David Beckham's free-kick saw off Ecuador in round two, but Rooney's red card in the 0-0 quarter-final draw against Portugal preceded a 3-1 shoot-out defeat.
Messi had scored five times at the tournament, including a superb free-kick in the semi-final against hosts the USA to become his country's record scorer with 55 goals.
His lefty free kick against Denmark so befuddled goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen that he initially moved the wrong way before it fluttered flew inside the left post.
"This kind of science can only take you so far," said Ginsburg, who has also played and coached soccer. "There are an enormous number of factors that go into this."
Lamar Odom, the star forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, is known for his outsized love of candy, sometimes downing entire bags of chocolate and jelly beans on game day.
On a hot day many years ago my the-middle school daughter Emily, one of the most optimistic people I know, was paddling with me in a cardboard boat race.