Supershorts: Jimmy Spithill's Cup insights

There's never a bad time to repeat what might have been Rodney Dangerfield's only funny line: "I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out.'' Photo / AP

Counting the penalties, Jimmy Spithill's Cup insights and the kiss seen by 7 million viewers

Paying the penalty

It's not always been easy to feel sorry for our South African brethren, but there was an OTT outpouring of sympathy following the Bismarck du Plessis sending-off at Eden Park. Mwah, mwah, we all cried, the refs are always picking on South Africa.

Not so much, as it turns out. After five rounds of the Rugby Championship, the woeful Wallabies are the most put-upon team - referees have pulled them up for penalties 60 times. The All Blacks have been penalised 57 times and Argentina 50.

The angelic Africans have conceded only 43 penalties. The problem is, when they do something wrong, they tend to do something really wrong - cue Flip van der Merwe's awful hit on Joe Tomane last week.

Winning words

Victorious Oracle skipper and Auckland property magnate Jimmy Spithill did a live chat with American sports website Deadspin this week. Some of the more interesting lines were as follows:

On the race they were saved from losing by the time limit rule - "I knew the time limit would be an issue because of the flood tide and how long it took to complete the upwind leg. But I couldn't figure out the time as they had delayed the start six minutes, so I was all messed up."

On how it felt to beat "pesky foreigners" - "It felt bloody great!"

Did you feel even the least bit bad when you watched that super slow-mo video of the New Zealand people's faces during the last few races? - "No. But I love NZ, it's an awesome place and I've got a lot of great mates there."

Name for the game

San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner is dropping the 'W' from his name after he was fined US$21,000 ($25,250) by the NFL for a hit on St Louis Rams' wide receiver Chris Givens. Whitner, or should that be Hitner, said he would appeal against the penalty and has made up T-shirts with #LegalHitner on the front that he will sell to drum up support.

Now, ESPN reports, he has gone one step further.

"I put the paperwork in yesterday afternoon," he said in a conference call. "So from here on out until I retire, my name will be Donte Hitner." He said he had considered the name change in the offseason, but his mother wouldn't go for it.

Low blow

Joke doing the rounds of English soccer fans: It's taken years for David Moyes to try to get Everton to Manchester United's level... and he's finally done it.

Hmmm ... Commentator during Liverpool's match with Sunderland, after returning striker Luis Suarez scored his second goal, raising his shirt to reveal a welcome message to his newborn son Benja: "There's a tribute to his second son. His second coming has been a successful one."

Quite.

Off-the-ball play

WNBA rivals Diana Taurasi and Seimone Augustus made headlines this week after both players received double personal fouls for kissing. Taurasi, playing for the Phoenix Mercury, instigated the exchange during her side's playoff loss to the Minnesota Lynx. Footage of the kiss has had more than seven million hits on YouTube.

"As far as me and Diana and the tango dance that we had, I always say she just wanted some of my deliciousness," Augustus joked. Said Taurasi: "I was just trying to make sweet love. That's about it."