, Obama said that since he took office, “we have successfully stabilized the financial markets,” and “started to see some stabilization on housing.”

“But what we are still seeing is too many jobs lost,” said Obama, commenting after new government figures showed the unemployment rate had risen to 9.5 percent last month.

On an important international subject, Obama is scheduled to travel to Russia next week, and he said the agenda includes talks on a new treaty to curtail long-range nuclear missiles. Asked why he intends to meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the former president, Obama said he “still has a lot of sway.” Putin now is nominally the second-in-command in the Kremlin.

Obama also is to meet with the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.

It is important that both Medvedev and Putin hear the same message from the U.S., said Obama, who added that he believes Putin “has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new.”

Obama praised Russia for its cooperation in attempting to persuade North Korea and Iran to abandon their nuclear development programs. The United Nations recently approved “the most robust sanction regime that we’ve ever seen with respect to North Korea,” he said.

Asked if he was resigned to Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons, he said, “I’m not reconciled with that, and I don’t think the international community is reconciled with that.”

Obama spoke sympathetically of white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., who won a Supreme Court case this week after claiming they had been unfairly denied promotions because of their race. But he added, “Keep in mind the Supreme Court didn’t close the door to affirmative action” to help minorities.

At the same time, he conceded the justices were “moving the ball” on the issue with a 5-4 ruling in the case.

Obama, a former teacher of constitutional law, said, “I’ve always believed that affirmative action was less of an issue or should be less of an issue than it has been made out to be in news reports. It hasn’t been as potent a force for racial progress as advocates will claim and it hasn’t been as bad on white students seeking admissions or seeking a job as its critics say.”

Asked about his plans for detainees currently held at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the president said the idea of indefinite detention being part of his legacy as president “gives me huge pause.”

But he also said there are some detainees who don’t fall neatly into existing categories for criminal prosecution in the United States or under international law. He said dealing with them is going to be one of the biggest challenges of his administration. He said he’s not comfortable with mandating indefinite detentions on his own through executive orders, but he didn’t explicitly rule that out.

And his view of Michael Jackson, whose death has dominated news coverage for nearly a week: The president said Jackson was “one of our greatest entertainers” and “I still have all his stuff on my iPod.” But he said Jackson’s life had been tragic and in many ways sad.

On light subjects:

– The president spoke enthusiastically of the White House pastry chef. “Whatever kind of pie you want, he will make it,” Obama said, adding ruefully that that was a problem for him and wife Michelle in regard to their weight.

– Asked whether he was a bigger fan of Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, one the reigning MVP of the National Basketball Association and the other a retired superstar, the basketball-playing president said without hesitation: “Michael. I haven’t seen anybody match up with Jordan yet.”

5:08 PM ET — Mousavi to release documents ‘proving election fraud.’ Iran’s state-backed PressTV reports on the next stages of Mousavi’s work to remain a viable opposition leader, including a new organization focused on citizens’ rights. This is a crucial step for the Green movement to remain organized and active despite Iran’s crackdown on demonstrations.

As the Iranian opposition continues to express skepticism about the election result, defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi says he will present documents that prove electoral fraud.

Mousavi, who has rejected the result of Iran’s presidential election as fraudulent, said on Wednesday that a number of Iranian scholars are set to form a committee to preserve the vote of the people.

The committee aims to “make public documents proving fraud and irregularities in the election,” Mousavi said in his latest statement issued on Wednesday.

The opposition leader added that the committee would pursue its objections to the vote result through the judiciary.

“I will join this committee as well,” Mousavi confirmed.

New York Post reports that EARLY salary figures from Simon Cowell’s “American Idol” contract negotiations are leaking out and they’re eye-popping.

Cowell, who reportedly made $36 million last year for judging the hit competition show, has been offered three or four times that amount — between $100 million and $144 million per year — by co-producers Fox and 19 Entertainment to stick with “Idol” when his contract expires next May, according to The Guardian, a London newpaper.

