It was a wild week in the wacky world of sports, with all sorts of hijinx and revelations coming to light. Twitter was awash with juicy morsels of sporting goodness.
As always, we have managed to sieve the rot from the gold, so here are the 10 best sports Tweets of the week.
10. Ugly league brawl
My apologies to @Giantsrl and to the decent fans.The Thugs responsible will be identified and dealt with. There is no place in RL for them.
— Marwan Koukash (@drmarwanK) March 28, 2016
This is something we are beginning to miss in Australia – ever since the rules were changed to send any player who throws a punch to the sin bin.
That isn’t the case in England’s Super League, with fans loving the biff so much they created their own fraccas.
Things took a turn for the worse once the Salford Devils beat the Huddersfield Giants 26-24. The motley crew of fans began to swell, crushing some women and children in the crowd.
Salford players Justin Carney and Junior Sa’u stepped in, attempting to restrain their own fans to protect their young families, who were sitting in the same area the ruckus began.
Photos of the incident flooded Twitter within moments of the incident occurring. There was even a picture of Sa’u holding down a Salford fan by the scruff of his neck.
Bet365.com doesn’t give Salford much of a chance of taking out the Super League regular season with odds of $126.
9. Ball tampering disgrace in Sheffield Shield final
#CRICKET: Victorian bowling coach Mick Lewis fined $2,000 for ball tampering during yesterday's Sheffield Shield Final. @9NewsAdel
— Will Crouch (@WillCrouch9) March 28, 2016
Victorian bowling coach Mick Lewis has come under fire for the worst case of ball tampering since Maradona’s hand of God goal.
Lewis was clearly seen scraping the cherry on concrete in an effort to rough up the ball. Match official Steve Bernard was quick to spot that the pill had been tampered with and followed the rules to the tee, changing the ball and penalising Victoria five runs.
Surely Lewis could dream up with less obvious ways to scuff the ball? Sand paper sticky taped to his palm?
8. Cyborg finally gets a crack at UFC
Cris Cyborg will make her UFC debut against Leslie Smith at #UFC198 in Brazil on May 14 at 140 catchweight pic.twitter.com/xwctFX9wUk
— danawhite (@danawhite) March 28, 2016
Christiane “Cyborg” Justino has finally managed to crack her way into the UFC with her first bout confirmed against Leslie Smith at UFC 198 later this year.
Cyborg’s inclusion in the UFC opens the door for one of the most highly anticipated grudge matches the UFC has ever seen, against Cyborg and former bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. The two have a long running feud that would culminate in one of the most explosive fights the UFC has ever witnessed.
7. Newman’s drugs rant
https://t.co/mbOBnjkhvm
People should listen to Sam Newman more often. #KangarooCourt @EssendonFC @AFLNewsWire— Patrick Taskunas (@paddytaskunas) April 1, 2016
Sam Newman is infamous for his hard-edged attitude on the AFL Footy Show. He has also been an outspoken advocate of the banned Essendon players.
In the wake of Collingwood players being exposed as having returned positive tests to illicit – not performance enhancing – drugs, Newman let rip on the Footy Show, questioning what the difference is between illicit and performance enhancing drugs.
Newman questioned why players aren’t being suspended for the use of illicit drugs, which he argues are performance enhancing because they can reduce your appetite and improve your skin fold.
WilliamHill.com has Essendon as long shots ($8) against Port Adelaide a
6. Reynolds in the digital age
https://twitter.com/FOXNRLLive/status/716964511819759616
Josh Reynolds is no stranger to on-field atrocities. The psychotic Bulldogs no.6 has been sidelined for tripping, kicking, coat hangers and spear tackles. It left the vast majority of NRL fans to joke that Reynolds natural progression would be to go “the Hoppa”.
On Monday night Reynolds proved those jokers right when he was filmed slipping a digit up the Khyber Pass of Raiders half, Aidan Sezer as he fed a scrum in the Dogs loss to the Raiders.
WilliamHill.com has the Bulldogs as outsiders ($2.15) against the Storm ($1.70) on Monday night.
5. Warne/Samuels feud
The full story behind the feud between Shane Warne and Marlon Samuels https://t.co/Sb38inrjVG pic.twitter.com/tjq3mN5b2g
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) April 4, 2016
Shane Warne and Marlon Samuels have a long running feud which came to a head when the West Indies won the T20 World Cup earlier this week.
Samuels, in his post match press conference, cited comments Warne had made about him in commentary.
Samuels then went on to say he didn’t care what Warne had to say because maybe Warne was jealous that Samuels had a face, which was real. This is in reference to Warne’s alarming change in appearance over the last couple of years.
Surprisingly Warne’s usually active Twitter account has been dormant since Samuels’ comments. We all wait with baited breath to see what Warne – one of the best sledgers of the modern era – returns with.
4. Shaq in Wrestlemania 32
https://twitter.com/NBA_Fotos10/status/716981957683462144
Is there anything Shaquille O’Neal can’t do? His list of accolades is endless, including four NBA Championship wins, two NBA Finals MVP titles and the NBA MVP just to name a few.
Now he can add a Wrestlemania appearance to his resume as well as a double choke slam – with Big Show – of Kane.
3. Hayne returns to 49ers training
I hope the Australian media keep us up to date on what Jarryd Hayne is up to this year. Felt they let us down last year.
— Titus O'Reily (@TitusOReily) April 4, 2016
Former NRL superstar Jarryd Hayne’s conversion to the NFL has been well covered in Australia. We have been bombarded with every step he makes in America.
After a frustrating first year at San Francisco, which saw Hayne only chalk up and hanful of appearance and former coach Jim Tomsula leave the club, Hayne hopes the 2016 season will bring him more fortune and field time than 2015.
Whatever happens, we here in Australia can rest assured that we will be well informed, even if Hayne has an irregular bowel movement.
The 49ers are not well fancied to take out the Super Bowl. CrownBet.com.au has them as equal second last favorites at $101. The only side CrownBet.com.au deems to have less of a chance are the Cleveland Browns.
2. Vettel doesn’t mince words
Vettel brands aggregate qualifying proposal 'as**t idea' – Grand Prix Times https://t.co/u5kx1t9tX6 #motorsport #f1 #news
— Sebastian Vettel (@f1_vettel) April 4, 2016
The biggest talking point among F1 officials, drivers and fans alike recently has been the new qualifying proposals.
There has been wide-spread condemnation of the current elimination rule. A new proposal has been floated where a driver’s three knock-out session times are combined and the order is set according to the combined times in descending order.
Sebastian Vettel, ever the diplomatic wordsmith, said “It’s a sh*t idea.”
CrownBet.com.au has given Vettel odds of $8 to take out the Chinese F1 event. Check out CrownBet.com.au for a full list of odds on the event.
1. Too far
The @Indians new vendor Happy Dog's "Slider Dog." Mac n cheese, bacon, and fruit loops😍😍 #TribeLive pic.twitter.com/lXolPE2Zjq
— Tiqué (@TK21__) March 31, 2016
I’m all about taking food to their tasty and gastronomical extremes. But the Cleveland Indians have taken tampering with the classics too far.
The Indians revealed the Slider Dog last week. This consists of a hot dog, doused in mac’n’cheese, bacon and garnished with Froot Loops.
Despite this latest atrocity to the culinary world, SportsBet.com.au has the Indians sitting in the middle of the field to take out the World Series with odds of $26.
