Arjen Robben admits diving during Mexico game

Arjen Robben was a constant presence in Memo Ochoa's penalty area during the Netherlands' 2-1 victory over Mexico on Sunday, but unfortunately most of his time there was spent sprawled on the ground demanding a penalty. Eventually he got one, winning the game, but it took about five tries before referee Pedro Procena bought Robben's falls.

And after the match, the Bayern Munich star admitted that at least some of them had been dives:

The one at the end was a penalty, I was fouled. At the same time I have to apologise in the first half I took a dive and I really shouldn't do that. That was a stupid, stupid thing to do but sometimes you're expecting to be struck and then they pull their leg away at the last minute.

Although the last-gasp penalty probably, maybe, was the right call, it's very strange that Robben escaped a booking for simulation earlier in the match. He admitted diving, a yellow card offence, and it's not out of the question that he doesn't go down quite so easily if he's already on a yellow card.

Mexico will presumably get even more annoyed about the outcome now that Robben's admitted he was trying to cheat in the first half.

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Uruguay president calls FIFA fascist 'sons of bitches'

You know you've managed to upset an entire country when their president calls you 'a bunch of old sons of bitches' in public. That's how Uruguay's president Jose Mujica described FIFA on Sunday at a reception for the Uruguay side that lost 2-0 to Colombia in the Round of 16. You won't be surprised to find out that he's talking about Luis Suarez, suspended for nine international matches and given a four-month blanket ban from the sport after biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.

While it's amusing to hear the President of Uruguay go after FIFA, it's unlikely to be particularly helpful to the national team's cause -- they keep shooting themselves in the foot in reaction to Suarez Bite #3, and with an appeal currently open one would imagine a degree of contrition might be be helpful in getting the ban (President Mujica described it as 'fascist') reduced. Insulting FIFA? Probably less helpful.

But at least the whole country's being consistent, I guess.

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How to put pants on without using your hands

1+ million views in less than two days. Honestly, that's not enough.

How To Put On Pants With No Hands

(1) Stretch

(2) ???

(3) You did it!

(via @SladeHV)

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WWE Money in the Bank 2014: What we learned

There's a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion and a new Mr. Money in the Bank. So where do we go from here?

Sunday night's Money in the Bank pay-per-view featured two ladder matches, an unexpected amount of blood and some wonderful performances from a handful of younger stars. In the end, though?

But it's okay. It'll be okay. Shhhhhh. Shhhhhhhhh. Dry those eyes, people. Let's look back at Money in the Bank and try to make sense of it all.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos (c) def. The Wyatt Family

Many predicted that the Wyatt Family of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan might walk away with the tag titles on Sunday night, but it appears they're going to have to wait a bit longer. The champs retained and all four men looked great.

What we learned: This feud (which will almost certainly continue, as there are only two other tag teams on the main roster at the moment and WWE doesn't seem interested in doing much with RybAxel) is definitely a worthy successor to the Wyatts/Shield feud, which was one of the greatest sustained tag team/stable feuds in recent WWE history. These teams work wonderfully together and successfully make the Wyatts look like monsters. It also provides an extended spotlight for Harper, who is quietly one of the very best wrestlers in the world right now. A great opener and if nothing else, a reminder that the Tag Team Championship is in good hands for the time being.

Divas Championship Match: Paige (c) def. Naomi

The first match of the night where the result was never really in much doubt. This was a surprisingly good match that served to make Paige continue to look strong and show off a third finisher: a sweet cradle DDT.

What we learned: Something weird is going on with the Funkadactyls and a breakup is almost certainly on the way. Cameron looked bored during the match, unreasonably pleased when her tag team partner lost and looked exceedingly disingenuous while consoling Naomi afterwards. Cameron actually got to show off a lot of neat offense we've never seen from her before, including a split-legged moonsault and some submission holds. The Divas division is only getting better and is slowly training fans to appreciate longer, better women's matches before the spectacularly talented NXT talent moves onto the main roster Divas division.

Adam Rose def. Paul Revere (Damien Sandow)

Sandow's identity crisis continued in Boston, as he came out dressed as "Paul Revere" and faced Adam Rose in an unannounced match.

What we learned: No one is sure what's going on with Sandow at this point and people (especially on the Internet) continue to not be 100% sold on Adam Rose. Personally, I think both things are fine at the moment and they wrestled a perfectly competent match that saw the heel get his comeuppance after insulting the local crowd. It's just Wrestling 101, folks. Both men could use an actual feud at this point (not with each other, necessarily, but whatever) as they continue to tread water but be entertaining while doing so. Or maybe Sandow can finally find his calling in life as a member of one of the Exotic Express Rosebuds.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Seth Rollins def. Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam, Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger

Rollins and Triple H proved themselves to be men of their word, as Rollins captured the briefcase and accompanying WWE World Heavyweight Championship title shot after winning a grueling, fantastic ladder match (with a little help from his Authority pal, Kane).

