1) Australia and the Philippines traded haymakers and flying kicks in a Fiba World Cup qualifier in Bulocan. Maybe it’s something about the claustrophobic nature of the court but basketball has had its fair share of blockbuster brawls down the years. The nadir was 2004’s Malice at the Palace as a fight between Detroit’s Ben Wallace and Ron Artest – later to be known as Metta World Peace – spilled into the stands. Celtics favourite Kevin McHale executed this clothesline on LA Lakers’ Kurt Rambis while Larry Bird’s legendary lip led to Julius Erving delivering this flurry of jabs firmly on his mush. If you like your brawls with a bit more innocence, here’s a top 10 compilation from college basketball.
2) Fifa has a pretty tight hold of all World Cup footage on the pitch, but sometimes the drama off it is just as good. This lone England fan bursting into a bar full of Colombians after the penalty shoot-out win takes some beating, but it’s fair to say this this Uruguayan fan was also quite excited about beating Portugal. Technology was certainly required for Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Prokopyev to watch their win over Spain from space while Croatians got their flares out in Zagreb after defeating Denmark.
3) Here’s Tampa Bay Rays’ Carlos Gómez striking out this week before absolutely going to town on a water cooler in the dugout. A fine tantrum, but probably doesn’t eclipse David Ortiz’s effort in 2013: “I don’t think that phone’s going to work anymore.” Pittsburgh Pirates manager and hissy-fit hall-of-famer Lloyd McClendon got a little bit more creative when he literally stole first base back in 2001.
4) The Tour de France begins on Saturday with Chris Froome bidding to join four icons of the sport by claiming a fifth maillot jaune. Miguel Induráin won five on the spin between 1991-95 but spectacularly cracked in 1996 on stage seven, from which he never recovered. Bernard Hinault rode much of the 1985 race with a black eye after this crash, winning his fifth title. Here’s Eddy Merckx’s first-ever stage win in 1969, and the finale of the 1963 edition where Jacques Anquetil slipped on the fourth of his five yellow jerseys.
5) If you’ve been living under a rock or are a recently-departed Love Island contestant just catching up with the news, LeBron James left his hometown Cleveland for the LA Lakers on Monday. Despite winning an NBA Championship in 2016 – the Cavs’ first for 52 years – they’ve already removed his iconic banner in the city.
6) It’s the World Cup quarter-finals this weekend and the last time England faced Sweden in the World Cup, Joe Cole did this. For balance, here’s that Tomas Brolin goal back in 1992 – what a ripper.
Our favourites from last week’s blog
1) South Korean president Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook visit their football team after the 2-1 defeat to Mexico all but guaranteed their exit from the World Cup. It is a heartbreaking moment, as players have to compose themselves at an already emotionally-charged moment. Most are able to hold it together, but Tottenham’s Son Heung-min can’t contain himself. At least the subsequent win over Germany helped.
2) A race steward in Holland finally decides enough is enough and hoists the red flag, but not before 20 separate crashes unfold before his eyes.
3) Meet Hussein Ali Kathem, a Mo Salah lookalike from Baghdad who is very good at his job.
4) This is nice: Team Dimension for Qhubeka put a twist on the announcement for their eight-man team for the Tour de France.
5) Watch ‘Blood In The Water’, a documentary around the brutal clash between Hungary and USSR in the water polo pool at the 1956 Olympics.
Spotter’s badges: Tony06, onetimeonly, LittleLetters, whobroughtoranges, GrahamClayton.
