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A good week for ...
It's always inspiring to see top-flight soccer players express passion for their clubs. Robinho didn't let Chelsea's interest in his signature distract him from that dream £32.5 million ($87 million) transfer from Real Madrid to, er, Manchester City.
The Brazilian confirmed his
enthusiasm for playing at Eastlands when chatting to journalists about the late transfer: "On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted."A puzzled reporter raised an eyebrow: "You mean Manchester, right?" "Yeah, Manchester, sorry!" answered Robinho. True passion.
Aussie sports minister Kate Ellis has honoured her Olympic bet about medal table rankings with British counterpart Gerry Sutcliffe and worn the Team GB kit in Beijing. On yer.
He might be confused about club loyalties, but Robinho knows where he stands with Brazil. The wizard winger graffitied Chile's dressing room door before Sunday's World Cup qualifier. The scribbler wrote: "There must be respect for the best team in the world."
"Chile should have respected Brazil for our tradition," he said after the 3-0 away win. "Maybe if they had played more defensively, they would have made it more difficult for us. But they tried to play us on equal terms and you saw the result."
Well done, Daniel Vettori. The Black Caps skipper has stealthily moved back to the top of the ICC one-day rankings for bowlers. Those surprised to see Vettori move to the top the table despite hardly playing of late might get an indication of the table's credibility from a quick glance at the bowler currently ranked third in the world: Take a bow Shane Bond, who last played the pyjama game back in April 24, 2007.
Andy Murray looks the part. He gives the ball a fair whack and snarls when appropriate so maybe the Brits have finally found their man. Remember, better players than him have been swept aside by Federer in a major final, as happened on Tuesday.
In his recently released autobiography Murray talks about surviving the Dunblane massacre, not liking the English and strange fruit. "Players sit there and eat [bananas] at changeovers, but it can't be to give them energy because they take ages to digest. To be honest, I think bananas are a pathetic fruit."
Drunk Russki Ivan Ukhov is SuperShorts' new favourite highjumper. To find out why witness this at this link.
A bad week for ...
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has spent the week denying allegations he was caught on CCTV shagging in a parking lot after a booze session. "I knew there were still people who do not want a black coach; I just never knew the extent people would go to discredit me," he said. The extent they'd go to to discredit him is nothing compared to the lengths those 15 chumps in green jerseys went a couple of weeks back, losing 19-0 to the All Blacks.
SuperShorts loves a good conspiracy and proposes this alternative: De Villiers fills the Saffer sports pages with such vehement denials that the small matter of guiding a World Cup-winning side to the bottom of the Tri-Nations is forgotten amid the polarising moral outrage.
Also feeling the heat is Tana Umaga, who's expensively-assembled Toulon side lost 25-18 to Mont-de-Marsan (a team, oddly enough, with no pouting former NRL primadonnas).
Toulon president, Mourad Boudjellal, was unimpressed. "That was the most shameful defensive bonus point in the history of rugby! Out of six halves we have played since the start of the season, we've had only one good one. People ask me for players, but I can't buy the best in the world for every position. I have been staying away from everything for a while, but it is high time that this club remembers it has a boss." Clearly the biggest boss around those parts is not Umaga.
Australian Paralympian Peter Leek has been told off for wearing "immodest" swimmers at the Water Cube in Beijing. Sydneysider Leek, 19, won the S8 100 metres butterfly final but was told his togs - like those worn by Michael Phelps - were "unacceptable".
The problem? The togs are only meant to be worn two or three times, but Leek considers his pair "lucky" so keeps wearing them well past the use-by-date. The result: arse-crack slippage. "Anyway, I'm over the moon," he said. "I've being waiting 10 years for this gold medal."
