Happy Fourth of July ... and only the second Fourth when the USA men's national soccer team is scheduled to play.

The first was the 1-0 loss to Brazil in the 1994 World Cup in Palo Alto, Calif. The second is the Gold Cup opener at 6 p.m. today against Granada at Qwest Field.

Here's my preview from today's paper, which deals with the five players on the national team who have played under Sounders coach Sigi Schmid: Brad Evans, Jimmy Conrad, Chad Marshall, Robbie Rogers and Jon Busch.

I deal mostly with Evans -- the current Sounder and national team newcomer -- and Conrad -- the national team veteran who played for Schmid at UCLA.

And given Conrad's longtime knowledge of Schmid, I thought this take was particularly interesting: "“They say he’s mellowed out quite a bit – which is a good thing. I think he’s become very comfortable in his abilities and his strengths. Obviously, every human being has some insecurities and they can come out if there are some stressful situations. But I think he’s been much better at like being even keeled. It seems very un-Sigilike to be that way; but I think since he’s been like that and seems to have found that inner peace he’s become a really solid coach and his teams are great.”

Meanwhile, most anything you'd want to know about today's game and the competition is available at the CONCACAF Gold Cup site.

Today marks Teekah Lewis' 13th birthday.

The little girl from Tacoma disappeared from a bowling alley more than 10 years ago. There's been no sign of her since.

To mark her daughter's birthday, Theresa Lewis says she's going to go down to the site of the bowling alley today. (The bowling alley was razed years ago and now a fast-food restaurant stands in its place.) She'll put up signs and leave 13 balloons for her daughter.

"It's going to be hard," Lewis said earlier this week. "This is her 11th birthday that I am not going to be there. She's not going to be home."

Find my most recent story about Teekah's disappearance below.

=> Read more!

Nothing like having a flair for the dramatic. High Desert's James McOwens (photo from milb.com) extended his hitting streak to 40 games with a single with two outs in the ninth inning of Friday night's game.

He is now 29 games away from the record of 69 held by Joe Wilhoit of Wichita.

Also I forgot to post this the other day, so here it is ....

Tacoma's Chris Shelton and Bryan LaHair were named to the PCL all-star team and will be playing in the 22nd annual Triple A All-Star game in Portland on July 15 and will be televised on ESPN2. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

AUDIO: Shelton was on with Ian Furness about 20 minutes after I did my weekly segment on Friday, you can listen to either interview here.

Shelton was voted the starting designated hitter by league managers, media members, and
fans. He is batting .319 (87x273) with 22 doubles, 12 homers and 61 RBI. LaHair was selected as a reserve and is hitting .283 with 13 home runs and 46 RBI.

The International League will be led by Red Sox prospect Clay Bucholz and Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs. Here's the team.

From the press release ...
The Pacific Coast League roster is filled with league hitting leaders, led by outfielder John Bowker of the Fresno Grizzlies, who second in the PCL in average (.359), fifth in hits (93), first in on-base percentage (.460), third in slugging percentage (.637) and third in runs scored (58). Joining Bowker in the outfield will be Matt Miller (.324, 5 HR, 63 RBI) and Matt Murton (.377, 9 HR, 43 RBI) of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Miller is seventh in the league in average and third in RBI (63), hits (96) and doubles (25). The reserve PCL outfielders will be Terry Evans of Salt Lake, Brendan Katin of Nashville and Michael Ryan of New Orleans. Katin and Evans are tied for second in home runs in the league (17) and are in second and third place respectively in extra base hits (42) and (38). Katin is number two in the league leaders in RBI (65). Ryan is tied for fourth in doubles (23).

There were ribcage rattling explosions, an inebriated, pink rabbit and some guy smooched on Billie Joe Armstrong. Now that’s a tour kickoff! Here’s Green Day’s set list for now with photos and commentary to come in the morning.

