Delaney: Forget shock the world, let's shock ourselves

The Confederations Cup turned out to be a good tournament for the U.S. men's soccer team.

I can't help feel Sunday's final against Brazil should have been a win. Brazil might be the best team in the world and there is no shame in losing to the best. I'm not an expert, not by a long shot, but it looked as if the U.S. abandoned the attacking strategy that led to the two first-half goals in favor of a protect-the-lead mentality and hope to defend its way to the win.

The Brazilians are so good and move the ball so well. It seems to me as if this is more reason to attack: to maintain possession and dictate instead of letting what might be the best team in the world move the ball all over the field.

The difference between first place and second place in such a tournament is cosmetic. A win over Brazil would've been huge, perhaps the biggest victory in American sports history. The victory would've completed a stunning turnaround after the U.S. was thumped by Italy and Brazil in group play, and icing on the cake after a stunning semifinal upset of Spain.

Let's hope the experience of playing in South Africa against world powers will be beneficial for the U.S. next summer if it gets back to South Africa for the World Cup. Enough of this shock the world cliche. Let's shock ourselves.

Delaney: Score one for our side in world's game

I didn't see as much of the U.S. - Spain Confederation Cup semifinal soccer match as I would've liked. It pains me to admit that.

From what I did see, the U.S. turned in an amazing defensive performance to snap Spain's 35-match unbeaten streak. This win might have been more impressive than Erin Hamlin's February World Champion luge win which snapped Germany's 99-international event win streak.

The U.S. faced a ton of pressure with a 1-0 lead. There always seemed to be a defender in the right place at the right time to keep the ball from getting to keeper Tim Howard. Howard was big with eight saves.

The U.S. will play Brazil in Sunday's final but will do so without midfielder Michael Bradley who got an undeserved red card late in the match against Spain. Brazil beat the U.S., 3-0 earlier in the tournament.

Delaney: O Canada, oh yes!

O Canada, the Canadian National Anthem was played before the Baseball Hall of Fame Classic exhibition Sunday afternoon at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown. Then the Star-Spangled Banner.

I don't know why 'O Canada' was included. Maybe because Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins was playing in the game? Jenkins is a Chatham, Ontario native who was the first Canadian to get a plaque in Cooperstown (1991).

O Canada is a great song despite being the country's official anthem for less than 30 years. O Canada had been sung for 100 years before becoming the anthem of record in 1980. Weird. That seems like something that would happen in a less modernized country than Canada.

O Canada is a better anthem than the Star Spangled Banner. The music is beautiful, the words are moving and it's easier to sing. Have you ever heard a Canadian butcher O Canada? Remember Carl Lewis and Roseanne Barr?
Yes, Whitney Houston's Super Bowl rendition of the National Anthem was incredible. She's really, really good.

Next time you're in the shower, give O Canada a try. Here are the words:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Delaney: Hall of Fame Classic in the making

I think the future looks bright for the Hall of Fame Classic concept.

On Sunday - Father's Day - more than 7,000 people came to Doubleday Field in Cooperstown for an exhibition game between two teams comprised of former Major League Baseball players. The weather wasn't great and still 7,069 people came to an inaugural event. Who knew?

"Honestly, I didn't expect much," said Cooperstown's Erik Fredricksen, a baker at Danny's Main Street Market. "Since it was the first time, I wasn't sure what was going on."

Fredricksen said people were waiting outside the market door by 9:05 to get in - always a good sign in a tourist-based town. Fredricksen said he snuck over to Doubleday for a while to get a look at the crowd and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.

That was the goal, for both the fans and the players. Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson said the enjoyment of the players and the fans is the barometer of success. Idelson and Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association chief executive officer Dan Foster talked about doing a game for a while. They got a chance when MLB and the MLBPA discontinued the Hall of Fame last year.

"Ten out of 10," Foster said.

Players and fans seemed to agree.

"When I was asked to come out for a legends or old timers game, I said I'm not a legend and I'm not an old timer, but heck, ya," said Jeff Kent, who retired in January after 17 MLB seasons. "It's the game. This is for the fans."

Kent said that before the game. On the field, he looked like he was having fun. And especially so in an Observer-Dispatch photo where Kent was giving a high five to 11-year-old Zach D'Errico after the Schenectady boy started a double play.

