Let’s have a look to see the week in review, according to the Twitterverse…
10. Who says violence doesn’t pay?
Suspended but not hungry: Texas restaurant offers Rangers 2B Rougned Odor free BBQ for life https://t.co/YTdFJPzjTt pic.twitter.com/Em0GBHXOnC
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) May 19, 2016
There are some sports where you expect abhorrent violence: the UFC, boxing, the NHL. But baseball usually tends to be one of those sports where violence doesn’t often factor into the equation.
That all changed when the Toronto Blue Jays faced the Texas Rangers last week. Rangers’ second baseman Rougned Odor clobbered Blue Jays’ right fielder, Jose Bautista with one hell of a punch, for illegally stealing a base, which sparked a crazed all-in brawl.
Sure, Odor received an eight-match ban and a $5,000 fine for sparking the wild brawl, but who cares? Texan restaurateur Travis Heim rewarded Odor with free Texan BBQ for life a a result of the punch. Seems like a fair trade off to me.
SportsBet.com.au has Odor’s Rangers at $15 to take out the MLB World Series. The Rangers are slightly ahead of the Blue Jays, who Sportsbet has at $17.
9. What sport will Hayne play next?
If I was a cynical man, I'd say Jarryd Hayne had been told he wouldn't be making the 49ers squad this year.
— Titus O'Reily (@TitusOReily) May 15, 2016
Jarryd Hayne’s failed NFL experiment is finally over. Instead of taking the logical next step and returning to the NRL, Hayne has decided to make his life more difficult and attempt to play for FIJI at the Rio Olympics at Rugby Seven’s.
Hayne has managed to crack the Fiji Seven’s squad for the London tournament, but has failed to impress anyone with his Rugby prowess.
Perhaps Hayne should just cut his losses and start a new sporting career in croquet or synchronized swimming.
CrownBet.com.au has Fiji as second favourites at $3.25, just behind favourites, New Zealand ($2.60) to take out the Gold medal at Rio.
8. Cyborg’s maiden UFC win
Twitter reacts to Cris 'Cyborg' Justino's quick TKO win in debut at UFC 198 https://t.co/KJckpeCiik
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 15, 2016
Chris “Cyborg” Justino has been waiting a long time to make her UFC début and when she finally did, she didn’t disappoint.
Cyborg took a little more than a minute to knock out her opposition, Leslie Smith, at UFC198 in Brazil last weekend.
This win takes Cyborg’s undefeated record to 16 straight fights since her professional debut. UFC fans the world over are frothing at the mouth at the prospect of a Cyborg vs Ronda Rousey bout because the two have no love lost between them. Cyborg’s maiden UFC victory potentially paves the way for this bout to finally happen.
7. Tom Jonas throwing elbows
Tom Jonas has been reported after this clash with Andrew Gaff. #AFLPowerEagles https://t.co/buP6XaByGs
— AFL (@AFL) May 21, 2016
Port Adelaide’s Tom Jonas shocked the AFL world on the weekend with a sickening flying elbow to the back of the head of West Coast Eagles star, Andrew Gaff.
Gaff was running back with the flight of the pill to take a mark in the forward 50 when Jonas came in with the brutal shot in the latest “spoil attempt” anyone had ever seen. Gaff was out like a light and his Eagles team mates descended on Jonas, trying to rip shreds off him.
Thankfully Gaff came out the other end in good spirits after being stretchered off the field. Jonas is expected to cop an absolutely whopping suspension from the Match Review Panel this week.
Port Adelaide Power face the Melbourne Demons this week. PalmerBet.com.au has the Power as outsiders at $2.08 against the Demons – $1.74.
6. McGregor vs. Mayweather Mega fight
Great to have @TheNotoriousMMA in @BoxNBurn today sparring-
Wow this guy can box like fu*k 👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/Bo0h5pRk84
— Tony Jeffries OLY (@Tony_Jeffries) May 17, 2016
This story just keeps gaining more and more momentum with each passing day because both McGregor and Mayweather Jnr. keep adding fuel to the fire. McGrgor’s Twitter feed is full of provocative boxing Tweets, while Mayweather Jnr keeps telling journalists that he wants to fight McGregor and has even gone so far as to offer McGregor a $50 million New Years Eve fight.
It seems everyone in the world wants this fight to happen except UFC boss, Dana White. He won’t release McGregor to fight until the finer details are ironed out, like how much money Dana White will get from the fight?
