A few thoughts on an interesting sports weekend:

1. The United States loses the Women’s World Cup: Turns out there is no American monopoly on the American spirit.

A tournament full of good vibes for Team USA ended with a shocking loss on penalty kicks to Japan in the final.

Playing for a country ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami earlier this year, Japan essentially did to America what the U.S. did to Brazil in the quarterfinals — score late to tie, then calmly win the shootout.

Of course, Brazil only lost one lead and not two like the Americans did.

Some pundits and a few of the American players and coaches chalked up the Brazil win to an American attitude of playing to the whistle and never giving up.

While that trait is certainly part of our national character, it is not exclusive to us.

Japan showed that throughout the tournament and especially in Sunday’s final.

And it marked a rare occasion where American fans couldn’t help but be a little happy for the side that beat our team.

2. Another Mickelson flameout: How good is Phil Mickelson?

If he held it together a few more times on Sundays, Phil Mickelson would have more than four major titles.
Jon Super / Associated Press

He’s good enough to win four major titles, and he was good enough last week to play really well for only one 10-hole stretch and still almost win the British Open.

But “almost” has defined his career more than “did.”

Again, Lefty has won four majors, tied for 19th all-time. He has been the second-best player of the past decade after Tiger Woods and will certainly be remembered as an all-time great.

But he should be recalled for so much more. Mickelson has now finished second in a major seven times and third six times.

Finding just three more wins in there puts him in the company of Arnold Plamer, Sam Snead and Bobby Jones instead of one major ahead of Vijay Singh and Nick Price.

Jack Nicklaus finished second in a bunch of majors, too, but he was also able to close out 18 of them.

3. Rangers taking control of AL West: The Texas Rangers have felt like the best team in the American League West all season, and they’re finally starting to show it.

An 11-game winning streak heading into Tuesday night left the Rangers with a four-game advantage over the Los Angeles Angels in the division. Seattle (11 1/2 games back) and Oakland (13) are all but eliminated from the race.

This week’s series with the Angels, which began late Tuesday, provides Texas with a big opportunity to shake Los Angeles loose in the division race and move the Rangers to the cusp of a return to the postseason.

Heading into Tuesday’s action, the Rangers had the fourth-best run differential in the major leagues, trailing only the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies, clearly the three best teams in baseball.

Baseball insiders view run differential as a better indicator of teams’ relative strength than wins and losses.

A return to the World Series is a long way away, but the Rangers are looking good for another playoff trip.

4. The live poker on TV experiment: Fans tuning in to the World Series of Poker coverage on ESPN2 over the weekend might have been wondering where all the all-ins went.

For the first time, ESPN has been showing the past few days of play at the WSOP main event almost live. (There is a 30-minute delay.)

The players’ cards are only shown at the end of a hand, and even then, only if the hand went to the “flop” (the second round of betting, to you nongamblers).

Since the hole cards aren’t revealed, announcers can only speculate during the hands about what the players might be betting with, instead of narrating hands that have already happened months earlier.

There is an element of surprise when it turns out a player was bluffing when everyone seemed sure that he or she held a big hand.

The coverage was greatly aided by the unique story of a couple reaching the late stages of the tournament and eventually being placed side-by-side at the same table by random draw.

In the end, Erika Moutinho finished 29th to outlast her boyfriend, David Sands, by one spot. They both earned nearly a quarter-million dollars.

For serious poker players, the coverage has been excellent. Some of the most interesting hands come before the big all-in confrontations, as players build up a history of betting and bluffing against each other.

Whether the slow-paced action will appeal to casual fans who want to see only the key hands is another story.

Watching these players grind through 10 hours of play takes some of the glamour out of the game.

jbarnes@wacotrib.com

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