U.S. Rallies to Beat Mexico for Gold Cup

CHICAGO - In the unfamiliar spot of playing from behind, U.S. coach Bob Bradley told his players at halftime they were going to have to win a little differently. Same game plan, different game plan. When it comes to playing Mexico lately, it doesn't seem to matter.

Landon Donovan scored his 34th career goal, tying Eric Wynalda atop the career list, and Benny Feilhaber connected with a gorgeous volley to rally the United States to a 2-1 victory over Mexico on Sunday in the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.

"Awesome. Awesome," said Donovan, who still wore his champions medal when he left the locker room. "We haven't played that way, haven't played down a goal. Bob said it's going to be a different kind of win and I'm proud of us, because that's not easy."

The victory extended the Americans' dominance over their neighbors to the south and gave the United States a berth in the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, an important tuneup ahead of the 2010 World Cup. The United States is 9-2-1 against Mexico since 2000, including 8-0-1 on U.S. soil.

They've won in cities where they truly were the home team, and places where they may as well have been the guests. Like Sunday, when almost the entire crowd of 60,000 at Soldier Field was wearing green.

Mexico at least managed a goal this time, snapping a streak of eight straight shutouts in the United States. Jose Andres Guardado's goal in the 44th minute was El Tri's first on U.S. soil in 797 minutes.

"They deserve to the No. 1 team in CONCACAF," Mexican striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco said. "They played well, but we had a number of chances. We just didn't take advantage of our opportunities."

Like in the 89th minute, when Adolfo Bautista came up with a loose ball in front of the U.S. goal. He took a shot from close range, but goalkeeper Tim Howard reached up as he was falling and punched the ball free to preserve the win.

After the final whistle, the Americans ran over to Sam's Army - really more of a platoon - to salute the small contingent of U.S. fans. Donovan tossed his shirt into the stands, then grabbed a U.S. flag that a fan tossed and wrapped it around his shoulders.

This is the fourth Gold Cup title for the Americans, tying them with Mexico. It also kept Bradley's undefeated record intact at 10-0-1. Bradley took over as interim coach after Bruce Arena was let go after the World Cup, and was given the job permanently May 16.

"Each competition, we talk about what it takes to become a really good team," Bradley said. "We're very excited about the fact we can get stronger as a group and win this. It means a lot to all of us."

His task gets tougher Thursday, when he leads a U.S. team without most of its regular starters against Argentina at the Copa America, South America's championship.

"Once again you saw today ... we did it the hard way," said goalkeeper Kasey Keller, one of the few veterans going to Venezuela. "If we want to beat the teams we're playing against away from home, we need to do these little things. Because against Argentina, I doubt we're going to have two chances to put the game away."

The Americans traditionally jump out to a lead, and then use their aggressive, counterattacking style to brush back any offensive charges. Not Sunday. This time it was the Mexicans who were the aggressors early on, taking the lead and making the Americans look lethargic.

But they got a break in the 60th minute, when Brian Ching was tripped up in the box by Jose Jonny Magallon. Compared to some of the other rough-and-tumble antics Sunday, this was pretty tame.

But it was all Donovan needed.

Donovan, the U.S. player Mexican fans most love to boo, took a slow jog to the ball and gave it a light kick. Mexico goalie Oswaldo Sanchez started to move to his right then hesitated, and that split second was enough to cost him any chance of getting to the ball, which hit the right corner of the net. It was Donovan's fourth goal of the tournament, all on penalty kicks.

As his teammates mobbed him, Donovan wiped his brow as if to say, "That was a relief."

"It's awesome. I'm proud of it, certainly," Donovan said of matching Wynalda. "I'm more happy we won the game."

The goal seemed to loosen up all of the Americans.

Ten minutes later, Donovan took a corner kick that was flicked clear by a Mexican defender. But the ball went right to Feilhaber, who scored on a perfect right-footed volley from 22 yards out for his second goal in eight international appearances.

"I knew it as soon as I hit it it was going in," Feilhaber said. "It's a great goal, at such a stage, against Mexico, in the Gold Cup. Unbelievable."

The score could have been even more lopsided. In the final 15 minutes, Ching banged a shot off the post and DaMarcus Beasley hit the crossbar after a perfect cross from Donovan on a breakaway hit him in the shin.

It was Mexico doing the counterattacking early, pushing and shoving and playing the Americans' kind of game. It worked, too. After struggling to finish several early chances, Nery Castillo beat Oguchi Onyewu and crossed to Guardado in front of the box in the 44th minute.

Guardado had been left unmarked and was all alone by the left post. As Howard slipped, Guardado poked the ball into the goal with his left foot, setting off a frenzied celebration on the field and in the stands.