Fox declined yesterday to comment about the salary negotiations.

While $36 million may seem like a lot of money for five months worth of snarky comments and eye-rolls, it’s only a fraction of the estimated $900 million that “Idol” rakes in a year. As the lynchpin of the show — without him there would be no one to hate and no dramatic tension with Paula Abdul — Cowell believes he’s due for a raise.

To get more of the pie, he’s been leaning on long-time friend and UK retail multibillionaire Sir Philip Green — who owns hot fashion franchise Top Shop — for help negotiating the terms of what would be a new “Idol” contract, reports say. Green is said to be lobbying hard for an increase in Cowell’s appearance fee on the show.

A Pop Icon’s Death: The Talent and the Tragedy

The tragedy of Michael Jackson’s death at age 50, reportedly from cardiac arrest, pales in comparison to the tragedy of his life. To understand all that Jackson had and lost requires wiping away three decades of plastic surgeries that deformed him, erratic behavior that made his name synonymous with the warping powers of fame, and a 2005 trial for sexually abusing a child that, even though he was spared of any finding of wrongdoing, made him a pariah to all but the most brainwashed of fans. (Watch TIME’s video “Appreciating Michael Jackson, the Musician.”)

But if you can forgive or forget all that, underneath was one of the most talented entertainers of the 20th century. Quincy Jones, who produced Jackson’s quintessential solo albums, was devastated by the news of his passing. “I’ve lost my little brother today,” Jones said in a statement. “Part of my soul has gone with him.” Added Jones: “Divinity brought our souls together … and allowed us to do what we were able to throughout the ’80s. To this day, the music we created together on Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad is played in every corner of the world, and the reason for that is because he had it all.” (See pictures of people around the world mourning Michael Jackson.)

To continue reading this piece, please check out TIME here

Entertainer Michael Jackson has died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest, according to multiple reports including the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press.

Jackson, 50, had been in a coma at the hospital according to sources.

Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he was told by brother Randy Jackson that Michael Jackson collapsed at his home in west Los Angeles Thursday morning.

Family members were told of the situation and were either at the hospital or en route, Oxman said.

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told CNN a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m.

Ruda said Jackson was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center.

Asked specifics of the patient’s condition, he said he could not discuss them because of federal privacy laws.

The music icon from Gary, Indiana, is known as the “King of Pop.”

Jackson is the seventh of nine children in a well-known musical family.

At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards. Even hospital staffers were not permitted to enter. A few people stood inside the waiting area, some of them crying.

(ESPN)-The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns have come to an agreement on a blockbuster trade that will send Shaquille O’Neal to Cleveland to team with LeBron James, according to sources.

The deal has been agreed to in principle and is expected to be finalized Thursday, according to sources.

NBA Today: 6/25

Jason Smith breaks down the Shaq trade to the Cavs and Chad Ford discusses other potential deals. Plus, draft hopefuls Hansbrough, Jennings and Blair.

More Podcasts »

Cleveland will send Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix for the presumptive future Hall of Famer.

Sources said the Suns will also receive the 46th pick in Thursday’s NBA draft and $500,000.

The trade gives the Cavs a player they’ve coveted since February. With center Zydrunas Ilgauskas starting to break down, adding Shaq to the roster gives them a dominant force in the middle.

The Cavs obviously were unhappy with their ability to defend Dwight Howard in the playoffs against the Orlando Magic and bringing Shaq into the fold should help.

O’Neal averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game last season and made his 15th All-Star Game.

THE BIG DIFFERENCE-MAKER

Shaquille O’Neal’s first full year with the Phoenix Suns, in which the team won nine fewer games than the previous season, was an abomination when looking at his history with new teams.

First season	Team	W-L	Win Diff.
2008-09	Suns	46-36	-9
2004-05	Heat	59-23	+17
1996-97	Lakers	56-26	+3
1992-93	Magic	41-41	+20

The Cavaliers also were in talks with New Orleans about obtaining Tyson Chandler. If they had not made the trade for O’Neal, they would have traded for Chandler, according to a source.

