SINCE Rory Beggan, Conor McCarthy and others won their first Monaghan senior title in 2013, they have gone on to win it nine more times. Ten Monaghan titles in 13 years, before going on to lose all nine previous times in Ulster. Writing it down emphasises how extraordinary their losing streak is: 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, […]
I DON’T watch soccer. It reminds me of a sporting Love Island, all meticulous hairstyles, ultrabrite teeth, tattoos and superficial sportsmanship. Give respect, get respect, except when you are diving to feign injury to get an opponent sent off. The end of it for me was when I heard that Cristiano Ronaldo had a clause […]
BEFORE the Ulster Championship matches at the weekend, I got a text from Ruaidhri Currie, a good Rossa man. “Going to have a flutter. Loughmacrory or Kilcoo? Newbridge or Madden?” I texted back, “Kilcoo and Newbridge. Winning the county championship was the other two’s wildest dreams fulfilled. Impossible for them to adjust their sights to […]
JIM Gavin wasn’t ready for the Nasty Rose of Tralee. His pristine reputation meant that an ancient €3,000 rent dispute with a journalist was enough to mobilise the outrage machine and have him cancelled. If on the other hand 10 women appeared before a Senate hearing tomorrow and revealed that President Trump had sexually assaulted […]
Mark Vancil, the author of Michael Jordan’s biography ‘Rare Air’ said that the difference between Michael and the rest, what set him apart, was that he was “always present.” He never thought about failure. His mind never wandered to what might happen or how the score in a game might end up. If he missed […]
WHEN Henry Shefflin went to Galway, I thought of Martha Wainright’s great line in her song Factory, ‘These are not my people, I should never have come here.’ Brian Cody’s iron handshake that drew the blood from Henry’s hand and face suddenly became his legacy. Cody did not say a word to Henry that day, […]
THE NFL debuts in Croke Park next week, Steelers versus Vikings. Legendary American football broadcaster Dave Zirin, in Ireland to promote his documentary ‘Behind the Shield’ says that this is “no mere game of football”. Zirin, whose son plays quarterback for one of the top college football teams, says, “This is an act of soft […]
AS each of his plans end in triumph, I imagine Jim Gavin sitting in a hot tub, sipping champagne, smoking a fine cigar, like Hannibal in the A team, smiling and saying to himself, “I love it when a plan comes together.” He is a mysterious and unknowable man. Like The Equalizer he appears from […]
LAST Friday night in the Tyrone Senior League, Dungannon beat Trillick 0-25 to 0-17. Trillick lost heavily, despite kicking the ball over the bar more times than Dungannon and playing the better football. They lost because Dungannon have a two-point specialist, Paul Donaghy, who kicked nine two-pointers. Dungannon’s next highest scorers on the night managed […]
PAT Gilroy tells a story about Ger Brennan when he was starting his senior career with St Vincent’s. They were playing Na Fianna. Ger, who was 18 or so, was centre back, marking Kieran McGeeney, who by then was an icon of the game, former player of the year and captain of the International Rules […]
