First, thanks to all of the play by play posters on the various boards. For one who lives no where near a Gold Cup venue and did not have access to Telefutura and its family of networks, a big THANK YOU! The coverage was great! There were plenty of upsets and surprises along the way. Hopefully, it will translate to more interest in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the future. The guest teams of Colombia and South Africa did themselves proud. Their performances will not only bolster their stretch runs in future 2006 WCQ's, but it will certainly fuel the debate on whether or not guest teams should compete in future Gold Cups. What can you say about Panama's performance? The lowest ranked team coming into the tournament, made it to the finals and had chances to win the final match against the USA. Time will tell if this will kick-start a good stretch run in their WCQ's. Honduras, already eliminated from World Cup consideration, treated the Gold Cup as their "World Cup", and nearly created an improbable Panama vs. Honduras final! The USA showed its depth in the tournament by winning many "ugly" matches along the way, but the bottom line in any tournament in any sport is to "survive and advance", which is what the U.S. ultimately did. Many posters bemoaned this competition as "second-rate", with the lack of stars on various teams. While it's true not every team brought its best players for whatever reasons, their substitutes provided many memorable moments from the first kick on July 7th. I cannot comment on players who many thought had "wonderful" or "crummy" individual matches or overall tournament performances, but I'd wager most of the guys played better than I could have done! There were many passionate posts concerning the officiating during the Gold Cup. Again, not having seen the matches in person or on TV, I can't comment on those performances either. All I can say about people who complain bitterly about bad officials in any sport is to get yourself certified and become one yourself. Remember too that you cannot officiate matches where your home side is involved! Finally, I like Landon Donovan's quote concerning the United States' victory on Sunday. He said players never know when they'll be involved with a side that wins a competition, so for him, winning the Gold Cup in 2005 is a big deal, even though it won't qualify the team for World Cup 2006 or the Confederations Cup in 2009. That's why we play and watch and enjoy these matches (or try to, anyway) .