Silly collection of sports-related links

Okay, so Germany lost 4:1 against Italy yesterday in the football. Just a friendly, but when you are preparing for the World Cup in your own country, these things don't tend to go down well. I'm wondering whether the Germans will make World Cup history by being the first host nation not to get past the group stage.

I like football, but don't get overly excited about the national team. I'm also not buying the hype about hosting the World Cup - so what?

Still, it means more people are learning German and can join in with the German football fans when they are singing "Schiri, wir wissen, wo Dein Auto steht." or shorter, but funnier: "Schiri, Telefon!".

Also, parents who obsess about their children's sporting careers seriously scare me. Quite often they transfer their own missed opportunities onto their kids and burden them with their expectations. Usually it's all quite harmless, but read what happens when things go very wrong: Father accused of drugging his children's tennis rivals.

Links via http://news.bbc.co.uk/