Shortest Birthday, Ever

Yesterday U.S. defender Heather Mitts celebrated her 30th birthday. Well, not really. You see, the U.S. team left Los Angeles on June 8 and arrived in the late afternoon on June 9, which is Mitts' Birthday. (Just FYI: In a frustratingly tragic case of "cut and paste" Mitts B-day has been listed on ussoccer.com and in various publications as June 6, but it's really June 9). Anyway, Mitts arrived at the hotel at 7 p.m. and was fast asleep by 10 p.m., giving her just a three-hour birthday extravaganza. Mitts certainly looks younger than her three decades, and in fact was extremely appreciative earlier this year when 20-year-old teammate Lauren Cheney told her that she thought she was 25. Mitts, who is a certainly a popular player in the USA, has somehow become a fan favorite in South Korea as well. In 2006, she did interviews after almost every training and the Mitts media circus is off and running again. She was one of the players requested at the airport yesterday when the team arrived (see above).