Idle thoughts from a mind gone haywire.

With the U.S. soccer team doing so well in the World Cup, a hero is bound to emerge. Meet Clint Mathis, America’s first true, natural-born goal scorer. The truly great goal scorers possess similar attributes. They are normally strong on the ball and have a mental toughness. There is almost a selfishness about them. They must have the ball. It must go through them. No one can stop them and they will go through people to put the ball past the goalkeeper. U.S. soccer has waited a long time for such a player to emerge.

While teams may fear DeMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan’s speed on the flanks, and Claudio Reyna’s distribution of the ball, they do not fear their scoring abilities – at least not yet.

Mathis is a bull. His goal against South Korea was a thing of beauty. On the dead run, he took a pass floated into him from John O’Brien, settled the ball with his right foot, and slammed a left-footed shot into the lower right corner of the goal. It was instinctive and something few that have worn American colors could have accomplished in the past. And if his scoring ability doesn’t strike fear into opponents, maybe his Mohawk haircut will.

Brad Friedel, through two games, is undoubtedly the goalie of the tournament. He almost single-handedly kept the Americans in the match against South Korea.

Then again, I said the French had the best team in the tournament, so what do I know?

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This is all you need to know about the state of boxing. Former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, at the tender age of 53, is coming out of retirement to fight Eric “Butterbean” Esch. No joke. And they will be paid for the fight. And people will pay to see the fight. Cha-ching.

What’s next, Ali-Frazier IV?

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So, you want to be like Mike? Just put on your Hanes underwear, eat a couple of Ballpark franks and wash them down with Gatorade – then, hop a flight to Las Vegas for a four-day basketball camp in August.

And it’s not just any basketball camp. It’s Michael Jordan’s Senior Flight School. In its sixth year, the camp is held at the Caesar’s Palace Hotel and Casino. The four days are chock full of receptions, food, autograph sessions, and oh, yeah, some basketball, too.

Lectures and on-court coaching are done by just about every high-profile basketball coach imaginable. The list includes such notables as Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Dr. Jack Ramsey, Hubie Brown, Jim Calhoun, Larry Brown, Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams, just to name a few.

Each camp participant receives Jordan brand basketball shoes and clothing. Each will be privy to a photo session with His Airness, a mounted certificate of attendance, and a one-hour video of selected footage from the camp.

Campers’ daily schedules include morning and afternoon periods of 5-on-5 games and instruction from the coaches. Campers must be at least 35 to attend and have deep pockets. How deep? Well, you know the old saying, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. OK, it’s only $15,000 for the four days.

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A much less expensive and more gratifying way to spend a couple of hours can be found at an instructional-age softball practice. Eight- and 9-year-old girls swing the bats and whether they hit the ball to the outfield (as two or three do regularly) or top the ball out in front of the plate, each hit receives an equal amount of praise.

There is something good about the world when kids run when they aren’t supposed to run, and laugh their way back to the base. Or when the soft-rolling ground ball awakens a shortstop from her daydream. Or when you see a kid “get it” for the first time and explain why she should throw the ball to second if the ball is hit to her and a runner is on first.

And then there is the post-practice joke. An 8-year-old stands in the middle of the packed circle of players and shouts out:

“Knock, knock.” (Who’s there?)

“Tiger.” (Tiger who?)

“You’ve got to Tiger before she gets to home base.”

Beautiful.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600, or dperryman@bangordailynews.net.