The Cavs believed O’Neal was the better option because he has just one year left on his contract, and will not eat up cap space that will enable them to pursue players such as Chris Bosh in next summer’s star-studded free-agent class.

Chandler, who had injury problems last postseason, has a player option for $12.7 million in 2010-2011 that he is likely to pick up.

The Cavaliers are not done making moves. They still want to re-sign power forward Anderson Varejao and they also would like to add a long, athletic wing player via free agency.

For the Suns, the O’Neal trade is a straight salary dump. Pavlovic’s $5 million contract next season is only partially guaranteed, for the amount of $1.5 million.

Factor in the disparities in the contracts among Wallace, Pavlovic and O’Neal, and the team will save $4.5 million next season.

However, factor in the savings the Suns will reap on the luxury tax, and it will be closer to $10 million in savings. That would be amplified if Wallace decides to retire and the Suns buy him out of his contract for less than the $14 million he’s owed next season.

Hollinger: Quick fix

You’ll rarely see a trade that’s partially an admission of error by both sides, but that’s what happened in Thursday morning’s trade that sends Shaquille O’Neal to Cleveland for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the No. 46 pick in Thursday’s draft and $500,000 in cash. Story

The trade is essentially a strong admission by the Suns that the trade of Shawn Marion for O’Neal in February of 2008 was a mistake.

Marion was a free agent this summer and, had they let him walk, their savings would have been $21 million — not the $5.5 million they’re saving in this deal.

When the Suns made the trade, they had the best record in the Western Conference. This year, they finished in the lottery. With O’Neal gone, the question is: Are the Suns finally rebuilding?

Sources say that the team still would like to compete. They still have veterans Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa.

They also have the 14th pick in the draft this year, and second-year player Robin Lopez.

Chris Broussard is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. NBA reporter Chad Ford contributed to this report.

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP)—Talk about a full reversal of fortunes.

On the verge of elimination from the Confederations Cup a few days ago, the United States finds itself in the final of the World Cup test event thanks to a stunning 2-0 victory over top-ranked Spain.

Goals by Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey, and superb goalkeeping by Tim Howard on Wednesday lifted the Americans into their first FIFA tournament final since starting play in 1916.

The shocking turnaround from first-round losses to Italy and Brazil has the United States contemplating a championship game matchup with either the mighty Brazilians or host South Africa.

“Three games ago I think it would have been impossible to think about a night like tonight,” Howard said. “We’ve had our fair share of critics, but we stood up and took it on the chin and kept going.”

And after grabbing the 2-0 lead, they held on in the face of European champion Spain’s surge. The American team most everyone counted out before a win over Egypt and an edge in tiebreakers got it into the semifinals just might come home with a prestigious trophy.

“This win is huge for American soccer,” Dempsey said. “This one is much sweeter because we were down and out, came back fighting.”

Altidore scored in the 27th minute and Dempsey added a goal in the 74th as the Americans became the first team to defeat Spain since Romania in November 2006.

“It goes to show what hard work and commitment to each other can bring,” said Howard, who made eight saves as he frustrated David Villa and Fernando Torres. “Sometimes football is a funny thing.”

While the Spaniards could find nothing comical or comforting about their performance, the 14th-ranked Americans showed they can outplay and even outthink the world’s best.

“We had a real confidence that we could try to make it harder for them than some of the other teams they have played against,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said, “and we had the weapons that could cause them some trouble.”

Spain had set an international record with 15 straight victories and tied Brazil’s record unbeaten streak of 35 games from December 1993 to January 1996. Meanwhile, the United States had been 1-7-1 against No. 1 teams, beating Brazil in the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup and tying Argentina last summer in an exhibition at Giants Stadium.

The numbers hardly mattered.

“I think it just shows that we can compete with the best. Now we need to do it on a consistent basis,” U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra said.

