Earmuffs referees

OK we're less than 8 hours away from Christmas come early my favorite time of every four years - the World Cup, South Africa vs. Mexico.

In one of the funniest stories I've seen since we started this site, referees at the World Cup are apparently being schooled in English obscenities thanks to the potty mouth of Wayne Rooney, who was carded in the Three Lions' last friendly for apparently swearing at the refs.

The refs for the U.S. v. England match are all Brazilian, but they are apparently being given a quick run down on George Carlin's 7 Dirty Words...

Yes George Carlin was a genius, but anyway back to this sham. Referees need to have thick skin, trust me I know I do it for a living. And at the professional level and at the World Cup level they need to be able to block out a little foul language - you can't have a player like Wayne Rooney thrown out of a World Cup match because he may or may not have sworn at the referee, that's bull-shit to excuse my own language.

Yes you also need to have respect as Steven Gerrard was quoted in the story, and trust me referees enjoy sticking it to d-bags who run their mouths during games, but again this is the biggest stage - a once in a lifetime opportunity.

One of the most important rules of refereeing is the unwritten "common sense" rule, and this is just one of those situations. You the refs of this 2010 South African games are not bigger than the players, please don't make yourselves the story like the NBA refs are doing in the NBA finals.