Germany is celebrating it's first World Cup championship since their 1990 win over Argentina, the same team they beat in Sunday's final. Cole Pepper has a breakdown of the game and more in is weekly sports wrap.
Germany are World Cup champions
Germany, who you might recall beat the U.S. 1-0 in the group stage, emerged as the World Cup champions with a 1-0 victory over Argentina on Sunday. They are a fitting champion.
During the tournament, they were the best team, highlighted by the 7-1 throttling of Brazil in the semi-finals, and they were certainly the deepest team.
Armada to make temporary home at Baseball Grounds
Speaking of soccer, the Jacksonville Armada announced Friday that they will play their home matches at the Baseball Grounds for at least the next three years.
I went to Tampa on Saturday to see what it looked like having a soccer match played on a baseball field. The Tampa Bay Rowdies are in the Armada's league, the North American Soccer League, and they play at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg.
The Armada already has over 2,000 season ticket reservations and they are in the process of converting those to season ticket owners. Season tickets range from $10-$50 per game. NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson told me that he's expecting the Armada to be one of the franchises that really pushes this league forward, and I think we're already seeing some of the fruits of those efforts.
Jags, Suns, and Sharks action
We are 10 days from the start of Jaguars training camp. All but one of the rookie draft picks have been signed.
Wide Receiver Marquise Lee, a second round pick, has not signed his contract, but nobody seems to be too concerned about a holdout. Lee should get signed up in the next week or so and be in camp as expected.
The Sharks play tonight at the arena and they're guaranteeing a victory. If they don't beat New Orleans, everybody who bought a ticket for the game will get a free ticket for the season finale against the LA Kiss, Gene Simmons' team.
The Suns will be back home on Wednesday to start a 10 game homestand. The Suns are just a game out of first place in the second half standings.
LeBron returns to Cleveland
The fallout continues from the announcement that LeBron James will return to Cleveland.
After James announced that he was going to sign with his first team after four years in Miami, it came out that he signed just a 2-year contract with the Cavaliers.
That's interesting, and I think it says as much about James' confidence in the owner of the Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert as anything. It certainly gives LeBron a chance to leverage his services against the Cavs should they not bring in key players that he wants. This one isn't over yet.
You can follow Melissa Ross on Twitter @MelissainJax and Cole Pepper @ColePepper.