Can the world get the most hotly-anticipated fight off the ground or will Dana White screw the pooch for us all by carrying on like a demented Sherriff of Nottingham, demanding his cut?
5. Chris Gayle: sport’s worst flirt
Chris Gayle under fire again for more lewd comments to female reporter: https://t.co/g20FYhi8jW #Cricket
— ABC SPORT (@abcsport) May 21, 2016
Chris Gayle has continued his abysmal record of hitting on female journalists alive this week with another cringe-worthy attempt to flirt.
In an interview with British journalist Charlotte Edwardes, Gayle bragged about his “very, very big bat” that she would need “two hands” to lift, in an effort to impress the stunned journo. If that wasn’t bad enough, Gayle then asked her if she had had a threesome.
Keep trying Chris, one day your cheap parlour tricks are going to pay off and you will bag yourself a journo.
Bet365.com.au has Gayle’s IPL side, Royal Challengers Bangalore at $1.16 favourites to reach the 2016 IPL Final.
4. Kyrgios’ at it again
40 minutes into the French Open and we've already got our first Nick Kyrgios tantrum.https://t.co/vlHEL2RHeg
— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) May 22, 2016
Nick Kyrgios was at it again at the French Open throwing a world class hissy fit at a ball boy and then match umpire Carlos Ramos.
Kyrgios downed Italian Marco Cecchinato in straight sets, but not before calling for a towel, abusing a ball boy, and being cited for un-sportsman like behaviour.
Considering this is only the first round of the French Open, we may have a lot more crazy Kyrgios moments to look forward to before the tournament is at an end.
SportsBet.com.au has Kyrgios at $71 to take out the French Open.
3. Things get worse for the Eels
Corey Norman, James Segeyaro and Junior Paulo dined out with bikies and accused criminals before drug bust https://t.co/eGDtRmbGhW
— SMH Sport (@SMHsport) May 22, 2016
Just when you thought things couldn’t get much worse for the Parramatta Eels, star 5/8 Corey Norman goes and does something like this.
Not only has Norman been caught up in an alleged drug investigation stemming from a visit to Sydney’s Star Casino, but now a photo of him having dinner with several underworld identities prior to the alleged incident has emerged.
This couldn’t come at a worse time for the Eels, given star halfback Keiran Foran’s well publicised personal issues as well as the Eels’ penalties for their systemic salary cap rorting.
Bet365.com.au has the Eels as $51 to take out the 2016 NRL Grand Final. Surely those odds are going to drop like a stone soon enough though.
2. Roos miraculous undefeated start to the season
The real tests start for the undefeated Kangas with a trip to face the Swans at the SCG https://t.co/NCN2f46mSl
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) May 23, 2016
The North Melbourne Kangaroos have kicked off their 2016 season perfectly.
Despite their 9-0 start to the season many in the AFL world still aren’t taking the Roos seriously. They claim North Melbourne have been preying on weaker teams and only just falling over the line in some of their wins.
At the end of the day history doesn’t recognize the method of your wins or how close they were, just the fact that you won. The Roos have been building toward this form for years by working hard and recruiting intelligently.
The Swans will be a tall order in the Harbour City but nothing this Arden Street mob can’t handle.
Despite their great run of wins, CrownBet.com.au has the Roos as rank outsiders at $3.10 while the Swans enjoy favourites status at $1.38 ahead of their clash at the SCG on Friday night.
1. NBA finals takes balls
Draymond Green earned a flagrant-1 foul for this kick below Steven Adams' belt: https://t.co/N4nNR6YHAW
— ESPN (@espn) May 23, 2016
The NBA Finals are hotting up as the season gets down to the pointy end of the year.
Players are becoming more and more relentless in their efforts to win. Playing basketball at this level takes balls, that’s for sure. Especially when blokes like Dahntay Jones and Draymond Green are on the war path, attacking opposition players’ plums without a care in the world. These two are clearly going after the wrong balls.
First Cavaliers guard, Dahntay Jones got a one match suspension without pay for a sack-whack on Toronto Raptors centre Bismack Biyombo. Now Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green has kicked Oklahoma City Thunder’s Steve Adams fair in the balls.
The Cavs and Raptors are set to go head-to-head on the 24/5 and PalmerBet.com.au has the Cavs as favourites to win at $1.62 ahead of the Raptors’ $2.60. Let’s hope this game can remain free of strikes to the pants department.
