Supershorts: Hard to rise

Phil Mickelson has revealed that he has psoriatic arthritis - that's a chronic autoimmune disease that affects about 1 in 100 people. Apparently it makes it difficult to get out of bed - insert your own Tiger Woods joke here.

Blue numbers

It's early days and all that, but anyone wanting to follow the smart money when picking the likely winner in English soccer's big shebang would be advised to consider Chelsea's run of six Premier League matches for a return of 31 goals scored and none conceded. Wigan have been the most generous contributors, boosting the Blues' goal differential with 14 goals in two matches.

Wigan's luck

Wigan's website offered a unique take on the club's season-opening 6-0 loss to Chelsea: "Unlucky".

A Savage shoeing

Welsh soccer player Robbie Savage was berated by a caller to his radio show for being out of touch with common people. The caller claimed to have seen the Derby midfielder buying seven pairs of new sneakers.

"You're a liar. You're a liar. You're a liar. You're a liar. You're a liar. You're a liar," said Savage. "I get 'em for nowt anyway."

Cash perspective I

The amount spent by Premier League clubs in the transfer window (the lowest spending since 2006) = $760 million.

The amount donated by the international community to flood relief in Pakistan, where one fifth of the country is covered in water = $621 million.

Cash perspective II

Manchester City have become the Premier League's biggest transfer spenders. From the League's total spend of $760 million, City topped the bill, shedding the kind of money that would make even Alan Hubbard pause to think, $274 million of new talent arriving at Eastlands.

By contrast, reigning champions Chelsea were second in the spending league with a relatively parsimonious $54 million worth of Roman Abramovich's hastily acquired Siberian wealth thrown to the wind. Manchester United dropped $51 million, Liverpool $41 million and, oddly, Sunderland rounded out the big spenders with $40 million.

Cash perspective III

All of which means that fans of City, Chelsea, United, Liverpool and - er - Sunderland might feel morally compelled to go to www.redcross.org.nz to make a transfer to aid Pakistani flood relief efforts. Just $13 will buy a blanket - which seems cheap until you consider that Liverpool got Joe Cole for free.