If you thought Deadspin's bear-eating-monkey video was shocking, then you'll be floored by this:

This Russian Youth Hockey melee makes The Malice at the Palice look like a pillow fight.  The weird Russian rap doesn't add anything to the clip, so I suggest Rage Against The Machine's "Sleep Now in the Fire" (especially at 2:45) as a soundtrack.  

Can you imagine this happening in the States?

“He’s soft!”

“He’s slow!”

“He’s overpaid!”

I don’t have enough space on this blog to list all of the insults that have been hurled Roy Hibbert’s way since he followed up signing a massive five-year extension last summer with a fairly disappointing regular season, at least on the offensive end. Around the All-Star Break this year, Hibbert wasn’t even cracking a double-figure scoring average, and shooting 40% - an embarrassing mark for a 7’2 center. Hibbert recovered and turned in a modest 12-and-8, but still ended up with the lowest field goal percentage mark of his career, and his second-lowest scoring output since his rookie season. I was guilty of criticizing Hibbert, too. Was a defensive stopper who is often in foul trouble worth $58 million? Do NBA teams need “true” centers any more? Will he ever be more than a mediocre offensive player? These were all pertinent questions just three weeks ago.

Now? Maybe Larry Bird (who constructed this ‘bigger and more physical’ blueprint) and Donnie Walsh knew what they were doing.

Roy's stellar interior defense had paid dividends

We’re barely halfway through the NBA Playoffs, but already you can argue that Roy Hibbert has been Indiana’s most important player. Roy has averaged 14.6 points and nearly 10 boards per game while shooting 50%. The big man has dominated 2012 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler in the first three games of this series with the Knicks, and is a big reason why Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith have yet to get on track.

In a league that’s dominated by big stars, the squads without those elite-level players (Paul George isn’t there yet) have to counteract it in the only way that they can: get physical. Knock them around, rile them up, and muck it up as much as possible - it doesn’t get messier than an 81-72 Game 3 win that made the Pacers-Knicks fist fights of the 1990s look like a Picasso painting. The fact is that most teams don’t have the size and physicality that the Pacers do. Even fewer of them have a 7-foot centerpiece that can protect the rim. The Grizzlies are one of the only teams to go down that path, and both they and Indiana could be one win away from the Conference Finals with Game 4 victories early this week.

Nine games doesn’t mean that Hibbert’s contract will go down as a success. However, with the way he’s elevated his game and has set the tone for his team so far this postseason, you could certainly see why Indiana decided to make the investment.