"When you lose doing what we did, you can't be sad," Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez said. "It bothers me, sure. But when you look at how we did in the tournament, we got a lot better and we deserved a better result. Sometimes the team that plays better doesn't always win."

Notes:@ Mexico midfielder Jose Andres Guardado was taken to the hospital after the game as a precaution after he complained of dizziness. ... Goalie Franck Grandel (Guadeloupe); defenders Felipe Baloy (Panama), Richard Hastings (Canada), Frankie Hejduk (United States), Carlos Salcido (Mexico); midfielders Walter Centeno (Costa Rica), Julian DeGuzman (Canada), Pablo Mastroeni (United States), Pavel Pardo (Mexico); strikers Carlos Pavon (Honduras) and Blas Perez (Panama) were named to the all-tournament team.

Most OK with pets in park cabins, survey states

BECKLEY - The public doesn't want alcohol in state parks or petsin park lodges, but allowing animals in park cabins is OK, accordingto results of two Division of Natural Resources' surveys.

The surveys showed:

* 208 people were opposed to allowing one-time permits for alcoholconsumption at some parks, while 17 were in favor.

* 644 people support allowing pets in park cabins while 432 wereopposed.

* 431 oppose allowing pets in park lodges while 362 were in favorof the idea.

Deputy parks chief Ken Caplinger said the survey responses will besent to the Legislature's Rule-Making Review Committee. TheLegislature can change park regulations in the 2006 session if itchooses, he said.

Hamid gets 3 saves as United, FC Dallas draw 0-0

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Bill Hamid finished with three saves to help D.C. United to a scoreless draw against FC Dallas on Saturday night.

It was the second time this season that the two clubs played to a scoreless tie.

Hamid finished with a clean sheet for the second consecutive week as United improved to 5-5-8. FC Dallas (10-5-5) was shutout for the second straight week.

Dallas' Jackson Goncalves nearly scored in the 87th minute with a sliding shot from the top of the goalie's box, but his shot bounced off the crossbar.

In the 67th minute, FC Dallas had a chance to score on a Marvin Chavez breakaway but Chavez pulled his shot left of the post from 8 yards away.

FC Dallas also had scoring opportunities in the first half, including a 20-foot shot from Brek Shea in the 20th minute which forced a two-handed save by Hamid.

Dallas had 14 shots to 4 for United, a season low for D.C.

United's best scoring chance came in the 18th minute after Andy Najar fired a shot from 12 yards away that forced a diving save by goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

3rd INFANTRY DIVISION RETURNS TO IRAQ

Since its activation in November 1917, the 3rd Infantry Division's (SID's) mission bias been to deploy rapidly to a contingency area by air, land and sea to conduct mobile, combined arms offensive and defensive operations worldwide. Stationed at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, GA, the 3ID has one of the most successful combat records of any U.S. Army division, with 50 Medal of Honor recipients.

The Stewart/Hunter military complex is the U.S. Army's premier heavy force projection platform on the East Coast. This complex is home to one of the most highly trained and rapidly deployable mechanized forces in the world - the 3ID, the "Iron Fist" of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

Known as the "Rock of the Marner'' the 3ID contributed to the U.S. Army's success! in fighting World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Cold War and Operation Desert Storm. In the past few years, the 3ID has demonstrated its deployability by sending forces to Egypt, Kosovo and Bosnia for peacekeeping and partnership training missions. Since Sept 11, 2001, units have been sent to Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries to support the global war on terrorism. In early 2003, the entire 3ID deployed within vjveeks to Kuwait to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the front lines, the 3ID fought its way to Baghdad and helped destroy Saddam Hussein's regime and free the Iraqi people.

Recently, the 3ID returned to Iraq for a different mission - to help rebuild Iraq's economy and establish democracy. The SID's forces are reconstructing the country's infrastructure and training Iraq's security forces. Their efforts are allowing Iraq to become a free and peaceful nation, while also improving the average Iraqi citizen's quality of life.

A day in the life of a bass tech

As part of a behind-the-scenes look at a Matthew Good concert, we talk to Steeve Hennessy, who handles bass, keyboard and drum backline/tech duties from night to night. Check out this issue's Guitar column for the man who works the other side of the stage from Steeve.

Explain how long you've been an instrument tech, and how you ended up doing this.

After being a musician my whole life, it was a very natural transition for me. I have now been an instrument tech for over 10 years. At the time I decided to do it for a little while to get away from playing music every night. The first thing I did was get my name out there to production companies in Vancouver like Rocky Mountain Sound and Christie Lites. Both companies eventually hired me part time in their shops. Then a friend who worked at Rocky, Leslie McManus had the idea of starting a musical instrument repair and rental company. Backline Musician Services was born and needed someone with an overall knowledge in musical equipment to come in and help set up the shop. In that environment, I got to work with a lot of different artists and their gear requirements. Bands like Matthew Good would sometimes rent and/or have their equipment serviced there. So, eventually you're in the right place to meet the right people.