What we learned: Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are destined to be stars. The crowd heat was off the charts any time these two locked up and was DYING to see Ambrose win the match. When it looked like victory was in Ambrose's grasp, everyone was going bonkers, which made it even more gutting when Kane's pyro went off and he came down to interfere. The reaction on Twitter was particularly entertaining. It is Rollins' time to shine right now and the one-on-one feud between him and Ambrose (possibly for the briefcase) is going to be spectacular. The groundswell of support for Ambrose is something really special right now and sort of proves what a big deal the Shield was. It looks like all three of the former members of the Shield are destined to be megastars, as well they should be. As for the Kane interference, it's actually the perfectly correct thing to do. It cements Rollins as a dastardly heel who, although he is wiling to put his body on the line (he really took some ridiculous bumps in this match), may be leaning a bit too heavily on his friends in high places at the moment. Further, Kane interfering in the match to help Rollins to victory could be a longview bit of history that will sow the seeds of Rollins' eventual splitting from Triple H and the Authority. You never know.

Oh, also: everyone still loves Dolph Ziggler. A lot. He may not get another run on top for a few years, but if he chooses to stay with the company (it will be his choice, by the way; WWE knows what they have in him and he will ALWAYS have the support of the crowd and serve as a main eventer in a "break glass in case of emergency" situation), he will be an all-time great. If nothing else, he'll be fine and continues to have the crowd in the palm of his hand any time he wants. Stop worrying about Dolph Ziggler, guys: he's doing great.

Goldust and Stardust def. Ryback and Curtis Axel

The Dust Brothers/Rhodes Bros. continue to look good and excel at being weirdos. They picked up the win over RybAxel (again) to keep their momentum alive. Against RybAxel.

What we learned: The Rhodes Bros. probably need to get a different opponent. Nothing against RybAxel but fans can only watch the same matchup so many times. Except John Cena vs. Randy Orton, of course. That one never gets old. (NOTE: That was sarcasm.) Let's get the Dust Brothers into a title feud and get RybAxel something new to do.

Also, Curt Axel is now wearing a singlet similar to his father, Mr. Perfect. But it could still use some better fitting up top.

TOO HOT FOR TV.

Rusev def. Big E

A rematch from last month's Payback, two big guys who are good at beating one another up ended with Rusev's undefeated streak still intact.

What we learned: As with the previous match, these two need something new to do. Sometimes you can have a couple of really talented people go at it, but there's just no reason for anyone to care. Let's get these guys involved with something that has some stakes. Or steaks. An eating contest might be fun.

No, scratch that idea. That's stupid. Don't listen to me, WWE. Please.

Layla def. Summer Rae (with special guest referee Fandango)

This was what it was. Not on the level of the first Divas match of the night but something to give the crowd a breather before the main event. Layla won the battle of potential Fandango girlfriends and Fandango got to wear awesome pants with his referee shirt.

What we learned: Maybe the feud is over. Maybe it isn't It probably should be. We'll find out on "Raw!"

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match: John Cena def. Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, Kane, Roman Reigns, Cesaro, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio

Never in doubt. Had it all the way.

What we learned: That WWE can make it explicitly clear that John Cena is winning the title, can do everything to prepare you for that short of saying on television, "Yo, Cena's gonna win" and the Internet will STILL freak the hell out when Cena wins. Seriously, the Twitter vitriol was off the charts, even from (especially from) the people who predicted the correct result and joked about how it was inevitable. Cena backlash is always expected but when he grabbed the belts, you'd think he just killed everyone on Twitter's dog. At once.

Here's the thing: it's going to be okay. Of the people in this match, Cena's the one who should be carrying the title right now. Because he's about to be fed to Brock Lesnar, which will ultimately get the titles back onto Daniel Bryan. (If you're concerned about Bryan saying he may need another surgery on the Money in the Bank pre-show, wait until he's actually out for six months before being upset he's out for six months). Randy Orton, Kane or Sheamus title runs would be lame ducks at this point, Del Rio is on his way out and would be an even lamer duck and it's too early for Wyatt, Cesaro or Reigns to be THE GUY. Everyone in this match got a chance to shine and don't worry, the latter three gentlemen I mentioned will almost certainly get their time with the Championship. (especially Reigns).

For now, sit back and be content with the knowledge that Cena is probably going to get mauled by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Or else I'm wrong and everything will be terrible forever. Either way, we got to see everyone fall off a ladder a bunch, so we're the REAL winners.

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NBA teams should be allowed to trade everything

Why stop at players, coaches and draft picks? Let's treat everything like a commodity.

