Summer memories, 2012 (with footnotes)

While it may still be in the mid-90's here in Little Rock (at least for only one more day, hopefully!), it is September 2nd, leading right up to the Labor Day Weekend, which in my mind means that the Terrible Summer of Hell 2011 is official over*.  Indeed, the unprecedented and not-at-all overstated** heat wave that sat down upon the Great State of Arkansas for almost six straight weeks in July and August is probably the thing that I will remember the most about this summer***. Which sucks because it is not a pleasant memory.  And what else will I remember about this summer?  The debt-ceiling debate?  No Freaking Thank You. 

Nope, my Favorite Summer Memory of 2011 is, without question, this (go to the 5:10 mark):

Or, if you, like me, watched the live TeeVee feed, it looked and sounded a little more like this:

Yep, one pass and one goal and Abby Wambach, American Folk Hero, is born****.  An absolutely stunning goal, so very late in the game, in second overtime, in the biggest tournament in the world.  We'll forget about the heat***** and will hopefully never, ever have to talk about the debt ceiling again, but that goal will be remembered and replayed over and over for generations.  Like this.  And this.  And this.  And this. 

Or, if you are an Arkansawyer like me, this, this, and this (go to 1:39).

Not a bad summer memory.

Footnotes:
*  Well, if you want to get technical about it, in North America, summer lasts from the summer solstice (June 20th or 21st) to the autumn equinox (September 22nd or 23rd), so we've still got a little less than three weeks left of summer.  Which I'm just choosing to ignore.  The schoolkids are back in class.  Summer is over :)
** Not meant to be at all ironic.  The heat really was as bad as the media would have you believe.
*** Not counting, of course, the awesomeness that is my pregnant wife and ever-more-enjoyable daughter.  For purposes of this post, family were exempted :)
****  For those of you living under a rock this summer (which, really, wouldn't have been such a bad place, in the shade and out of the heat), that was the United States Women's National Soccer Team, competing in the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany.  Specifically, the quarterfinal match versus Brazil, played on July 10, 2011.  The pass came from Megan Rapinoe and tied the game in the second minute of injury time of the second overtime.  The US eventually won on penalty kicks.
*****  Until next summer.  And subsequent summers after.