Bullying, booze and drugs make a splash in the pool  ...  Del Piero sticks with Sydney ... ACC scares sponsors from league  ... Blade runner has his day in court  ...  Neill breaks Hearts  ...  Southern Stars on top of the world  ...  Black Caviar rolls on  ...

EXPENSIVE MISTAKE

The ink was still wet on his near $12million contract when Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano broke his arm during a prank played on his kids. Liriano tried to scare his kids by slamming himself into a door but the joke backfired when he broke his non-pitching arm. To add insult, the Pirates tore up his new, multi-year contract once the severity of the injury became known and Liriano had to settle for a revised $1.5million deal, which includes bonuses.

WINGS CLIPPED

West Coast Eagles recruit Sharrod Wellingham will miss the rest of the NAB Cup and is in doubt for the start of the AFL season proper after damaging ankle ligaments on a trampoline. Wellingham may have been practising his “speckies” when he landed awkwardly on the trampoline and the former Collingwood player will swap his footy boots for a moon boot for the next few weeks.

MERCENARY APPROACH

Forget diving, a Peruvian footballer has taken sportsmanship to a new low. Cesar Vallejo striker Piero Alva scored after his rival goalkeeper dropped the ball when he collapsed on the pitch. Club Union Comercio goalkeeper Juan Flores fell ill with heatstroke during a Peruvian premier-division match and play appeared to have stopped as his teammates came to his aid. As a Union Comercio defender attempted to clear the ball to allow medics to attend to his teammate, Alva pounced on the opportunity to deflect the ball into the net. While Alva didn’t celebrate, he showed no signs of remorse in the post-match media conference. “Football is for the living,” he said.

NANI NAP

Just weeks after Paul Scholes had his car stolen from his driveway with the engine still running, his teammate Nani joined his vehicular blushes after colliding with a police car. The Portuguese winger was driving his $271,000 Bentley when he was involved in an accident with an unmarked police car that was attending to an emergency call in Stockport, Britain. Neither driver was harmed but the passenger in the police vehicle was taken to hospital for minor injures.

TENNIS AFTERLIFE

Andy Roddick may have retired six months ago but that hasn’t stopped the American from rising up the ATP rankings. Roddick jumped two places from No.42 to No.40 despite hanging up his racquet in September. He leapfrogged Victor Troicki and Nikolay Davydenko, who lost in the early rounds of the Rotterdam Open last year.

IF YOU’RE NOT WATCHING SPORT YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING TO ...  

San Cisco. San Cisco. “I think of our songs as capturing someone’s memory,’’ says frontman Jordi Davieson. On the strength of these tunes, the memories are all good. Pop genius.
@EarsMcEvoy

IT’S NOT A MONKEY RIDING  A GREYHOUND BUT YOU’LL LIKE IT ...

The ‘‘Harlem Shake’’ may seem like a three-minute fad but the supporters and students of Maryland college have given it some legitimacy with an impressive all-in flash mob at a basketball match against Duke. The seemingly choreographed move lead by the student body caught on with every spectator inside the packed arena. The tunes may be tacky, but the performance is certainly a spectacle and apparently the match wasn’t bad either as Maryland won by just two points. Search:  Maryland flash mob.

SLATER BANNED

Toronto Blue Jays recruit Mark Buehrle has left his family behind in the US because one of his dogs was not allowed in Canada. Buehrle moved to Toronto from Miami Marlins but his family remained in the US to be with their dog Slater, which is a mix of bulldog and staffordshire bull terrier – banned in Toronto because of its relation to pit bulls. The family were not prepared to leave the dog with friends, relatives or in a kennel and opted for a long-distance relationship. ‘‘He’s an awesome dog,’’ Buehrle said. ‘That’s what’s a shame, just the way he looks is why we have to get separated.’’