Could someone explain me what the "Ballack Scale" is or where it derived from? Maybe Ballack looks lazy sometimes but he isn't a diver or famous for cheating.

From the Telegraph

Last weekend, when Arsenal beat Everton handsomely at Goodison Park, Fabregas fell over after being touched by Mikel Arteta in a manner that suggested his life was at stake. For one so gifted it was a shabby piece of deception, registering about eight on the 'Ballack Scale'.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtm...C-mostviewedbox

It's probably not for nothing that in Dutch we sometimes call a dive a "Schwalbe"...

I shouldn’t delve too deeply into anything Michael Henderson writes about football, Munichblue, because he is (was) the Telegraph’s cricket correspondent. Due to an excess of pomposity, clear for all to see in self indulgent coverage of that sport, he became a bit of a laughing stock as far as the players were concerned, let alone his readers. Nowadays he pops up occasionally whenever Arsenal get a bad press and gives them some thinly veiled support by slagging off another team, usually Chelsea, with what he thinks are clever comparisons. Wouldn’t give the likes of us the time of day, but no doubt ends his conversations with his elite friends by a doff of his hat and a jaunty ‘Toodle-pip‘.

Here I was thinking the endless media slag brigade had gone and made another one of our players an archetype for how the game is going to the dogs

good thing Dorset was there to clear things up with his trademark verbosity and eloquence

Thank you Dorset, that explains a lot....