THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Saturday, July 4, 2015

Sixteen years ago, trying to convince someone that production at your workplace stopped because you had to watch a bunch of girls take penalty kicks took a lot of explaining — and not a lot of believing.

But it was true … and mesmerizing at the time.

The U.S. women’s soccer team wasn’t the trendy, popular topic it is now. But back in 1999, there was the U.S. and China, locked in a tense, scoreless battle in the final of the Women’s World Cup, before a record crowd of 90,185 at the Rose Bowl.

Sure, the U.S. had won the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, but hardly anyone noticed at the time. Eight years later, the tourney was being played in the U.S., and many more were taking notice.

You know the rest. After a scoreless regulation and two overtime periods, the U.S. beat China 5-4 in penalty kicks, Brandi Chastain ripping off her shirt after the winning kick, making the cover of Sports Illustrated, and suddenly women’s soccer had arrived.

Sixteen years later, we’re waiting for it to come back.

The U.S. women placed third at the World Cup in 2003 and again in 2007, and were runners-up to Japan in 2011 — losing 3-1 on penalty kicks.

Placing third, third and second at the World Cup would elevate the U.S. men to hero status — these days, the U.S. men just advancing out of the group stage seems to be treated as a major accomplishment.

But for the U.S. women, those finishes reflected disappointment. In ’03, the U.S. lost 3-0 in the semifinals to eventual champion Germany in Portland. Four years later in China, the U.S. was blitzed 4-0 in the semis by Brazil.

So here we are, in 2015, and there’s a buzz again about women’s soccer — helped, no doubt, by the tourney taking place in Canada, and with the games in Vancouver being a (relatively) short drive away, you can bet at least a few locals will make the trek across the border into British Columbia tonight for the finals.

Where, the U.S. women are on the cusp of another defining moment — beat Japan in the finals, and this squad will approach the celebrity status of the 1999 squad, with Chastain, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, etc.

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LISTS OF any kind are curiously polarizing things.

If one city is ranked third on a list of top five cities in the country with an apostrophe in its name, its residents react in outrage, and immediately ridicule the two cities picked above them.

The Deseret News newspaper in Salt Lake City recently ran a list of the top tight ends in University of Utah history, as compiled by Jay Yeomans, a freelancer in the area and owner of a sports chat website (jmoneysports.com).

No. 2 on his list of top tight ends in Ute history was our very own Dale Nosworthy, co-owner of the popular Nosworthy’s Hall of Fame restaurant in Coeur d’Alene.

“While his stats aren’t big by today’s standards,” Yeomans wrote, “Nosworthy (who played at Utah from 1968-70) was a very productive tight end during his time with the Utes. His most productive season came in 1970 when he finished with 23 catches for 309 yards and three touchdowns to earn first-team all-WAC honors for the second straight year. In fact, he is the only two-time first-team all-conference tight end in school history.”

In his Utah career, Nosworthy had 49 receptions for 659 yards and four touchdowns.

“Not bad for a high school All-American from SoCal (Wilson High in Long Beach) that Jim Hanifan transformed into a great blocker,” said Nosworthy, who was encouraged by Hanifan to move to guard late in his career at Utah, if he was interested in playing in the NFL, but Nosworthy declined. “He’s more proud of me being named offensive lineman of the year in 1970.

“Almost all my catches were for first downs over the middle. Sure, I wish I had Scott Mitchell throwing the ball and Jim Fassel calling plays to the tight end, but I never would have had my relationship with the greatest offensive line coach in NFL history (Hanifan), so it worked out pretty good.”

Dennis Smith, who caught 156 passes for 2,168 yards and 24 touchdowns at Utah from 1986-89, was ranked No. 1. Marv Fleming, who caught 35 passes for 598 yards and six touchdowns from 1960-62, and is more well known for playing in two Super Bowls with Green Bay and three more with the Miami Dolphins, was ranked No. 3.

So how did Nosworthy earn that lofty ranking?

“Comparing players from different eras can be quite challenging even when they play the same position,” Yeomans said in an email to The Press. “Since the game changes from generation to generation, I have to look at how the players performed against their peers. So honors and awards play a big role.

“Ultimately, the reason why Nosworthy landed second on my list was because he was the only Utah tight end to be named first-team all-conference twice. That kind of recognition is a lot more telling to me than stats, especially when trying to find a difference between elite athletes.”