First and foremost I want to send my best wishes to David Ferreira. Is he okay? It can't be easy to be both a professional athlete and a porcelain doll.

But primarily I want to discuss fake pain which we saw in bushels and baskets from Ferreira and also from his team. It's weird how the winning (or tied on the road) team is somehow more fragile than the other. I know flopping on the ground and writing around in "pain" is as fundamental to soccer as dribbling and passing, but does it have to be?

What has research from analysts or bloggers shown with regard to the appropriateness of stoppage time? From my point of view, they hardly ever add enough. But then I am a Timbers fan, and because they're usually losing, we need all the stoppage time we can get. So maybe my bias is seeping through, but it sure seems like stoppage time is most often too short.

A couple talking points. Not convinced these are great ideas but want to throw them out there:

What if they stopped the clock for injuries (and only injuries)? It seems reasonable and possible in modern stadiums. You can't waste time if the clock isn't running, But I do wonder if players would still flop to catch their breath and give their team a break.

Failing that, what if someone besides the referee was the timekeeper? What if it was someone else's job to log the stoppage time? Let the referee stick to his plentiful other responsibilities and give someone a stopwatch.

Anyway, thought I'd talk about something that has always bothered me and probably always will. Maybe if fake pain became an ineffective way to burn clock it wouldn't strike so often.

And if anyone has an address where I can send Ferreira a get well soon card I'd be very grateful.