Supershorts: Rainman rules

Organising a top-flight sports event is a tough job - as the train passengers who walked along the tracks to the opening match of the Rugby World Cup will tell you - that's why Colombian FA officials handling last year's Under-20 World Cup took no chances with the weather. They paid a shaman $12,000 "to prevent rain".

"Had it rained, the event would not have taken place," said organiser Martha Ana Pizarro, "It didn't rain, so it was a success: we'd use him again."

Punter love
Call us judgmental, but it's hard to imagine liking Ricky Ponting. However, it's easy to admire the Convict hero, who ignored the knockers for long enough to post a double century and get honoured in the Order of Australia.

Fun with Brazilians I
Brazilian club Caldense will welcome defender Leandrao back to the playing side this weekend after a fortnight out fighting a chronic case of hiccups. "At first we felt it was kind of funny," says Caldense spokesman Gustavo Mendanha. "But then it got unusual."

Fun with Brazilians II
More from Brazil: Club side Brasiliense say that adding club-themed soft porn to their website "brings people closer together" (nothing new there fellas, quite a lot of porn involves bringing people closer together - or so we've been told). Number of hits on the club website pre-porn: 2000 a day. Number of hits in the first six hours of the club-themed porn going online: 200,000.

"Yes, there will be criticism, but that's life," says a club spokesman. "Criticism happens in all sectors. We're expecting plenty of praise."

(For the record: the most exciting thing on www.theblues.co.nz as this edition went to press was video highlights of the 30-23 victory over Natal in 1996. Phwoaaar!)

Fun with Brazilians III
Flamengo keeper Bruno Fernandes is back in training and, according to his lawyer Rui Pimenta in good shape for a comeback. "The boy's in good shape. The fans love him. When he gets out, Flamengo will have to take him back." "Gets out" of prison, that is. Fernandes has been held on remand for 19 months charged with murdering his ex-lover, Eliza Samudio, who was strangled, dismembered and fed to dogs. He denies the charges.

Fun with Brazilians V
Also in Brazil: A loan deal taking Anderson from Sao Bernardo to rival club XV de Jau was signed on a Wednesday. On Friday he arrived at training "too drunk to move". "I've totally had it," says the Sao Bernardo coach. "We sent him to Jau and asked him not to cause trouble. It took him two days."

Fun with Brazilians VI
And you thought the NRL was full of nutters, eh ...

Nonu earns his keep
Call it the SBW effect. Ma'a Nonu might miss the first Blues game of the season because his Japanese club side - Ricoh Black Rams, in case you're not following the Top League - could make the playoffs. After all the fuss about Dan Carter's sabbatical and SBW's boxing exemptions, how did this slip under the radar?

An unfortunate No 1
Caroline Wozniacki's unloved reign as the No 1 player in women's tennis is over after 15 months. Her numbers make for miserable reading.

Wozniacki has played in 20 Grand Slam tournaments since 2007, but only made one final: the US Open in 2009. You guessed it, she lost.

Her defeat to Kim Clijsters was the 14th time she has been beaten at a major by a player ranked lower than herself. It's not her fault, but the system produced a stinker of a No 1.

A shade better

Helpful advice I
Li Na has a message of thanks to all those helpful Chinese supporters who hurl suggestions at her during matches and, she says, when she's walking down the street minding her own business.

"Maybe they think I'm stupid so they coach me. But I would like to say I'm not stupid. I can play very good tennis. I think if they come to see more tennis they will know not to shout. It is something I couldn't change. I don't have to listen to what they say. I have to focus on my tennis."

Helpful advice II
Ana Ivanovic (beau of Aussie golfer Adam Scott) has tips for Caroline Wozniacki (Rory McIlroy) on dating a golfer. "She did ask me like what kind of shoes should I take to walk on the course."

The answer (jot this down, ladies): "Just the most comfortable ones."

(Un-)making a racket I
Dmitry Tursunov, the amiable Russian racket-destructor whose tips we ran last week, has this to say about the importance of preparation when smashing tennis rackets.

"There have been a couple of times in matches when I have broken rackets on my knee. No, it wasn't painful for my knee, just painful for the racket. That's why you have to practise to get your racket-smashing right."

(Un-)making a racket II
The last word on racket destruction. For now. Tursunov says deal with the remorse and move on.

"Afterwards, you feel a bit sorry that you've done it, and you're like, 'Yeah, I'll make it up to you darling, my little racket'. But the racket is broken and you know that it's never going to be the same again."

Nine-year streak
Forget Novak Djokovic's 43-match unbeaten streak in the first half of 2011. Women's wheelchair gun Esther Vergeer hasn't lost a singles match in nine years.

Vergeer is competing at the Australian Open and the last time she lost a match was in January 2003.