FILE - In this Monday, April 21, 2014, file photo, Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson directs his team during the second half in Game 2 of an opening-round NBA basketball playoff series in Los Angeles. The Warriors fired Jackson on Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Jackson's three seasons with the Warriors will be remembered for the way he helped turn a perennially losing franchise into a consistent winner and the bold and bombastic way in which he did it. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File0 (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Call it a dive, a flop, an embellishment, whatever. When an athlete misrepresents the nature of a play in order to gain a competitive advantage, it is the worst.

We saw it again in the opening game of the World Cup, and we'll see it again for a simple reason: it works. Brazil used a dive in the penalty area to help secure the go-ahead goal against Croatia on Thursday. Dwyane Wade flopped in the NBA Finals. He was fined $5,000, couch cushion money, and I'm sure he gladly traded that for a big foul on Manu Ginóbili.

There simply need to be tougher in-game penalties that are enforced.

RECYCLING PROGRAM Mark Jackson, who coached Golden State last year, is reportedly a candidate for the Cavaliers job now.

working blue Torii Hunter gave a rather interesting, bedroom-based answer to Jim Rome when asked about powering through cramping.

Detroit Tigers' Torii Hunter laughs after he narrowly avoided being hit by a pitch in the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Marinesr, Saturday, May 31, 2014, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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