Japan won the FIFA Women’s World Cup yesterday over the U.S. 3-1 in penalty kicks after ending overtime tied at 2-2. The U.S. team “missed an opportunity to give the women’s game in the U.S. a real boost.” There is “no denying that interest in women’s soccer is greater now than before the World Cup, but a U.S. win would have done so much more” (FOXSPORTS.com, 7/18). However, USA TODAY’s Christine Brennan writes the “raw, awe-inspiring athletic moments from this tournament will not soon be forgotten, and will bring more girls to the game around the world” (USA TODAY, 7/18).

Below is a round-up of front-page reactions to Japan defeating the U.S. in yesterday's FIFA Women's World Cup final:

USA Today: "Japan Stuns USA"
Wall Street Journal: "Japanese Women Squeak Past In World Cup Thriller"
Boston Globe: "No Celebration For The Americans"
Indianapolis Star: "What A Great Ride"
L.A. Times: "More Than A Game For Japan"
N.Y. Times: "Japan's Cup Of Joy"
Oakland Tribune: "Certain U.S. Win Slips Away"
Portland Oregonian: "From Devastation To Inspiration"
Seattle Times: "Japan Ends U.S. Dream"
Washington Times: "Hope Extinguished For Americans"

The Japan-U.S. game set a new record on Twitter with a peak volume of 7,196 tweets per second at the end of the match. Several other sporting events have held the Twitter tweets-per-second record, including the '10 NBA Finals and men's World Cup last year. But the Women's World Cup beat out New Year's Eve '10/'11 in Japan, which most recently held the record with a peak volume of 6,939 tweets per second. The Women's World Cup game beat Super Bowl XLV in February, which at one point held the No. 2 Twitter volume slot with 4,064 tweets per second, by a whopping 77% (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).

Coca-Cola runs a full-page ad in this morning's USA Today promoting its sponsorship of the FIFA Women's World Cup. The ad shows two glass bottles and the copy, "Cheers! To The FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 Champions and all the other amazing women who played this year" (THE DAILY).

Saying that he lost his joy for the job, HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg asked the network to let him out of his contract five months before it was due to expire. In particular, Greenburg cited his dealings with the boxing community as a reason why he started dreading coming to work after 33 years with the network. A celebrated producer of quality documentaries and sports reality shows, Greenburg said boxing had started taking up about 70% of his job. He spent the past six months considering making the move.

"Boxing just got to me," Greenburg told THE DAILY. "Every fight is its own rights negotiation. It really starts to tax on you." He complained that the boxing press, in particular, was too harsh and publicly second-guessed every decision that he made. "I hated that," Greenburg said. "That's part of the process that's so distasteful. The boxing Internet space is such a nasty venue for people that are mean-spirited."

He dismissed reports over the weekend that he was fired for losing big-money matches like May’s Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley bout to Showtime. "Showtime has always been a competitor. They've never gotten to the place of HBO Sports. They know that." Greenburg will stay with HBO for the next couple of weeks. Eventually, he plans to get back into the production part of the business and plans to talk with networks about documentary ideas that he wants to develop.

NFL and NFLPA attorneys and officials today will meet in N.Y. to "resume negotiations aimed at finalizing a collective bargaining agreement that would restore labor peace for the remainder of the decade." Attorneys spent the weekend in N.Y. "working on contract language by phone and e-mail." Owners and players are scheduled to meet tomorrow before U.S. District Judge Arthur Boylan in Minneapolis, but "they will advise him of their progress before deciding how to proceed regarding mediation" (USA TODAY, 7/18).

Sources said that the "outstanding unresolved issues" include the players wanting "restoration of $320 million in lost benefits from the 2010 uncapped season." In addition, players "want to limit use of the franchise tag on unrestricted free agents to a one-time application." The two sides also still need to settle Brady v. NFL, and sources said that the NFLPA "has begun to contact some of the 10 plaintiffs regarding settling the antitrust suit" (ESPN.com, 7/17).

The NBA has announced that it will release its '11-12 regular-season schedule on Tuesday, "even though that very schedule may have to be altered due to the ongoing lockout that threatens the start of the season." The Heat reportedly will open their regular season in N.Y. against the Knicks. The Heat also have been scheduled for a Christmas Day game in Dallas against the Mavericks, "although such scheduling ... would be tentative" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 7/18). NBA TV will broadcast a schedule show at 2:00pm ET tomorrow, "with the schedule to be sent out at 2:15pm" (ESPN.com, 7/17).

Nassau County's economic consultants have compiled a report, which is expected to be released today, that estimates the county's economy could lose $243.4M annually if the Islanders "leave the region after the club's lease at Nassau Coliseum expires in 2015." The report stated that if the arena were to be shuttered, it would "take with it 2,660 jobs and nearly $104 million in annual earnings." The county would also lose about $8M annually "in tax revenue that would be generated by the arena in 2015 and beyond" (NEWSDAY, 7/16).

The Manchester City-Club America friendly at AT&T Park on Saturday "didn't sell so well," as an announced crowd of 11,250 attended the Herbalife World Football Challenge match. The big walk-up that promoters "hoped for never materialized." CAA's Charlie Stillitano said, "I think it's one of those where we have to look and assess why the people didn't come out" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/17).