The goofiest thing that has become more common in the NBA lately is the trading of coaches. Last year the Celtics traded Doc Rivers to L.A. for picks. Earlier this summer the Timberwolves tried to trade for Dave Joerger, and now the Bucks are inexplicably trying to trade for Jason Kidd. You can't include players in such trades, only draft picks.

It's most bizarre in situations like the Bucks-Nets mess in which one team is clearly going to fire the coach in question. It's like if you're going to throw away half of a burrito, and someone notices and says, "Hey, whatchu doing with the rest of that burrito?" and you say "Why, what's it to you?" and they say "That burrito looks pretty good" and you don't throw it away and instead say "You want it? I'll hand it over for a burrito to be named later" and you quibble but eventually the other person takes you up on it. It's creating value out of thin air, which is pretty amazing.

So let's embrace it. Owners used to actually trade franchises back in the day. The NBA ranks are filled with Wall Street and hedge fund types now. Let's emulate the American financial system and turn everything into a commodity. Trade everything.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves send Kevin Love to the Washington Wizards and residence in the Western Conference for residence in the Eastern Conference and a future second. In a globalized society, geography is an outdated concept.

* The New Orleans Pelicans send the rights to Hugo The Hornet, the Hornets moniker and logo to Charlotte for Bismack Biyombo, a future first and cash. There's no reason whatsoever Tom Benson shouldn't have received compensation once Charlotte reclaimed the Hornets moniker. Memories of purple and teal Starter jackets were like 30 percent of the Hornets' franchise value when he bought it.

* The Indiana Pacers trade the right to play the Atlanta Hawks in the first round to the Brooklyn Nets for the rights to Bojan Bogdanovic and a first-round matchup against the Toronto Raptors. Why shouldn't you be able to use personnel assets to trade your way into an easier postseason opponent?

* TNT trades 14 of its scheduled Knicks broadcasts to truTV for one season of Container Wars and a South Beach Tow marathon.

* Clipper Darrell to the Orlando Magic for Jameer Nelson.

* The Suns' medical staff to Portland for LaMarcus Aldridge.

* @ATLHawks and Sir Foster to Boston for Jared Sullinger and Bob Ryan.

* The Heat trade their share of the national TV contract for one season to Philadelphia in exchange for their cap space for one year.

* The Warriors agree to forfeit the championship game at the 2014 Vegas Summer League and send a dozen In-n-Out Burgers to Cleveland. The Cavs send a lottery-protected first to Golden State. Cleveland finally wins a banner!

Make it happen, Commissioner Silver. Commoditize the NBA fully.

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Tristen Hoge recruit scouting report: Strong lineman

Tristen Hoge is an elite center recruit in the class of 2015.

Hoge, out of Highland High School in Pocatello, Idaho, stands 6'5 and weighs in at 287 pounds. As of June, he's rated as a consensus four-star prospect by 247Sports, Rivals, Scout and ESPN. The 247Sports Composite, a compilation of data from the four major recruiting services, lists him as the 90th-best player in America, No. 1 center and No. 1 player from the state of Idaho.

Hoge has received interest from several top schools around the country. He holds scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Boise State, Florida, LSU, North Carolina, Oregon State, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA and Washington, among others.

Note: Recruits commit and decommit throughout the process. No effort is made to note commitments or decommitments in these scouting reports. All we note is claimed offers at the time of evaluation.

I wanted to see Hoge dominate his Idaho competition, and that is exactly what I saw on film. Idaho, of course, offers one of the worst levels of high school football talent in the country. A good BCS-type recruit should be immediately obvious against this level of opponent.

Hoge has a good, trim build for his size and has the potential to play north of 300 after a year or so of strength training in college. Having college-ready size is a big plus; it removes some of the variance and uncertainty for a college, as the staff does not have to figure out if a player can reach a certain weight, or if he'll retain his agility at that weight.

Good coaching is evident in Hoge's technique. He does a great job of centering up his target, which allows him to ensure that the defender does not slide off his block. He bends well, can anchor and has a nice punch. And Hoge shows good balance in the open field, sliding to second-level defenders and not whiffing very much.

The one thing I really want to see from Hoge is better hip roll. He needs to explode through his blocks, and not stop his feet on contact. If he wants to continue racking up roaches at the college level, this will be important. He won't put college defenders on their back by stopping his feet and then resuming his block.

Hoge may have a steep learning curve when he gets to Notre Dame, as the talent he'll face will be so much greater than what he sees in Idaho. Nonetheless, I believe he is one of the top interior linemen in the country and could blossom into a multi-year starter. Hoge is the type of center who can help a team pop big plays by executing blocks most centers cannot.

Fans can follow Hoge on Twitter @HogeTristen.

