The sporting life

The NCAA proposes the following nine indicators of "good sportsmanship" (their definition is hardly free of solipsism, but is nice and concrete):

Good Sportsmanship Indicators:

1. Respect for officials - student-athletes raise hand or arm to signal a foul.
2. Student-athletes shake hands before and after the contest.
3. Unsportsmanlike behavior violations are addressed appropriately.
4. Inappropriate conduct by coaches has consequences.
5. Appropriate recognition when competitor gets injured and is forced to leave the competition.
6. Fans, coaches and student-athletes are held accountable for negative behavior.
7. Fans are enthusiastic supporters of their teams but respectful to opposing teams and their supporters.
8. There is a respect shown by all competitors for the opposing team.
9. Gamesmanship by coaches or players is frowned upon.

One of the images that appears frequently in the list is that of the "student-athlete." In that spirit, here Darko Miličić applies, in his explanation of his team's dismal performance, what he has learned in his courses on obstetrics:

Continuing to hold

More fun in communication with the Home Office. Although they did not respond to my request to confirm that they had received my application, they did inform me over the phone (no, they did not call me) that my application was refused. But they did not inform me of the reason, which would matter because it would determine whether I am able to appeal or have to submit a new application. Today they informed me, sort of, that an official notification was mailed to me over a week ago. In this message, they told me that the letter had been sent to me "in the envelope you provided" (I did not provide an envelope), and gave me a tracking number (which was the tracking number under which I had sent my materials to them). This leaves me in a dilemma as to whether it is worse that the Home Office 1) fails to provide information, 2) provides incomplete information, or 3) provides inaccurate information.