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June
Posted June 28, 2009, 9:57 PM ET

I owe an apology to the month of June.

Normally, June ranks right up there with July as the worst sports month of the year. I still have a feeling that July will bore us to tears, but I'm going to miss dear old June.

Just think about it, June gave us incredible story lines:

   • Roger Federer wins his 14th grand slam event and first French Open.
   • Dale, Jr. proves that he can go winless even with a new crew chief.
   • Randy Johnson wins his 300th game.
   • The ACC continues to choke in Omaha....a tradition that dates back to 1955.
   • Kobe and the Lakers win another NBA title.
   • USA soccer almost pulls off an improbable Federations Cup title over Brazil.
   • Julius Peppers comes to his senses and signs his Panther contract.
   • The Bobcats draft a Dookie with their first round pick.
   • Boston sweeps the Yankees....for the third time this season.
   • Former Clemson golfer Lucas Glover wins the US Open.
   • Donté Stallworth gets 30 days for drinking, driving and killing.
   • Donald Fehr resigns.
   • "Joe Buck Live" gets abused.
   • Mark Sanford embarrasses the Palmetto state.

Not a bad month of topics, for what is considered a "slow time" of the year.

I'm going to miss June....but July can still kiss my ass. The only good thing about July is it finally allows me to take some time off, and it can't get here soon enough.

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I've got to hand it to the guys of the USA soccer team.

I gave up on them after another lethargic effort earlier in the Federations Cup against Italy and Brazil. Let's face it, our guys were brutal, and the results indicated that we just were not competitive against the world's elite.

Something happened down in South Africa to change all that....and it beats me what it was, but it sure was effective.

Somehow, the Americans found a way to make it to the semis, where they upset the world's #1, Spain. The shocker put them in position to play for the title against Brazil.

They almost pulled it off. Team USA could not hold onto a 2-nil halftime lead, and watched as the Brazilians rallied for a hard-earned 3-2 championship win.

Forget the moral victory speech....Team USA was bummed out about losing to the mighty Brazilians. It was quite an effort, but they fell short to a more talented team.

In the process, they did more than pick up runner-up hardware. They served notice that they might be ready to compete against the big boys when it matters.

We'll find out next year, when the World Cup gets underway...

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Be sure to catch "Packman on Sports", weeknights on the 10pm newscast on WJZY-TV. I opine about the latest developments in the world of sports and other stuff....for a sneak preview, you can read tonight's script. Be sure to tune in to the News at 10 on WJZY.

7/3/09 Good evening, everyone.... I hope you're getting ready for a big July 4th celebration. While there will be tons of fireworks tomorrow night, don't be surprised to see some in the morning at the All-England Club. It will be an All-American showdown between Serena and Venus Williams at Wimbledon. The sisters have won 7 of the last 9 grand slam titles in England, and Saturday's match should be a thriller. Amazingly, the series match-up between the two sisters is dead even at 10 wins apiece. What a way to break the tie. Venus is trying to become the first woman to win three consecutive Wimbledon singles titles since Steffi Graf did it in the early 90's. I spoke with Jim Courier on my radio show yesterday, and he likes Venus to take care of business. I agree with Courier; I'm picking Venus, too. Have a safe July 4th holiday....and you can sleep on that one.

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