WITH THE Budweiser League season just three games old, the Greater London Leopards coach, Billy Mims, last night axed Bryan Williams ahead of tomorrow's meeting with last season's runners-up, Birmingham Bullets.

SHEFFIELD SHARKS and Derby Storm, with three wins each, are the only unbeaten teams in the Budweiser League after only the second weekend of the season.

MANCHESTER GIANTS put the salary cap dispute behind them with an 86- 81 opening night victory over Peugeot Bullets, Birmingham on Saturday, then immediately focused on squaring their account with the Budweiser League.

MANCHESTER GIANTS' assault on the Budweiser League title race has been thrown into turmoil by the League, which has withheld player licences for the season beginning tomorrow and instead cleared only nine players for the game against Peugeot Bullets Birmingham at the Nynex Arena.

Michael Jackson Revealed: the intimate connection between the female orgasm, cannabis, the Talmud and the gardens of Kent. Illustration by Fraser Hudson

n A quarter drink every week n Consumption up 40 per cent n Concern at parental apathy. Emma Cook reports

The decision by National Basketball Association players to shun next month's world championships in Athens is a serious blow to the tournament and will hurt the organisers' hopes for a million dollar profit according to the tournament's committee. NBA players have withdrawn from the national team, the defending champions, amid concerns over a possible league lock- out.

CONNECTIONS of High-Rise are undeterred by the recent heavy rain - three inches in the last eight days - in Ireland and yesterday reported the Derby winner on course for the Budweiser-sponsored Irish equivalent at the Curragh on Saturday week.

ENGLAND took a hammering from Finland in their opening game of the Basketfest International Tournament at Manchester's Nynex Arena last night, missing 22 out of 48 free throws in a 92-69 defeat.

MIKE FINGER has been rewarded with a new contract for coaching Peugeot Bullets Birmingham to the Budweiser Championships play-off title in his rookie year, but may have to build a new team for next season.

By Richard Taylor

MIKE FINGER spent the week building up Derby Storm's Moorways venue as the Budweiser League's most intimidating arena for visiting teams, then watched his Peugeot Bullets players dismantle it shot by shot on Saturday night.

EVERYONE likes to get something for nothing. In an age when the most secure thing about most occupations is job insecurity, there are other ways your employer can show just how much they care about you, you tiny cog in the monolithic machine of commerce. We're talking "fringe benefits" here, those little perks that nearly convince you you're not wasting your entire life for no good reason. With almost no preparation and largely using complicated methods like hearsay and chancing, and fully aware that the word "ligger" is derived from "least important guest", in a 10-day period I managed to crash several work jollies, to see just what the Man gives away when he gives something away.

Basketball: Tigers burning bright