Midfielder Michael Bradley, son of the U.S. coach, will miss the final. He received a red card for a late challenge in the 87th minute, the third American ejection of the tournament.

Still, American players had much to celebrate.

Altidore got the first goal when he outmuscled Joan Capdevila, his teammate on Spain’s Villarreal, to send an 18-yard shot in off the hand of goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Capdevila thought he was fouled by Altidore, who had engaged in some trash texting a few days ago.

“I told him, ‘Be careful of the USA.’ And he tried to say I didn’t understand Spanish, so it was just all fun and games,” Altidore said. “We’re teammates and we were just messing around with each other a little bit, but in the end we had the last laugh.”

That wasn’t secured until Dempsey’s goal from 6 yards when he pounced on Landon Donovan’s cross, which had bounced off Gerard Pique and the foot of Sergio Ramos.

* RECROPPED VERSION ** USA’…
AP – Jun 24, 6:07 pm EDT

“There will be ups and downs in any cycle,” U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said. “I think this tournament makes that point very clearly. Tonight was a very big up.”

But not such a big downer for Spain, according to its coach.

“This is an accident, a little step backward. We have to look forward with optimism,” Vicente del Bosque said.

“A streak is over, and we have to start from zero,” Capdevilla added. “This sobers us up.”

Optimism hardly was a buzzword for the U.S. team when it opened the tournament with a 3-1 loss to world champion Italy, then was outclassed by South American champ Brazil in a 3-0 defeat. The Americans advanced over the Italians on the second tiebreaker—total goals—by beating Egypt 3-0 on Sunday as Brazil defeated the Azzurri by the same score.

The United States had lost its three previous matches against Spain, including 1-0 in an exhibition on June 4 last year.

And now, it is a finalist.

“We just beat the best team in the world,” Donovan said. “Emotionally we’re on a bit of a high. We might be a little tired physically but we’ll be ready for it. We don’t play in a lot of finals.”

While the U.S. women have won two world championships, the men have long been outsiders and didn’t even qualify for the showcase event between 1950 and ’90. This ranked alongside the upset of Brazil as one of their top wins, just below World Cup victories over England in 1950, Portugal and Mexico in 2002 and Colombia in 1994.

“I think it’s always important to look and see all the different victories along the way that have helped elevate U.S. Soccer,” Bob Bradley said. “It began with the famous one against England, but there’s been many since. I think we are fortunate tonight that we can add it to the list.”

Report courtesy Huffington Post

Nico Pitney

pitney@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting

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I’m liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for stories that correspond to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.

President Obama’s press conference today: looking for questions from Iranians. One of the most rewarding parts of documenting the recent events in Iran has been making contact with the brave people there who are organizing and demonstrating at incredible risk.

Later today, President Obama is holding a news conference at the White House and I’ll be attending. If I get called, I want to ask a question that comes directly from an Iranian. We’ve all spent plenty of time discussing and debating how the President has reacted to the crisis there; it seems only fair that the people on the ground, living right now under great stress and uncertainty, be able to have a question of theirs answered.

The popular Farsi-language social bookmarking site Balatarin has posted our request for questions here, and users there will be able to vote on them. If you’re on Twitter, please retweet this post to help get the word out. Or, if you’re reading this from Iran or you want to relay questions from friends/family in Iran, please feel free to contact me by email on Facebook.

1:16 AM ET — Allahu Akbar! “People in Tehran, in a gesture of defiance first used in the 1979 Islamic revolution and now adopted by pro-reform protesters, again chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest) from their rooftops at nightfall on Monday.”

Via Iran’s Green Revolution:

12:40 AM ET — A 19-year-old shot in the head and killed during the demonstrations… and Iranian officials asked his parents to “pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a ‘bullet fee’ — a fee for the bullet used by security forces — before taking the body back.” One of the most tragic stories I’ve read in a long time, by the Wall Street Journal’s exceptional Farnaz Fassihi.

12:20 AM — 600+ miles from Tehran. They’re in the streets there too, according to this video apparently filmed in Kerman.

