News that the divine ponytail, Roberto Baggio, was to be awarded the Peace Summit Award for his post-career charitable work by Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Hiroshima today was lauded widely throughout the world and, while the man himself accepted his award graciously, earlier in the week he also admitted that his omission from Italy's 2002 World Cup side still rankled, saying they should have taken him even if he was "in a wheelchair".

The New York Times coverage took the lead, choosing to highlight the difference between Baggio's post-playing career and that of Paul Gascoigne. As Gazza missed his sentencing for drink-driving on Thursday, the Times noted that Baggio, now the president of the technical sector of the Italian Football Federation, was goodwill ambassador for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, helps to fund hospitals, raised money in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, contributed to the fight against bird flu and was involved in the Burmese pro-democracy movement in support of opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ,who was released from prison yesterday.

More poignantly, he also quietly supports a former team-mate, raising funds toward the treatment for Stefano Borgonovo. His partner in Fiorentina's attack when they were younger, Borgonovo is now stricken with a motor neuron disease for which there is no known cure.

Baggio, was moved by the honour: "This is better than the Golden Ball award," he told Italian news agency Ansa. "Compared with this, other personal and professional achievements pale into insignificance." Achievements he had returned to days before in Italy's Vanity Fair. 2002, had been particularly hard he said: "It would've been my fourth World Cup and I should have been there. It was right. It was sacrosanct.

"Considering the career I'd had, I had that right. They should've taken me along and given me that chance, even if I was in a wheelchair." The penalty shoot-outs clearly still played on his mind as well. "It really burns me to have lost the 1994 final to Brazil on penalties ... Losing on spot-kicks is really painful," admitted the ponytail, before his saintly Nobel-winning demeanour gave way in his own uniquely endearing fashion: "I have lost three World Cups, all on penalties ... If you'll allow me this, it really gets on my nerves."

There'll be some comfort for Roberto in that, for the briefest of periods in Thailand, he was the winner of the actual Nobel Peace Prize, newspaper The Nation reporting as such on its website, despite the award having already been given to jailed Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo this year. It was corrected, but not before being widely disseminated across the web.

It's not the first time The Nation has struggled with details. A recent paternity case between an actor and actress with DNA testing and claims and denials involving who was the alleged father of the child involved, caused comparisons with the Michael Jackson song of the same subject Billie Jean. Unfortunately The Nation dubbed it the "Billie Jean King" scandal.

USA: Spit but no polish

Anger and not a little confusion caused considerable embarrassment for the Miami Dolphins last week, when linebacker Channing Crowder managed to offend a variety of people when he lost his temper after a 26-10 defeat by the Baltimore Ravens.

Accusing Ravens fullback Le'Ron McClain of spitting in his face during the game, Crowder let rip in the locker room, reports ESPN. "Le'Ron McClain spit in my face. He spit in my face. That's some real ho shit. So if you talk to him, go tell him. And if he ever comes to Miami, he's got to see me."

Crowder has previous form in this area. In 2007, with the Dolphins due to play at Wembley, he famously confessed to not being aware that English was spoken in London, which turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. "I couldn't find London on a map if they didn't have the names of the countries," he said. "I swear to God. I don't know what nothing is. I know Italy looks like a boot. I learned that. I know [Washington Redskins linebacker] London Fletcher. We did a football camp together. So I know him. That's the closest thing I know to London. He's black, so I'm sure he's not from London. I'm sure that's a coincidental name." Then, only last month, Crowder reacted to the NFL's attempt to curtail helmet-on-helmet collisions by saying: "If they're going to keep making us go more and more like a feminine sport, we're going to wear pink every game, not just on the breast cancer months."

Back in the locker room, Dolphins left tackle Jake Long, no doubt aware of Crowder's tendency to speak despite not knowing what nothing is, urged a spokesman to stop him from continuing. It didn't work. In full flow, he turned on the officials, who having said they had not observed the incident, caused him to question their ability to see. "Who the fuck cares? A guy just spit in my face ... Like they didn't see [Dolphins quarterback] Chad Henne get hit twice when he slid. Yeah, a little Stevie Wonder and Anne Frank."

Asked about the reference to Anne Frank, a confused Crowder backtracked and blamed the slip on his poor temper: "Who was that? Is that the blind girl? Helen Keller ... I don't know who the fuck Anne Frank is. I'm mad right now. Fuck it. I'm not as swift as I usually am."

USA: Dallas, we have a problem



First up it was revealed that the viewing figures for the Packers game had reached a new low, with the Dallas News reporting that the match had earned the team its worst local Sunday night football television rating since their debut on NBC in 2006. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, viewer numbers had fallen 42% from their season-opening loss to the Redskins – with 300,000 fewer homes tuning in.

Then, the News also noted that on the night of their defeat the club's website had disappeared. Dallascowboys.com is the second-most-popular NFL website, according to research firm ComScore, behind only the main NFL.com site, said the paper, but the club apparently "forgot to renew its registration" on the domain name. Consequently, fans visiting eager for news about the failure in Green Bay and the status of Phillips were greeted with a stock image of two kids playing football.

The team did renew its registration, but since it takes up to 48 hours for internet servers to recognise renewal, it was down for most of the crucial period as the Cowboy's management took action against Phillips.

Unhappy fans, already incensed at their team's performance this season, pointed out the farcical nature of the error and blew off steam in the News's comment section: "That's ridiculous! My web domains automatically renew and my credit card automatically gets billed – forever," said one, and "Who's running this dog & pony show????? hello? HELLO??" questioned another frustrated soul.

INDIA: Seven feet of hope



Ball Don't Lie

"Satnam could one day do the same thing for India that Yao Ming did in China – put the spotlight on basketball through an entire country,'' said Troy Justice, the NBA director of basketball operations in India, who has watched him play many times. "It really could be something.'' He is currently playing on the IMG Academy basketball team, and is working on learning the physical and speedier side of the game.

Will he make it? Bhamara is optimistic: "My father wanted to play basketball, but my grandfather insisted he could not. They were a family of farmers. He had fields to tend,'' Satnam said. "He never got the chance that I am getting now. He is very proud of me and I want to play this game as well as I can play. That is my task now. Where it will take me, I don't know. The NBA? One day.'' While Ball Don't Lie concurs with one of basketball's truisms: "If you're a seven-footer and you can walk and chew gum, you have a shot at the NBA.