Larry Brown Sports

“Hey, I know you! We were at the Olympics together! What, this thing? That’s my new championship ring! I know, I didn’t think this day would ever come either! Yup, and then we beat the Celtics!”

LeBron James looked pretty excited to be posing for a photo with US women’s soccer star Alex Morgan at his Samsung party on Tuesday night, and why wouldn’t he be? LeBron was on top of the world. He is finally the proud owner of this stunning championship ring. His teammates didn’t even let the ring ceremony distract them, as they made relatively easy work of their biggest rival to kick off the 2012-2013 season.

Did King James light up like a Christmas tree for this photo? Sure, but the bottom line is there isn’t a whole lot for him to be frowning about.

Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux of the US women’s national soccer team decided to trade cleats for leotards on Halloween. The soccer stars dressed as members of the US women’s gymnastics team.

Morgan, seen above giving her best “Not Impressed” face, went as US gymnast McKayla Maroney, while Leroux went as Gabby Douglas.

Below is a picture of Morgan and Leroux with a few other teammates:

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Alex Morgan has a pretty wholesome image, but that doesn’t mean she and her family can’t get crazy when the time is right.

Morgan was a guest on “Access Hollywood Live” on Tuesday and told hosts Billy Bush and Kit Hoover about all the partying she and her family did after the US won the gold medal at the Olympics.

”[We celebrated] all night and all morning,” Morgan said. “I think I got back to the village at 6:30 [AM].

“[My parents] were on the Tube, taking the train [after dropping me off at the Olympic Village,] and they fell asleep on the Tube,” she recounted. “[They woke up] at the end of the line and couldn’t even get back to their [hotel] until 10 AM … my dad missed his flight the next morning.”

Uh oh, the Morgan family staying up all night partying? Naughty naughty!

Morgan was asked who on the team rages the hardest, but she refused to throw someone under the bus, though she did finger Abby Wambach as a heavy drinker. Maybe one of her teammates could learn a few things about keeping secrets in house among the players.

The US women’s soccer team advanced to the Olympic gold medal match on Monday after what was one of the most exciting few minutes of the London Games. The US defeated Canada 4-3 in extra time to score a date against Japan in the finals on Thursday. After Abby Wambach scored yet another goal on a penalty kick to tie the game at 3-3 in the 80th minute, Alex Morgan added what would become the game-winner on a beautiful header that she floated over Canada goalie Erin McLeod’s head.

The goal was arguably the most thrilling moment of the London Olympics for the US, who never led in the match until extra time. The win sets up a rematch against Japan, which as you may remember is the team that defeated the US in a heart-breaking game that came down to penalty kicks in the World Cup final last summer.

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The US women’s soccer team defeated New Zealand 2-0 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Olympic tournament. Abby Wambach scored a goal in the 27th minute to extend her US record to eight Olympic goals. After missing the Beijing Olympics with a broken leg, Wambach has surged back in the London Games with four goals and has easily been one of the best players in the tournament.

Aside from the win itself, one of the more notable story lines on Friday was the beating New Zealand goalie Jenny Bindon took. Bindon was kicked in the head by both Wambach and Alex Morgan, both blows of which appeared to be unintentional. As you can see from the animation above that The Big Lead passed along, Morgan nearly decapitated Bindon with her knee in the second half. It was a frightening moment, but fortunately she seemed to come away without any serious injuries.

If you thought this flying kick to the head was bad, the knee Bindon took makes it look like a walk in the park.

Athletes hitting on Alex Morgan via Twitter is starting to become a sports tradition like football on Thanksgiving or the Lambeau Leap.

The latest athlete to take part in the tradition is Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, who, perhaps while watching the ESPYs Wednesday night, sent out this tweet:

Still waiting to take @alexmorgan13 out on a date. Y’all help me out with that

— Aaron Murray (@aaronmurray11) July 12, 2012

Unlike with Robert Griffin III, we’ll presume Murray knows what Morgan looks like. Murray joins the likes of Evan Longoria and DeAngelo Hall, who both have been caught sending flirtatious tweets Morgan’s way.

Lest we forget this woman already has a boyfriend.

H/T Jimmy Traina
Photos: Jim Brown/Jim Cowsert-US PRESSWIRE

Alex Morgan has received plenty of attention off the field because of her looks, but the U.S. soccer star is still more comfortable doing what’s natural for her: playing.

Morgan did an interview with USA Today and was asked if it’s harder being a soccer star or a model (like she was for Sports Illustrated).

“It’s definitely harder trying to be a model for a day, because I am in no way a model,” she says. “Soccer is what I grew up doing – it’s my passion, and I’m way more comfortable on the field in my soccer cleats.”

The U.S. women’s national team is preparing for its first Olympics game later this month after beating Canada 2-1 last Saturday. Morgan is the team’s leading scorer with 17 goals this year and has become one of the most well known faces on the squad. Her surge in popularity has made it difficult for to balance all her demands.

“My playing time has increased over the year, but for me, it’s just knowing when to say no to media or work like that and just focus on soccer and make soccer a priority,” she told USA Today.

Considering how well she’s been playing, it seems like she’s balancing things quite well. And as far as the modeling goes, Morgan told King5 News in Seattle that she was happy with the way her body paint pictures turned out. We’re guessing Morgan’s boyfriend was happy with them too.