Green Day tour kickoff set list
July 3, 2009
KeyArena
Seattle

21st Century Meltdown
Know Your Enemy
East Jesus Nowhere
Holiday
Static Age
Before the Lobotomy
Are We Waiting
Geek Stink Breath
Hitchin’ a Ride
Brain Stew
Jaded
Longview
Basket Case
She
King For A Day/Shout
21 Guns
American Eulogy

Encore:
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Minority
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

UW senior-to-be Quincy Pondexter had six points and four rebounds off the bench Friday as the USA smashed Finland, 87-40 in the first round of the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.

Details at GoHuskies.com.

Eagle-eyed Ian Morrison, Gov. Chris Gregoire's liaison guy in Pierce County, alerted Political Buzz that there is a 253 connection for Sean Parnell, who will be sworn in as Alaska's new governor July 26.

Here's his bio.

Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell arrived in Alaska in 1973 at the age of 10. He inherited his love of our vast state from his father, Pat Parnell, who decided to move his wife and two sons to Alaska after being stationed at Fort Richardson. Sean graduated from East Anchorage High School in 1980, going on to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pacific Lutheran University, as well as a doctorate of jurisprudence from University of Puget Sound School of Law (now known as Seattle University School of Law). He has been an attorney since 1987 and is admitted to practice in Alaska and Washington, D.C. Like his father before him, Sean owned his own business for many years, a small law practice located in downtown Anchorage.

Sean's father, Pat, served Alaska honorably as an Anchorage Assembly Member and as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, modeling ethical political leadership for both his sons and birthing a dream in his eldest. Sean pursued his childhood dream, and in 1992 he was elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives. While serving in the House, Sean was active as a member of the House Finance Committee and chaired numerous budget subcommittees. After serving two terms in the House, Sean ran for, and won, a seat in the Alaska State Senate in 1996. In the Senate, Sean was a dynamic leader who served on the Senate Finance Committee during his first two years, and he later co-chaired the Senate's Finance Committee during a financially difficult time in our state's history. Oil was at $9 per barrel, state revenues were down dramatically, and Sean lead the way with his Caucus in cutting the budget while maintaining priorities like education, public safety, and transportation. He was also a member of the Energy Council.

=> Read more!

The Sounders have released the following statements from Nate Jaqua's lawyer, David Angeli, and the Jaqua family, concerning the sexual assult claimed in an Oregon civil suit.

The suit is mentioned briefly at the end of our Sounders' story in today's paper.

Here are the statements:

STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF NATE JAQUA
With respect to the civil suit filed in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for Multnomah County, David Angeli, Attorney at Law, issued the following statement today on behalf of his client, Nate Jaqua:

“Nate Jaqua was shocked to learn of these allegations. The Complaint – which has not even been served on Nate – is baseless. It alleges events that purportedly took place two years ago. In the past two years, Nate has never been contacted by the police, the District Attorney’s Office, the plaintiff, her lawyer, or anyone else regarding these allegations. Nate has confidence in the legal system and is certain that these allegations will be proven to be false.”

STATEMENT OF THE FAMILY OF NATE JAQUA
The family of Nate Jaqua – his father Jon and mother Connie – today issued the following statement on behalf of Nate Jaqua with regards to the civil suit filed in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for Multnomah County on June 30, 2009. The family received a copy of the civil suit yesterday:

“The allegations contained in this civil lawsuit are completely incompatible with everything that the people closest to Nate know about him. Nate is a terrific person. At age 28, he’s never been in trouble in his life. He was born and raised in Eugene and has always been committed to making positive contributions to our community.

“Looking at this Complaint, the circumstances under which it was filed, and based on everything that Connie and I know about Nate, we can only conclude that the plaintiff in this case is a troubled young woman. The incident allegedly took place more than two years ago. In the intervening two years, the plaintiff apparently never reported any incident to the police. She apparently never went to the District Attorney. Neither she nor her lawyer ever approached Nate or us, his family. Instead, her initial platform for making these very troubling and detailed allegations of criminal conduct is a civil lawsuit demanding $10 million, filed just one day before the statute of limitations would have extinguished her ability to demand money.

“We steadfastly support Nate during this difficult time and will continue to do so.”