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Mexico's flaws finally catch up to them in World Cup ouster

El Tri suffered heartbreak against the Netherlands, but they can be proud of how far they came and how well they performed in the face of bad luck and injuries.

Mexico have an incredible capacity for drama.

Be it a mesmerizing performance in the 2011 Gold Cup, collapsing in 2013, going through four managers in two months, Raul Jimenez's qualification-saving bicycle kick or Oribe Peralta's five play-off goals, whatever happens to Mexico has made a habit of doing the unthinkable. Whatever lofty bar of intrigue and surprise El Tri set, they always manage to top.

And they did it again in the World Cup.

Three minutes away from the quarterfinals, Mexico surrendered a goal to Wesley Sneijder. Then Rafa Marquez stepped on Arjen Robben's foot, Robben theatrically fell to the turf, the referee pointed to the penalty spot and the Netherlands had turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win.

Mexico were out of the World Cup in the round of 16 for the sixth straight time.

But while El Tri did come agonizingly close to escaping into the quarterfinals and playing the famed "fifth match," that they were even that close is somewhat of a miracle. Nearly everything had gone against them for years, and then again before the tournament. Even in the weeks leading up to the World Cup, injuries ravaged the team, and then prior to their match against the Dutch, suspension weakened them further. In the first half, another injury struck again.

Mexico shouldn't have been in the World Cup, let alone competitive. They shouldn't have been in the round of 16, let alone leading in the 87th minute. That Mexico did what they did is, in itself, remarkable.

The Netherlands had rolled through a tough Group B, finishing ahead of both Spain and Chile. Even if Mexico did well to best Croatia for second place in Group A, they were underdogs against the Dutch, but Giovani dos Santos gave El Tri a lead and Mexico began to believe they could win. The heroics of Memo Ochoa in goal only furthered their belief, not that confidence is ever in short supply when Miguel Herrera is the manager.

As the match wound down, it looked like Mexico were actually going to get through, but all they were really doing was holding on for dear life. They called upon Ochoa to save an exposed defense and were lucky the referee didn't award the Netherlands a penalty in the first half. By the waning minutes, Mexico's best defender was fortune, and then their luck ran out.

Fingers were pointed at Herrera for taking off dos Santos, or even for playing too defensively, but Mexico simply should not have been expected to hang with the Netherlands. El Tri are a flawed team, especially at the back, and while they did well to mask those deficiencies for much of the match and tournament -- something Herrera deserves huge credit for -- eventually they couldn't do it anymore.

Marquez is an old, slow defender who was turned inside out by Robben and co. all match. His being repeatedly torched wasn't much of a surprise, as Marquez has struggled as a defender in recent years, but Herrera didn't start him for defensive solidarity. His role for Mexico was as a passer from deep and a leader, something he excelled at, but he also required cover. His centerback partners had to help him defensively, as did his midfield, and against the Netherlands, neither ended up happening.

Juan Carlos Medina's ankle injury ruled him out of the tournament before it even started, denying Mexico the defensive midfielder it took them years to find. That forced them to turn to Jose Juan Vazquez, who wasn't even in the Mexico first division two years earlier. Somehow, Vazquez played superbly during the group stages, but he was suspended against the Netherlands, leaving the aging and deficient Carlos Salcido to shield the back line.

With Salcido in front of Marquez, Mexico were always in for a rough time.

The hope was that Marquez would at least get help from his centerbacks, but Francisco "Maza" Rodriguez has long been a liability. That put extraordinary pressure on Hector Moreno to be an all-world defender. Even without Vazquez, Moreno at his best could have saved Mexico, but he broke his leg and came off at halftime.

Now the center of the Mexico defense was made up of Maza, Marquez and the young Diego Reyes, with Salcido to help. That's a recipe for disaster and, eventually, that disaster arrived.

They couldn't clear a set piece and Sneijder got the Netherlands level. Then, they let Robben get down the byline and towards goal, where he and Marquez were left one on one. Even if Robben dove, he was always going to beat Marquez, and so he did, leaving Marquez to lunge desperately, step on Robben's foot and give the referee the chance to blow for a penalty.

In the end, Mexico was just left to wonder, "what if?'

What if Medina doesn't get hurt? What if Vazquez doesn't get suspended? What if Moreno doesn't get hurt? And going back even further, what if Hugo Ayala's form doesn't dip, or Reyes develops as quickly as hoped, or any number of things?

Mexico were only three minutes away from their Holy Land -- a win in the round of 16. And while El Tri will lament what they let slip through their fingers, it's even more amazing that they even got to that point, because they were a team full of holes that had no business being covered up for as long as they were.

But this is El Tri, Mexico's best telenova. With them, there's nothing easy, simple or straightforward. Everything is a show. Mexico put on a great one, but they couldn't quite reach their goal.

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