And yeah, i've played for many years and still do here in Norway and we always get cards for abusive language or for constantly being in the refs ear.
Haha, as kids we even got sent off for it. While I find players swearing at and abusing the ref intolerable to watch, it's just another way of trying to gain an advantage in the "modern" game of football.
I saw a clip yesterday at TV2PL, where they pointed out that the inventors of diving for a penalty was in fact Arsenal, or more specifically Robert Pires. I don't know if they can back that up, but it shows to how great lengths players and teams are willing to ruin the game to win it. And that Pires is a horrible human being. Then they showed Spurs-Saudi Sportswashing Machine from 94/95, where players who got tackled just got up and were happy just to get the freekick. The problem is that is actually gives a distinct advantage, there are not many "great" teams the last decade who aren't known for diving, cheating, surrounding and harassing the ref for decisions. Barca, RM, Arsenal, Man Utd, every Italian team, the list goes on. Add to that some skill, a strong captain and a manager not reluctant to harass the brick out of referees in the media afterwards, and you had a trophy-challenging team. The only problem for "them" is that nowadays almost everybody does it, so the effect is diminishing and watered out - apart from on Howard Webb.
There is so much more money than backbone involved in today's football, and while everybody remember the winner, few remember the way they won it. Everybody harps on about the "Invincibles", but few (apart from us of course) remember or even care about that the fact that it's also the most dirty, cheating, filthy and despicable team ever to grace English turfs.