Tunisian coach banned for two years after fight

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Tunis (AFP) – The coach of Tunisian club Etoile du Sahel, Faouzi Benzarti, has been suspended for two years after violent clashes during a game against rivals Esperance Tunis, the Tunisian Football Federation announced on Friday.

A fight broke out around the hour mark during the match on Tuesday, with Benzarti and Esperance physio Yassine Ben Ahmed the main protagonists.

Police had to intervene to break up the touchline brawl.

Ben Ahmed has also been banned from football for two years, with both men receiving 20,000-dinar fines ($ 9,155).

Esperance won the Tunisian Cup quarter-final tie 1-0.

Violence is commonplace in football in the north African country, and in May four Stade Tunisien players were handed six-month jail terms for attacking an opponent during a top-flight match.

The post Tunisian coach banned for two years after fight appeared first on World Soccer Talk.

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Tony Parker reiterates desire to play five more years with the Spurs

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Tony Parker’s illustrious international basketball career may be over, but he sees his time with the San Antonio Spurs continuing for significantly longer.

Parker, who announced his retirement from the French national basketball team after they lost to Spain in the Olympic quarterfinal on Wednesday, told Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY Sports that he still wants to play five more years with the Spurs.

“We brought French basketball on the map,” Parker said. “As a French player I’m very proud of what we did in my generation, winning all those medals. Especially in 2013, that’ll be my favorite moment because that was the first time in French basketball history we won a gold medal.

“I want to end my Spurs career on a high note,” Parker continued. “I want to play five more years.”

The 34-year-old Parker, who has expressed this desire before, was still productive for San Antonio in 2015-16 with averages of 11.9 points per game and 5.3 assists per game. But his age-related decline has become apparent in recent seasons, especially when juxtaposed with his freewheeling, up-tempo style of play from years past.

But fortunately, the Spurs no longer need Parker to be that guy with LaMarcus Aldridge in town and Kawhi Leonard fully embracing a primary offensive role. Using his basketball IQ and craftiness alone, Parker does indeed have what it takes to continue to survive in the league for several more seasons.

The six-time All-Star only has two years remaining on his deal, and the dominoes may have been expected to fall quickly with Tim Duncan retired and Manu Ginobili believed to be entering his last year in the NBA. But if Parker gets his way, we’ll still be seeing him slithering around screens and breaking down defenses with his dribble for a long time to come.

Image Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

H/T ProBasketballTalk

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Michael Jordan Says Russell Westbrook is Him ‘Thirty Years Ago’

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Assuming he remains healthy, as the unquestioned franchise player in OKC, Russell Westbrook should put up even more monster numbers for the Thunder next season.

Michael Jordan knows a thing or two about that, and says Russ reminds him of his much younger self.

Michael Jordan says Russell Westbrook is a young MJ: https://t.co/gm5aWs9DGb pic.twitter.com/FDIK0YVXsr

— Complex Sports (@Complex_Sports) August 5, 2016

MJ—who, by the way, averaged a career-best 37.1 points thirty years ago during the 1986-87 season—spoke in glowing terms about Westbrook at a recent Jordan Brand event in Las Vegas.

Per Complex:

The film, which included clips of (designer Tate) Kuerbis and Westbrook and even Michael Jordan himself discussing the new shoe, also focused plenty on Westbrook, who will be the shoe’s primary endorser. Westbrook, who’d never seen it before, knelt on the couch facing backwards, poking his head out from the curtains to watch his own highlight-reel clips on the big screen. Then they cut back to Jordan. “Thirty years ago, that’s me,” he said of Westbrook. “The attitude, trying to prove myself, showing so much passion for the game of basketball. You see it in his play. You can tell he loves the game, he plays with energy and flair.”

 

This certainly wasn’t the first time Westbrook had been compared to a young Jordan, but for Michael himself to do it, well, that was different. “That’s crazy,” he told us during his interview. “I really don’t know what to say. To have the best player who ever played the game to say that about you as a player and as a person is something that is going to keep me striving.”

 

Like the young Jordan, Westbrook will now have to do everything for his team to remain competitive, and like the young Jordan, he’s more than capable of it. Last year Westbrook averaged 23.5 points, 10.4 assists, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals, and equaled Magic Johnson’s modern NBA record of 18 triple-doubles. He played with—plays with—an intense ferocity that leaves stunned defenders in his wake, and occasionally leaves teammates just as shook.

The post Michael Jordan Says Russell Westbrook is Him ‘Thirty Years Ago’ appeared first on SLAMonline.

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This Prophetic Olympian Sent Out A Tweet That Predicted Her Own Future Five Years Ago

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Every athlete dreams of making it to the Olympics some day. It’s a lifelong goal, something that most people strive towards from the time that they’re a kid.

Plenty of Olympic hopefuls will do things to motivate themselves to one day get to the grandest stage in sports. You’ll hear these stories during the Olympics every year, and at Rio 2016, you’re going to hear the story of Morolake Akinosun over and over. Back in 2011, Akinosun tweeted this:

In 2016 I will be 22, graduated from a school I have not chosen yet, and going to the olympics (:

— Morolake Akinosun™ (@MsFastTwitch) July 28, 2011

For someone who is 17, this is a really ambitious set of goals. For most people, your No. 1 goal when you’re 17 is to pass a high school trigonometry exam, but for Akinosun, it was to graduate from college and make it onto the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team.



Well, let’s fast forward to Saturday afternoon. It’s been five years since Akinosun sent her original tweet, and she decided to let everyone know that she called her shot.

I tweeted that 5 years ago.

It"s 2016.
I graduate from Texas in December.
I"m going to the Olympics next week. https://t.co/vusyh5G5Y3

— Morolake Akinosun™ (@MsFastTwitch) July 30, 2016

That’s right, Akinosun is one of the best sprinters in the United States. She competed at the 2016 NCAA Track and Field Championships earlier this year for the University of Texas and recorded top-4 finishes in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×400 meter relay. Additionally, she competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials and earned a spot on the team that’s heading down to Rio a little later in this month in the 4×100 meter relay pool. While it’s not guaranteed that she’ll compete, she still earned the opportunity to head down, which is amazing.

This is normally the spot where someone would say that Akinosun should try playing the lottery next, but in all seriousness, this is quite the accomplishment. Back when she was a teenager, she strived to get a degree and make it to the 2016 Olympics. While she’s going to have to wait a few months for the first thing, Akinosun has accomplished the second thing, and it’s really admirable that she set goals, worked hard, and eventually achieved them.

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