D'Errico, a Mets fan, received the biggest fan reaction Sunday except for Bob Feller. The 90-year-old Hall of Famer started on the mound and faced Team Collins lead off batter Paul Molitor. Feller, who was the first Major League Baseball player to enlist in the military after Pearl Harbor, received a standing ovation when he was introduced and when he left the game in the first inning.

Chelsea Franklin of Syracuse had never been to Cooperstown before Sunday.

"It's a neat little town," she said.

The 24-year-old waited in the sun-filled stands after the game while her friends braved a large crowd trying to get autographs. Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson seemed to be in greatest demand, though there were plenty of fans crammed into limited space outside the field anxious to get Steve Lyons' autograph.

"It was good," Franklin said. "At Sky Chiefs games, when Major League players come in, you can't get them to sign. It's nice for the kids."

Delaney: Kent 'embarrased' by steroids

Jeff Kent couldn't have been more honest and upfront. About his chances for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, about steroids and his role as a former Major League Baseball player.

Kent, the 2000 National League MVP and five-time All-Star, played 17 years with six teams. He was in Cooperstown on Father's Day for the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame Classic and won the pre-game hitting contest. Kent didn't hide his disappointment about the steroid allegations in baseball.

"I'm embarrassed about steroids," Kent said. "The players association (MLBPA) and Major League Baseball won't stand up and say 'we made a mistake."

Kent retired just in time. He played with Barry Bonds in San Francisco during the years baseball's all-time home run leader suspected of using steroids. The game's 'Steroid Era' took on some legitimacy in April when Alex Rodriguez admitted using while in Texas. Kent played for the Dodgers last season and was a teammate of Manny Ramirez after the trade from Boston. Ramirez was suspended 50 games last month for performance enhancing drugs. Kent did not specifically address Ramirez.

"We should've as a union and Major League Baseball, we should've adopted a drug policy and it wasn't done," Kent said.

He retired at the end of the 2008 season as the most prolific home run-hitting second baseman of all time (351). Kent's home runs as a second baseman are 74 more than Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg. Kent had 377 career home runs and was a .290 hitter. He finished in the top 10 in the league in RBI in six seasons, and drove in 100 or more runs from 1997-2002.

The numbers look good, but Kent is not ready to pose for a plaque.

"I've never been a baseball historian and kept track of the game," Kent said. "My history is in the past. I hope things stand up for the good."

Delaney: Legal injustice

Donte Stallworth drives drunk, kills a pedestrian and gets 24 days in jail?

What, are you kidding me? Stallworth, a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter. Vehicular manslaughter is the crime of causing the death of a human being due to illegal driving an automobile, including gross negligence, drunk driving, reckless driving or speeding, according to law.com

How does Stallworth go from a maximum penalty of 15 years to 24 days? Money. Stallworth, who will also serve eight years of probation, two years of house arrest, 1,000 hours of community service and a lifetime suspended license, got out of significant jail time because he has the money to buy his way out of trouble.

Is that justice?

Delaney: Wiggins, a pioneer, back to states

Thirty-three years ago, Franklin Academy softball coach Michelle Wiggins and some colleagues at the Malone, New York school started sports teams for girls.

None of them could've anticipated the opportunities that became available for female athletes or the place sports would have in society for athletes of both genders.

"Amazing," said Wiggins, a 55-year-old physical education teacher at Franklin Academy.

Wiggins and her state-ranked No. 9 Huskies will go back to the state semifinals for the third time in 32 years this weekend after defeating Oneida, 2-0 in a Class A state regional final. The shutout was the 16th in 20 games for Franklin Academy (19-1) which has allowed 11 runs all year.

Wiggins, whose team won a state title in 1995 and lost in the finals the year after, coached every year since 1976 except 1989 when her daughter, Beth, was born. Beth Wiggins played for her mother and just finished her sophomore year at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. where she averaged 6.1 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Saints women's basketball team last winter.

Franklin Academy defeated New Hartford in a regional semifinal in 2007, and lost to the Spartans in a regional final at Gillette Road last year. Wiggins never expected this year's Huskies to do so well.

"It's wonderful, especially with this crew," Wiggins said. "At the beginning of the season, I had doubts we'd be Section X champs. My young kids really stepped up."

Wiggins and Franklin Academy have come a long way.