Meanwhile, the closure of Interstate 405 had little effect on the two soccer events in the L.A. area on Saturday. A crowd of 56,211 attended the Real Madrid-MLS Galaxy friendly at L.A. Memorial Coliseum (L.A. TIMES, 7/17). An estimated crowd of 14,000 attended the Red Bulls-Chivas USA match at The Home Depot Center (L.A. TIMES, 7/17).

The Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee has voted on the city of Austin's behalf to have about $25M "from the state comptroller's office be paid" toward a proposed F1 race in '12. The comptroller now has 30 days to review the economic impact analysis to "determine the exact amount of money to be paid from the Major Events Trust Fund" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 7/17).

Golfer Tom Lewis has indicated that he will sign with IMG when he turns pro "later this year after playing in the Walker Cup" (London GUARDIAN, 7/17). Lewis was the low amateur at last week's British Open.

EA today is slated to formally announce that it will open an EA Sports branch in Austin, "part of an an expansion that will bring 300 jobs" to the area (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 7/18).

adidas and the Argentina Football Association today announced the extension of their sponsorship agreement, extending the current deal through '22. The AFA has had a relationship with adidas for the past 37 years (adidas).

The findings of a report on head injuries in former professional football players will be presented today at the Alzheimer's Association Int'l Conference on Alzheimer's Disease. The study provides "new evidence that head injuries such as concussions are linked to dementia later in life and may make the brain more vulnerable" to Alzheimer's disease (WSJ.com, 7/18).

The Padres drew a crowd of 36,351 to Petco Park for Sunday's game against the Giants, "giving them a total of 152,722 for the four-game series." The total marked the "largest home attendance for a four-game series since the Padres" and D'Backs drew 164,395 in '05 (NORTH COUNTY TIMES, 7/18).

"I don't think it's the right thing to do, period. But if they're going to change it, at least don't change it in my year. That's selfish on my part, but that's how I see it" -- 49ers first-round draft pick Aldon Smith, on the CBA currently in negotiations including a rookie wage scale (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 7/16).

"I don't see anything positive that the union is saying it wants to do for me. I see what they don't want the owners to have, but I don't see what they want me to have" -- Pro Football HOFer Jim Brown, on his feeling that the NFL and NFLPA do not do enough for retired players (N.Y. TIMES, 7/17).

"I'm not at liberty to talk about it, but there's a huge possibility about me going to China or me going overseas to play basketball" -- Magic C Dwight Howard, on playing overseas if the NBA lockout stretches into the regular season (AP, 7/17).

"They're buying into it. They're energizing us as well. It's a lot more fun playing in front of 35,000 instead of 15,000. They've been great all year" -- Pirates P Joel Hanrahan, on the team's fans. The Pirates, who are currently a half game out of first in the NL Central, have increased their average attendance by nearly 4,000 fans so far this season (CLEVELAND.com, 7/17).

"I'm going to think twice before I throw the ball into the stands, make sure it's high enough. But it's something as a player you can't prevent" -- Mets LF Scott Hairston, after the death earlier this month of a fan who was trying to catch a ball at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (NJ.com, 7/17).

Jets Exec VP/Business Operations Matt Higgins: “Sad to hear Ross Greenberg leaving HBO sports, driving force behind #jets #hardknocks. Brilliant & about the nicest guy in the business.”

Golfer Rory McIlroy: “Northern Ireland...... Golf capital of the world!!”

U.S. Soccer MF Carli Lloyd: “Thank you to everyone for your support. We brought our country together. The support has been awesome! @espn thank u for all the coverage!”

Guardian’s Georgina Turner: “Really odd to hear some say US defeat will dent soccer's popularity. a) No team, no sport comes without defeat (and it would be bloody boring if it did) b) It's not the USWNT's job to get people interested in soccer - but c) if you're talking about this at all, they've already done just that.”

London Times’ Oliver Kay: “People can say what they like about #MCFC, but it certainly makes a refreshing change to see owners investing in a club and a community.”

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com. 

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Trademarks.”

“In 1987 a maker of fiberglass insulation became the first company to trademark a color -- this color.”

CBS' "Late Show" aired a rerun on Friday.

NBC’s Jay Leno: “There is now a move to divide California into two states: The state of poverty and the state of bankruptcy. … They want to make Southern California a separate state. The problem is coming up with a suitable name. Apparently, New Mexico is already taken. … President Obama is starting to get tough. He said he's reached his limit and he will not give in on his debt ceiling position, even if it costs him his presidency. Well, that should make the Republicans fold, huh? ‘Oh, we've got to save Obama's presidency.’ … According to a new Gallup poll, if the election were held tomorrow a no-name Republican would beat President Obama and today, Tim Pawlenty said, ‘A no-name Republican? That's me. You mean I'm the new president?’ … In last night's 50th Annual Congressional Baseball Game, the Democrats beat the Republicans 8-2. Both parties say these games are important because it shows the American people they can really get along and accomplish something when it's meaningless. … Here is the difference between a government job and a regular job: Now over 20 city employees in Dallas are getting counseling because they spend too much time on Facebook while at work. The hope is the counseling will cure them of using Facebook while on the job. Hey, I've got a better cure, how about firing them? That's what happens in the real world. You get fired. … A judge has now declared a mistrial in the perjury case against Roger Clemens. Clemens said he ‘felt relieved at the verdict.’ He said, ‘It's nice to feel something besides ‘roid rage for a change.’ … The judge declared a mistrial after a juror accidentally saw something they weren't supposed to see, indicating that Clemens lied about taking steroids. See, normally that would be called evidence” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 7/15).

“What is pink?”