Yes, Norway's men's team is back with their crazy, funky pants. And they'll be more outrageous than ever when the players emerge for their first game at the Ice Cube.
"Put it like this, you'll not see me wearing them," said Norway coach Pal Trulsen. "Except maybe at a bad-taste party or something."
The Norwegians - Thomas Ulsrud, Torgor Nergard, Christoffer Svae and Havard Vad Petersson - caused a stir at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 when they took to the ice for the tournament's opening game against Canada wearing bold, diamond-printed golf pants in their nation's colours. Curlers had always worn basic black uniforms, so tradition was thrown out of the window.
Spectators couldn't believe what they were seeing. The pants became one of the talking points of the games. Even the Norwegian monarch, King Harald V, received a pair.
A Facebook page dedicated to "The Norwegian Olympic Curling Team's Pants" peaked at 695,000 followers during the games.
Trophy grows on Tiger
Tiger Woods was posing for pictures with a trophy yesterday at Torrey Pines, and the tournament had not even started.
The trophy Woods received on the eve of his title defence at the Farmers Insurance Open was for being voted PGA Tour player of the year for the 11th time.
Woods doesn't take winning for granted, even if others don't appreciate how difficult it is.
That includes his daughter.
Woods told a story of 6-year-old Sam being curious about the Torrey pine on the trophy, which reminded his daughter of the Bonsai tree she had seen in the Karate Kid.
"She thought that's what it was," Woods said. "I said, 'No, they're a little bit bigger than that.' I had to go online and show her the pictures and everything. I had all these trophies lined up and she said, 'You need to get one of those'."
Woods tried to explain to her that it wasn't that simple; that he had to play better golf than 155 other guys to earn it.
"She said, 'okay, go do it'," he said.
And so he did. Woods had an eight-shot lead on the back nine before the final round in a fog-delayed tournament was so backed up that it took forever to finish and Woods lost patience.
He won by four shots, and then surprised tournament officials when he wanted to take the trophy home on the plane instead of the tradition of shipping. He did not want to walk in the door as the winner at Torrey Pines without that trophy.
"They put it literally in the middle of the living room," Woods said. "Everybody was dancing around the trophy."
Lydia rings changes
Accessory-loving teenager Lydia Ko revealed she spent some of her first LPGA earnings on a new ring. She also has an all-new cast of swing coach, clubs and caddie this year and has made slight changes to her swing but "nothing dramatic" for the season's start in the Bahamas.
Cook finally steps up
England cricket captain Alistair Cook came in for a lot of stick for his leadership in Australia this summer but when spotted (by Supershorts) at a Thai restaurant in Sydney part-way through the fifth test disaster he was at his assertive best as it came to paying for the meal. Cook was quickly on his feet to sort the bill at the moderately priced Wok Station and ensured it was divvied up evenly between a big group of pals - of whom none appeared to be teammates. Cook and his group left at a respectable hour, just before 10pm. He may as well have stuck around for another Singha - he was out second ball the next day for 7 at the SCG.
As for his teammates - to borrow a phrase once applied to the All Blacks - during the test they appeared to have "all the gaiety of grave-diggers", mooching around with WAGs and kids in apartments attached to Darling Harbour's Star Casino not far from the eatery.
iPad winners
We had a huge response to our contest for two iPad minis this week. So who is the captain of the touring India cricket team? MS Dhoni. Denise Rogers, of Papakura, and Rob Carter, of Papamoa, are the winners.