12:15 AM ET — UN chief speaks up. “U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged an immediate stop on Monday to use of force against civilians in Iran and urged authorities to respect civil rights in dealing with protests over presidential election results. A statement issued by Ban’s press office said he was dismayed by the post-election violence, ‘particularly the use of force against civilians.’” Ban urged “an immediate stop to the arrests, threats and use of force.”

This year’s crop of new touch-screen phones will have another major competitor to contend with in August: T-Mobile’s awkwardly-named yet sharp-looking myTouch 3G with Google.

The phone carrier known for its ads featuring spokeswoman Catherine Zeta-Jones is set to announce its second phone built using the Google (GOOG) Android operating system, the Associated Press reported today.

Unlike the Palm (PALM) Pre, but like the Apple (AAPL) iPhone 3G S, the myTouch 3G won’t have a keyboard. It also looks similar to the iPhone. As iPhone rivals mount, I wrote two weeks ago for DailyFinance, consumers benefit from the growing number of smart-phone choices.

With the myTouch 3G, T-Mobile will be selling a phone that has many of the features an iPhone has, including a similarly sized screen, at exactly the same cost, which is $199 with a two-year contract, the AP story said. T-Mobile will ship the phone with software that allows it to connect to corporate e-mail servers.

The myTouch 3G has a 3.2-inch display, a 3.2 megapixel camera and like the BlackBerry Storm, it has a trackball below the screen. The myTouch 3G will be available for pre-order by current T-Mobile customers on July 8, ship in late July and be sold around the U.S. in early August.

The myTouch 3G was formerly known as the HTC Magic, reviewed here by Gizmodo. It will eventually replace T-Mobile’s G1 Android phone, which has had sales of more than one million.

This report is courtesy of daily finance.

Ed McMahon has died at age 86. His agent Howard Bragman told an NBC affiliate he died shortly after midnight in California…

Edward Leo Peter “Ed” McMahon, Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009^[2]) was an American comedian, game show host, announcer, and television personality. Most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson‘s announcer on Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992, and as the host of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995. He later also became well-known as the presenter of American Family Publishers sweepstakes, which arrives unannounced at the homes of winners. He subsequently made a series of Neighborhood Watch Public Service Announcements parodying that role.

By Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple Inc. sold more than a million units of its latest iPhone model in the first three days, making it the most successful debut for a smart phone yet.

The iPhone 3G S went on sale Friday in the U.S. and seven other countries.

When Apple Inc. launched the previous model last year, it also sold one million units in the first three days, but that model launched simultaneously in 22 countries.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster had expected the Cupertino, Calif., company to sell half a million 3G S in the first three days.

For more, visit: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Apple-More-than-1M-newmodel-apf-351307353.html?x=0

Live outside the Chris Brown court appearance

Keep refreshing page …. we’re constantly updating.

*UPDATE*:Chris Brown has copped a plea in his assault case. He won’t do jail time, but he will spend 6 months doing things like road cleanup. He’s also been ordered to stay 50 yards clear of Rihanna.

He’ll spend 180 days doing hard labor in Virginia which is where Brown lives – it’s equivalent to Caltrans or graffiti cleanup.

He gets 5 years probation for FELONY assault — he pled guilty. He’ll get supervised probation. He’ll have to come back to court every three months.

He must enroll in a domestic violence counseling program.

The judge said she wanted to make sure that Chris Brown “was treated as any other person who comes through this court.”

If Brown violates probation, he could get up to 4 years in prison.

Rihanna is in the courthouse but never entered the courtroom.

Story developing…

UPDATE: HUGE … THEY’VE JUST ALLOWED A CAMERA IN THE COURTROOM. OUR SOURCES SAY IF A CAMERA WAS LET IN THAT MEANS THERE ALMOST CERTAINLY IS A PLEA BARGAIN

UPDATE: Even though Rihanna’s there it still does feel like plea bargain

UPDATE: BIG CHANGE. RIHANNA IS IN THE COURTHOUSE. THAT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE A PLEA BARGAIN. She’s wearing all black with sunglasses — looks like a pop star going to a funeral.