What's the most important part of your job?

The most important thing to me is the opportunity to work with different people from all over the world, and the chance to sometimes work with vintage, obscure and/or 'one-of-a-kind' handmade instruments they bring with them. I always strive to have a good show regardless of circumstances. What I mean by that is that you can't always choose the perfect stage, weather, equipment and people to work with. When you're faced with an unfavourable situation, the biggest challenge is to stay focused, objective and positive. Ultimately, at the end of the day, you want to get the job done in a way that hopefully people will want to work with you again. That's important to me. It's like the old saying, "The show must go on," I live by that.

What do you do to prepare for a show on a daily basis?

While on tour, you have your daily 'list of things to do' like make a trip to the local music store. Then when you get to the gig, figure out where you will set up your world. I found by being flexible in where I set up on stage sometimes left a better sightline for our in-ear monitor tech and the band, or gave myself better access to the stage. It's different if you are travelling with your own stage and doing arenas every night. If you don't already have one, make yourself a workbox - a kind of "first-aid kit" for the road. In there, you may have the obvious basics; guitar strings, spare cables, assorted connectors and jacks, tools, tuner, new batteries, a cable tester, meter, soldering kit, picks, assorted rolls of tape, glue, Velcro, bailer's twine, screws, a flashlight etc. Anything you can think of that could potentially help fix a problem on the spot. Then over time, as you work for different musicians, you get the odd requests for things like clothes pins to hold sheet music on a "windy" music stand. Just keep adding to your kit. For me it can be as simple as every time I go to a hardware store, I'll start at one end and just walk down the aisles looking at everything. Sometimes you won't know you need something until you see it.

Explain your role during the show. What's the most important part of this part of your job?

During the show your role is to be aware of everybody and everything on that stage at all times. Even before the musician takes the stage, you and your fellow crewmates line check every instrument and microphone so that even if everything worked during sound check, something may have gone wrong since then. Then all your musician has to do is walk out on that stage, pick up their instrument and go. From that point on, you expect the unexpected. If something stops working for whatever reason, your immediate attention is expected. While trying to stay invisible, you assess the situation, fix it if you can or replace it with a spare if you've got one. All with the least amount of disruption to the show as possible...

What's involved after the show's over?

First thing I do or ask a stagehand to do is clear the stage of all bottles and unfinished drinks to avoid spillage during the strike. Then right away, put away all individual instruments (guitars/bass/keyboards) in their protective cases so they don't get knocked over. Then I go on to packing up any small bits and pieces before stagehands start grabbing and moving stuff. Tear down and put away drums. After every piece of equipment is packed away and accounted for, you do what's called an 'idiot check'. That's when you walk around looking behind curtains, around corners, under the stage, just to make double-sure, that even if, in your mind you think you packed everything, it's usually during 'idiot check' that you'll find something like the drum carpet is still sitting on the stage. Have your gear lined up and sent to the truck in order of pack. That way you avoid clutter and it's easier to keep track of everything as you go. Before you know it, your pulling the door shut for another day.

And because Steeve is much wordier than his 6-string counterpart in this issue's Guitar column, we'll be running Part II of his advice next issue.

Steeve Hennessy is an instrument/backline tech for Matt Good, specifically bass, keyboards and drums. He also plays guitar/keyboards in his own band, Rymes With Orange. Find Steeve online at steevehennessy@hotmail.com or www.rymes.com.

[Graph Not Transcribed]

Most popular dog: Labrador wins again

If there were any doubt, the Labrador retriever is the people's choice among purebred dogs for the 18th straight year, according to the American Kennel Club.

AKC said Wednesday that more than twice as many Labs were registered in the U.S. in 2008 as Yorkshire terriers _ the No. 2 dog on the list _ which means the breed will probably retain its Most Popular Dog title for the indefinite future. The rest of the top 10 canines are German shepherd, golden retriever, beagle, boxer, dachshund, bulldog, poodle and shih tzu.

This word comes as the nation's new first family continues to mull its choice of a dog for the White House.

It appears that none of the purebreds on the AKC list is in the running. In a true spirit of political compromise, President Barack Obama has said his family was considering a Labradoodle, a cross between a Lab and a poodle, or a Portuguese water dog. Both are low-shedding breeds that won't get hair all over the furniture or cause problems for the Obamas' 10-year-old daughter, Malia, who has allergies.

AKC said the hypoallergenic Portuguese water dog has increased 44 percent in popularity in the past decade and is now No. 64 on its list of recognized breeds.

