Disgraceful thuggery has no place on court

After seeing the footage of Australia v Philippines in basketball I have to say it is the most disgraceful brawl, or more to the point thuggery I have seen.

Anthony "Bomber'' Breeze. Picture: Inga Williams

IT'S been 43 years since Mohammad Ali fought Joe Frazier in one of the greatest boxing matches of all time.

That event was dubbed The Thrilla in Manila.

We have just seen the rematch but unfortunately it wasn't between Ali and Frazier and it wasn't in a sport where violence is expected.

I have been watching professional sport for a long time. After seeing the footage of Australia v Philippines in basketball I have to say it is the most disgraceful brawl, or more to the point thuggery, from the Filipinos I have ever witnessed.

To watch a stricken Aussie laying on the ground as more than 10 players, officials and spectators are beating down on him is something that you thought would never happen at a professional event.

Chair throwing and shameful selfies after this act also proved this team had a pack mentality that should see them thrown out of the sport for an extended period.

While most blame is pointed towards the Filipinos we were not completely innocent and those players will face sanctions as well.

Ridiculous pay packets

BASKETBALL contracts are huge but Lebron James pay package with his move to the Famed LA Lakers is ridiculous.

The contract looks roughly like this: Four years - $154 million, one year - $38.5 million, one month - $3.2 million, one week - $740,000, one day - $105,000, one hour - $4000, one minute - $73 and one second - $1.22.

Brazil all the way

WE started with 32 teams and now we are down to only eight countries that can lift the Soccer World Cup.

Uruguay play France before Brazil tackles Belgium.

Then Sweden play England and rounding out the quarter finals is a clash between home country Russia and Croatia.

The four winners will be France, Brazil, England and Croatia.

I tipped Brazil before the Cup started and I am still on them.

Quick thoughts

HERO of the week: The Brisbane Lions get the award this week with a 55 point thumping of the Fremantle Dockers in Western Australia. Can the Lions make it two in a row against the bottom-placed Carlton Blues?

Villain of the week: The keyboard warriors that seem to know everything about Queensland selections. While you are allowed to have an opinion some people should keep their mouths shut.

Did you know? 1. Roger Bannister held the world record for the mile for 46 days before Aussie John Landy broke it.

2. The men's long jump world record has only be broken once since 1969.

Bomber's best: The Richmond Tigers kept roaring with a great victory over the Swans.

The streak continues at Doomben tomorrow in Race 5 with horse 7 Personalised.