Attention passengers: We're beginning our approach into Tim Howard Airport

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The internet storm surrounding TIm Howard just keeps growing. Immediately after Tuesday's game (in which the U.S. lost 2-1 to Belgium), a fan edited the Wikipedia page for U.S. Secretary of Defense, replacing Chuck Hagel with Tim Howard. Hagel even called Howard to thank him for "defending USA." Memes overtook Twitter, as did tweets thanking Howard for the heroism.

By Tuesday night, fans had created a White House petition to change the name of the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. to the Tim Howard National Airport.

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“Whereas Tim Howard has shown himself to be a national treasure, Minister of Defense, Friend of Joe Biden, and the holder for the record of most saves in a World Cup match,” the petition states. “Therefore, we politely request that we rename the airport to recognize his accomplishments, and meritorious service to the United States of America.”

It's easy to submit a White House petition, thanks to the “We the People” initiative that the website created in 2011. The Obama Administration responds to any petitions that reach 100,000 signatures within a month. By Wednesday afternoon, the airport petition had more than 5,000 signatures.

[Related: Human wall Tim Howard sets World Cup record in U.S. loss to Belgium]

It's so easy to create one, in fact, that another has been submitted asking the White House to make Howard the Sec. of Defense. But fans seem to take defense slightly more seriously than the names of airports: the second had less than 300 signatures as of this writing.

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