SuperShorts: Eating for Tu-a?

After seeing the swell of publicity Jenny Craig pin-up girl Magda Szubanski attracted after shedding 25kg, a slimmed-down David Tua held a "big reveal" of his own this week. Six weeks out from his fight with Shane Cameron, Tua held a media session in Auckland to show off his new trimmed-down figure. The Tuaman, who has lost a whopping 21kg already, punched a few bags for the cameras while the journos tucked in to chips and sausages. Let's hope the leftovers didn't find their way in to the locker room.

Jackson gloves it
Jermaine Jackson found a new meaning for the word "victory" at Dodger Stadium. Jermaine, the singing brother of Michael and the original lead singer of the Jackson 5, was sitting in the Dugout Club right behind the Dodgers' dugout during the home team's 9-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves. In the bottom of the second inning, Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal lifted a foul ball toward the area where Jackson was sitting, and Jackson didn't hesitate. Jermaine, a right-hander wearing a Manny Ramirez No99 jersey, made a nifty backhanded grab and celebrated the snatching of the souvenir. Not surprisingly, Jermaine caught the ball while wearing one glove. A baseball glove.

Lucky number
You realise how bad it's become for the Warriors when the most positive angle in the club's press releases is Micheal Luck's tackle count. For the record, Luck is eight tackles short of the 900-mark for the season and is on a quest to become the first NRL player to break 1000. His 54 against Gold Coast was the sixth time this year he has topped the 50 mark.

More good news
Just when his sport needed him most, former Manly halfback Craig Field came dashing to the rescue. As the poisonous fallout from the Greg Inglis affair rumbled on, Field was there to provide the antidote. Even beleaguered NRL boss David Gallop cracked a smile when he heard that Field had been found not guilty of, er, staging an armed robbery. And they say there are no good news stories in league.

Cutting to the chase
Justin Langer's not one for high-falutin' psychoanalysis. The former Aussie slugger offered a free-of-charge dissertation on the mental weaknesses of the England team for Ricky Ponting's men to chew over. According to Professor Langer, England bowler James Anderson is a "bit of a pussy" and the England team as a whole are "lazy", "shallow" and "flat". Too bloody right, Professor!

Gloomy Schumy
Call us sceptical but ... something about Michael Schumacher's "comeback" rings a little hollow. Felipe Massa's injury was clearly unfortunate, but was Schumacher ever going to enter the cockpit? Consider the press the team got - more than has been garnered by series leaders Brawn all season - just for floating the guy's name.

Badoer ready to tear up
On a happy note, Massa's eventual replacement, Luca Badoer, is most famous for having the guts fall out of his car the last time he was driving at the top level (when he fell short of bagging a first-ever championship point), and bawling his eyes out on global television.

More emotion than Schumy, in any case ...

Good week for...

Kiwi cyclists
Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Cameron Karwowski made New Zealand cycling history in winning sprint gold at the junior world track cycling champs in Moscow. No Kiwi cyclist has previously won a sprint medal at any world champs or Olympics.

Bad week for...

David Gallop

Just when the NRL boss thought the season could get no worse, along comes allegations Storm poster-boy Greg Inglis assaulted his girlfriend. Sponsors are already nervous after several controversies this season and this will only make it worse.

The number

$814,964

Is the amount of money New Zealand rookie professional golfer Danny Lee needs to earn to remain in the US and secure unlimited starts on the PGA Tour. The 19-year-old has earned $595,127 so far on the tour.