Supershorts: Give us a Blues clue

Mystics netball players Julie Corletto (left) and Maria Tutaia with Classic Hits host Stacey Morrison. Photo / Dena Purcell

Warney puts a typically positive spin on rumours of attraction to lingerie magnate.

We embarked on a couple of torturous intellectual exercises in SuperShorts Towers this week. Right after solving this problem - how many four-digit numbers are there such that the thousands digit is equal to the sum of the other three digits? - we moved on to this: name the best three Blues' first-fives in history? One was easy enough, two was tough, three was impossible. Help.

I wasn't porn, er born, yesterday

St Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is the latest athlete to pull out the "my account was hacked" defence after a Twitter mishap. Martinez's followers were treated to an assortment of pornographic treats and links off his favourites page, much to the embarrassment of the Cardinals and the pitcher himself. "We're embarrassed, and he's embarrassed," manager Mike Matheny said. "I'm not trying to shove my morality down anybody's throat. I've made that very clear. But I also need to be concerned about it [and] realise, is this something you'd want your kids to see?" The following day Martinez told a reporter his account was "compromised".

Unfazed Warne scores a single

Aussie cricketing great Shane Warne is doing a PR blitz for an online gambling website in which they set him a series of challenges, including being shot at close range by paintballs and, wait for it, facing his biggest fear - spiders. "I'm actually not scared of anything. Except spiders. I can't even get through the movie Arachnophobia, and I have tried four times," Warne said. But that's not the really interesting Warne story, is it? The Sun hit him for six with this stunning headline (above) about an alleged affair with lingerie magnate Michelle Mone, however Warne - who announced he had split from fiancee Elizabeth Hurley on Wednesday - was not taking it lying down: "Just read some more ludicrous & laughable reporting on me, what an absolute load of rubbish," he tweeted.

We're sure staff at British tabloid the Sun were high-fiving one another around the office after this uber-headline.

Adidas balls up

From British daily Metro's Oddballs column: "World Cup t-shirts featuring bikini-clad bottoms posing as hearts and cartoon beauties on the beach have been pulled from sale. The adidas shirts, featuring slogans like 'Looking to score?' are off the shelves after Brazilian authorities complained they were sexualising the nation's image. Brazil has been trying to distance itself from the sexual stereotypes associated with the country for decades. Adidas, a frontline World Cup sponsor and supplier of the tournament's Brazuca ball, say they are happy to comply and have withdrawn the shirts from sale."

Quick wit

Barry Switzer, the former Super Bowl-winning Dallas Cowboys coach, had this to say when asked whether NFL owners would consider drafting openly gay defender Michael Sam: "There are owners out there who would draft Charles Manson if he could run a 4.2s 40m."

Log jam in Almanack

The 2014 Rugby Almanack has a curious team photos page that represents an interesting conundrum. The Otago, Hawkes Bay and Counties Manukau teams are all posing with the Ranfurly Shield. The Log o' Wood had a jet-setting year, but surely for the purposes of an end-of-year teampic, only Counties had rights to the Shield?

Classic combination

The Radio Network's Classic Hits has won the right to be "official radio station" of the five New Zealand ANZ Championship netball teams for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Classic Hits will sponsor the ANZ Championship competition and each of the New Zealand teams, and is the official radio station of the Silver Ferns and also the Fast5 tournament. Breakfast host Stacey Morrison said: "Netball is a leading sport in New Zealand with so many of our listeners involved as a player, a coach, an official or as a parent on the side of the court each week. Classic Hits will be at every ANZ Championship game so fans can tune in to win tickets, VIP experiences and hear player interviews."