The bulldog returned to the list as No. 10 last year after an absence of 70 years and has since jumped two notches.

"The docile and adaptive nature of the bulldog is gaining ground as a family favorite," said AKC spokeswoman Lisa Peterson.

AKC began with nine breeds in 1884 and now recognizes 161. The pointer, the most popular dog in the first yearly survey, is now No. 111. The Chesapeake Bay retriever, No. 2 in 1884, is now No. 48.

___

On the Net:

American Kennel Club: http://www.akc.org

Biffle Wins As NASCAR Chase Gets Jumbled

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Greg Biffle scored his first victory of the season Sunday - even though his car ran short on fuel before crossing the finish line - in a wild race that jumbled the Chase for the championship standings.

The Chase field imploded at Kansas Speedway, where rain and impending darkness cut the race short by 85 miles. Seven of the 12 Chase drivers finished 30th or worse, and defending Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson reclaimed the points lead.

He was one of the few Chase drivers to make it unscathed to the finish line, and when he got there, he questioned the finishing order.

The race ended under caution because Juan Pablo Montoya blew a tire with four laps to go in an event that NASCAR had already shortened by 57 laps. Montoya's caution should have set up an overtime finish, but NASCAR declined to restart the race because of impending darkness.

The event was finished under caution, and Biffle's car began to sputter on the last lap. As his car coasted toward the line, local star Clint Bowyer and Johnson both passed him before he reached the checkered flag. Johnson immediately said Kansas native Bowyer should be celebrating in Victory Lane, not Biffle, and Bowyer agreed.

"It was definitely dark, and it was starting to be a concern, but it wasn't dark enough that I couldn't see (Biffle) having trouble," Bowyer said. "I just didn't know what to do. I knew it wasn't right, but I didn't think they expected us to pull down in the grass and follow him.

"I don't know what happened, (Biffle) didn't cross it the way I thought you were supposed to, but I know they're not going to pull him out of Victory Lane."

The ending was par for the course on this wild Sunday.

Rain caused two delays totaling almost three hours, Kyle Busch was wrecked minutes after the race by the driver who got him fired from Hendrick Motorsports, and two-time series champion Tony Stewart gambled twice - the first one put him in position to win, and the second one took him out of contention.

When the dust finally settled, the points standings had been blown open for a Chase field that entered the event with the top six drivers separated by just 28 points.

Now Johnson has a six-point lead over teammate Jeff Gordon, and Bowyer is in third, 14 points out.

Stewart, who started the day just two points out of the lead, finished 39th and dropped to fourth - 117 points out.

Kevin Harvick finished sixth to jump four spots in the standings to fifth, 126 points out.

Busch, who came into the race 10 points out of the lead, finished 41st. He's sixth in the standings, 136 points out, and blamed his poor day squarely on Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt ran into the back of Busch very early in the race when he closed in on his rear bumper in an attempt to pass. The contact sent Busch sliding down the track, and his car then rocketed back across and into the wall.

Busch was furious at Earnhardt, who was hired in June to drive for Hendrick next season. The move cost Busch his spot with the elite four-car team.

"I left a lane for him on the outside because I knew he was going to have a good run coming off the corner. He ran me over for no reason whatsoever," Busch said. "Just an unfortunate circumstance and I am sure these guys aren't very appreciative of the guy who is going to be racing for them next year just dumped their car that has a great shot for the championship."

Earnhardt was apologetic, but the damage was done. Fortunately for Busch, most of the Chase field struggled, as well.

Matt Kenseth (35th) and Martin Truex Jr. (38th) wrecked on the first lap after the race resumed following the second rain delay. Stewart was involved in that accident, causing fender damage that his crew chief decided not to attempt to fix.

The damage caused a rub that led to his tire to explode. Kurt Busch (11th) ran into the back of him, sending him spinning into the path of Carl Edwards. Stewart was fuming after the wreck, angrily removing his steering wheel and throwing his gloves, helmet and safety gear as he exited his car.

Stewart, who put himself in position to win the race by not pitting for gas right before the second rain delay, declined comment as he left the race track.

Edwards, last week's race winner, finished 37th and lamented the sequence of events. He said his spotter thought Stewart should have pulled off the track for repairs when the tire rub sent billowing white smoke from his car.

"Tony had a tire rubbing for a long time, must have been going down or something," Edwards said. "He thought maybe Tony should have pulled in and fixed his car, but if our car started smoking, we would have been begging to stay out, too. So I see both sides of it. That's just how it goes, man."

Denny Hamlin wrecked shortly after, and Jeff Burton had an early fuel problem as Gordon, Harvick and Johnson were the only Chase drivers to have uneventful days.