UPDATE: Rihanna’s lawyer is in court but she isn’t there. It smells like a plea deal.

UPDATE: Brown is in the courtroom. His head is down and he looks rather upset. His mom is in court, along with other family members. There is reserved family seating.

Chris Brown just walked into the court in downtown Los Angeles, through a sea of media and law enforcement.

Officially, his preliminary hearing is set to begin at 1:30 PT and Rihanna is supposed to testify. But Brown’s lawyer was in chambers this AM with the prosecutor and the judge. We’re hearing they may announce a deal when the case is called.

Video to follow…

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — A defiant and chaotic protest sprouted in and around a public square Monday despite a warning by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard against the kind of street demonstrations that have roiled Iran for more than a week, witnesses said.

Thousands of Iranians congregated and passed through Haft-e Tir Square, but riot police and the pro-government Basij militia confronted them as they smacked their batons against their shin guards, making loud cracking sounds that seemed like gunshots, the witnesses said.

Most stores around the square were closed as the unrest reverberated, with some guarding against damage by erecting steel fences on their windows.

Helicopters hovered overhead as the security forces wielded batons and used a spray to push the crowd out of the square. After that, police chased down demonstrators in nearby alleys and streets, with protesters and lawmen playing cat and mouse over several tension-filled hours until the crowd began to thin out around dusk.

There were isolated face-offs and quarrels that broke out between demonstrators and the riot police and the Basij militia — a volunteer paramilitary force that takes orders from the Revolutionary Guard, a military unit under the direct control of Iran’s supreme leader.

But remarkably, there were no reports of serious injuries, even though there were at least eight arrests, witnesses said.

“Thirty years after the revolution, this is what we get,” one man said dejectedly, watching the noisy and chaotic scene as he remembered the birth and the promise of Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979.

The location was the spot where a vigil was to be held in memory of Neda, a young woman who became a symbol for the opposition after her death was caught on camera. While Internet postings on Twitter, Facebook, and an Iranian opposition leader’s Web site had mentioned a possible rally, it was unclear whether people who were at the square were there for a vigil.

Some people were clad in black, a symbol of mourning, but placards and banners about Neda and candles have not been seen. However, security forces and demonstrators happened to appear at the square at the time the vigil was to be held. Watch how women are on front line of protests »

Demonstrators had brushed off a warning from the Revolutionary Guard on Monday that people who “disturb the peace and stand up to security forces” would be met with a strong response.

7:18 AM ET — Khamenei takes a hard line. A very harsh message. “Iran’s supreme leader said Friday that the country’s disputed presidential vote had not been rigged, sternly warning protesters of a crackdown if they continue massive demonstrations demanding a new election.” Here’s AP:

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sided with hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and offered no concessions to the opposition. He effectively closed any chance for a new vote by calling the June 12 election an “absolute victory.”
The speech created a stark choice for candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and his supporters: Drop their demands for a new vote or take to the streets again in blatant defiance of the man endowed with virtually limitless powers under Iran’s constitution.

Khamenei accused foreign media and Western countries of trying to create a political rift and stir up chaos in Iran.

“Some of our enemies in different parts of the world intended to depict this absolute victory, this definitive victory, as a doubtful victory,” he said, according to an official translation on state TV’s English-language channel. “It is your victory. They cannot manipulate it.” [...]

Khamenei’s address was his first since hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters flooded the streets in Tehran and elsewhere in the country in rallies evoking the revolution that ended Iran’s U.S.-backed monarchy. On Thursday, supporters dressed in black and green flooded downtown Tehran in a somber, candlelit show of mourning for those who have been killed in clashes since Friday’s vote.

Khamenei said the street protests would not have any impact.

“Some may imagine that street action will create political leverage against the system and force the authorities to give in to threats. No, this is wrong,” he said.