With all that said, the worst aspect of World Cup soccer has been the diving. I can’t stand these prissy bitches who whine and complain for 90 minutes. The action is identical each game:

• They kick a ball around until they find an opportunity to run with it
• They run up field into a defender
• Once contact is made, they flop on the ground
• Slowly get up staring at the ref the whole time
• If needed, raise both arms in disbelief
• If awarded a free kick, get up and walk it off, be sure wince
• If not awarded a free kick, get up slowly, look shocked.

Today, while watching Portugal lose to Spain I couldn’t help but to feel bad for Ricardo Costa who got a red card with 11 minutes left in the game. Take a look at the replay, do you think this Spaniard actually got hit in the face here? You can park a truck between these two, yet the Spaniard acts like he just punched in the face.

Italy’s Daniele De Rossi dive from the group stage action, this looks more like he was taken down by a sniper.

How about this Gem from Kader Keita of the Ivory Coast during a group stage game against Brazil. Kaka got a red card for this. (Sorry about the crap video, FIFA appears to be getting all “copyrighty” with these game action clips, red card is at 48 seconds in.)

Now, I know the hardcore soccer fans out there will defend each dive noted above, but these are just the worst of the worst, every 10 minutes of a soccer game I see a player fall over nothing, I swear soccer teams have drama coaches on the sidelines. I have European friends who have gone out of their way to explain how diving is simply part of the game? It sounds like cheating to me.

I’m a hockey player, I understand the dive and how it can be used to manipulate games, and naturally hockey sees it’s fair share of diving too. However, the NHL evolves with the times has instituted a couple rules against diving in the league. The most important one being that players can be fined and suspended after the game, if the league feels a player embellished a hit even if the refs missed it during the action. Check it out in the official rule book, do you think we might see less diving in World Cup soccer if the player knew he could be fined or suspended? Better hire better drama coaches is probably how soccer would respond.

Just for good measure, here is an example of embellishment in hockey.

Police say drugs or alcohol were not involved. I would advise them to check again.

• NBC11News: Woman blames crash on vampire

In the case of Danette Stark of Salt Lake City Utah, the goal was clear and went along the lines of,  ”How can I humiliate my daughters nemesis.”

The end result was a photoshopped this NSFW photo* of the nemesis having sex with animals. Stark now faces 18 counts of sexual exploitation after taking these photoshopped images and posting them in bathroom at her daughters high school. Certainly an early contender for “Mother of the Year.”

• Fox News 13: Woman faces charges for obscene revenge act against teen
• Deseret News: Motive for ‘heinous’ brochure with teen photo unclear
• MySpace: Danette Stark

*Not really the photoshopped photo in question

Nunley was drunk, which leads me to believe he was inspired by Kim Mitchell to go for the soda.

• NYPost.com – Soda jerk drags off vending machine
• WTVC – Sparks fly in Cola Caper
• WATE – Man drags soda machine behind truck
• YouTube – Kim Mitchell – Go for Soda

The story I chose was from January 2009, just before I started this blog. It’s about a family who called the media to complain about a Shop Rite store who would not put their sons name on his birthday cake, the sons name was Adolf Hitler Campbell.

The family insisted they were not racist white supremacists as they showed off their Nazi tattoos to the media and introduced Adolf’s sister named Joyce Lynn Aryan Nation Campbell and his even younger sister named Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell. Needless to say, child services decided the parents were unfit to raise children.

• NBC – Adolf Hitler, Sisters Taken from Parents’ Home
• Huffington Post – Adolf Hitler Campbell Taken From Parents By Police

• Raw Story – Vader Rings in opening bell on NYSE

• Politico – Sarah Palin cuts vacation short
• TPM – Palin Cuts Vacation Short Over Blacked-Out Visor Flap

• News Channel 9 Tennessee – Drunk Four year old Steals presents

Read it out loud, it’s fun.

(Bill O’Reilly:) Let me be very bold and fresh again, do you believe that you are smart enough, incisive enough, intellectual enough to handle the most powerful job in the world?

(Sarah Palin:) I believe that I am because I have common sense and I have I believe the values that I think are reflective of so many other American values, and I believe that what Americans are seeking is not the elitism, the um, the ah, a kind of spineless, spinelessness that perhaps is made up for that with some kind of elite, Ivy league education and, and a fat resume that is based on anything but hard work and private sector, free enterprise principles. Americans are could be seeking something like that in positive change in their leadership, I’m not saying that that has to be me.