Basketball Brawling Goes International

Basketball brawls in the United States just don’t compare to those overseas.

Or maybe they do.

Case in point: The Mexico/Uruguay match in the 2009 FIBA Americas Tournament, as described by Rick Chandler at Sports by Brooks:

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I don’t know why basketball fights tend to differ so dramatically from those in other sports; like baseball, where everyone just gets into a comfortable clinch; soccer, where the players simply run away, or football, where it seems no one really fights at all. Unless you play at Miami. In basketball, for some reason, they fight for real.

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Don’t know what Rick is talking about? Behold, the beauty of international basketball brawling:

Video: Mexico-Uruguay Basketball Brawl

Yeah, there have been some pretty intense NBA fights, but I don’t really recall anything quite this intense, when players were picking up chairs and throwing them at each other. Referees called the game after the fight, with Mexico up 68-60 with about 40 seconds left in the third period. The two teams meet up again on Sunday. That should be fun.

As Rick reminds us in the open of his post, other athletes never seem to fight as intensely as basketball players…unless you play at Miami. I was living down in Miami when the ‘Canes had their epic brawl with FIU and then-Hurricanes announcer Lamar Thomas was fired for his unabashed excitement:

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“Now, that’s what I’m talking about,” Thomas said as the brawl raged out of control. “You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don’t come into the OB playing that stuff. You’re across the ocean over there. You’re across the city. You can’t come over to our place talking noise like that. You’ll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing.”

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Don’t remember that one?  Here is a little trip down memory lane for you, with an ironically hilarious song providing the musical accompaniment:

Video: Miami-FIU Football Fight

What a great way to start the morning, huh? Just remember, you don’t come into the MSF playing that stuff. You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked!