Daily Shorts: LUVSBW plate available now

These personalised plates are all available. Get in quick. Photo / plates.co.nz

From possible SBW number plates to searching dog images at football games, Daily Shorts looks at the light-hearted side of sport.

If I want people to know I support the Red Sox I wear my hat. Or my other hat. Or the other one. But I don't see the need to buy a personalised plate stating my fandom. If I did however it's too late anyway as I saw a REDS0X plate on the way to work today. In recent times I've also seen ARSN4L and a West Bromwich Albion themed plate which was as forgettable as their current lineup.

This didn't stop my colleagues and I searching www.plates.co.nz to find what's available (and what isn't). How long after Brendon McCullum's dismissal at the Basin Reserve was BAZ302 snapped up? If you wanted to commemorate New Zealand's second highest test knock - MDC299 is available.

Others we found:
LUVSBW (for the lovers)
H8SBW (for the haters)
LTZGNE (with 'Warriors' underneath)
HYSGMS (to remember the possibly departing Phoenix striker)
NDHRV (Celebrate Northern Districts' HRV Cup title in style)
TNZ81 (Remember when Team NZ were leading Oracle 8-1?)
DHLCUP (Robbie Deans' 55th birthday present?)

What's the most bizarre sports themed plate you've ever seen? Tell us in the comments section below.

Going to the dogs

Champions League Quarter-Final £80 a match ticket Atmosphere from both fans Decides to Google pictures of dogs pic.twitter.com/zSQilLr7In

Twitter was abuzz yesterday when a man at Old Trafford was snapped looking at pictures of dogs rather than the football during Manchester United's Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.

After a myriad of retweets, favourites and questions, the culprit - Daily Telegraph columnist Chris Bascombe - was finally outed. And in a column today he explained that he was simply trying to find which dog best resembled out of form Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini for his player ratings.

"He looked like an out-of-control dog," Bascombe said. "But what dog?"

"In the diligent pursuit of accuracy I used a well-known search engine to check photographs of an Afghan hound. My instincts were right. Fellaini bore no resemblance.

So then, what dog? Ah, there it is. A poodle. Fellaini, with that bushy head, resembled a poodle on steroids. An overgrown poodle. That's it. That will do."

There was no mention of what animal he used to describe Wayne Rooney.

Red, white and blew-it
The issue with red, white and blue being the colour on the United States flag is that quite a few other countries favour that colour scheme (France, Russia, Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Martinique to name a few). Team USA revealed their away strip for the FIFA World Cup this week, worn below by indie-rock band Haim.

HAIM FOR TEAM USA ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/OSxmNaiT1F

However fans are not too impressed that it resembles the French flag. At least it looks nothing like the horrible denim alternate strip they wore during the 1994 World Cup.

Name of the Year
Deadspin.com are running a bracket to find out the best name of the year. They're down to the final 16 but unfortunately Eels prop Fuifui Moimoi lost out to Fawaz Wazwaz in the opening round. Chubacca Hung vs Curvaceous Bass is like Nadal and Djovokic meeting in the fourth round.

Man of his word?
A reporter said he would quit if the Washington Redskins signed DeSean Jackson after the wide receiver was axed by the Eagles. Guess who is the Redskins' new signing?

Throwback Thursday
Every Thursday we'll feature a video to reminisce about past great sporting moments. Following Sky's showing of the brilliant Howzat! Kerry Packer's War two-part last week, here's Viv Richards in action during the 1977 World Series game at VFL Park in Melbourne. Check out the boundaries.