IT was 2004 when I stopped watching soccer and abandoned any pretence at fandom. What did it for me was the serialisation of Ashley Cole’s autobiography (how can they call them autobiographies when someone else writes them?) “In My Defence.” That was the year when Cole was in negotiations with Arsenal about a new contract […]

BORIS Johnson said this week that he wants to unleash “The Great British haircut.” Boris, who looks like what Owen Mulligan will in 10 years’ time, likes to put “Great British” or “Great Britain” before his public pronouncements. For example he is fond of saying that “The Great British spirit” will overcome coronavirus. It is […]

THERE are many reasons to feel sorry for the English. Unlike there, here the apocalypse hasn’t materialised. In March, we were like the US marines in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, rumbling towards the Normandy beaches in their landing crafts, fearing death would come for them at any second. Unlike those poor souls […]

WITH each relaxation of the lockdown, the question gets louder: When can we go back to the games? All the time, psychological milestones are being passed. The cover of the latest edition of the Racing Post has a full page photo of Frankie Dettori in a sinister looking black face mask, with a quote from […]

DURING the 1968 Civil rights rebellion in Paris, one of the slogans used by the protesters was “DO NOT ADJUST YOUR MIND – THERE IS A FAULT WITH REALITY.” Watching Brexit, and Trump and Boris and the pathological liars at the heart of the UK power grab, where a grown man is sufficiently confident in […]

IN the 1920s, German philosopher Eugen Herrigel visited Japan to study archery and zen under the renowned Master Awa Kenzô. What he discovered surprised him. Kenzô taught him that the point of archery was not to hit the target or defeat the opponent. The point was to become so deeply absorbed in the activity itself […]

IN 1969, Francie McCloskey, a well-liked 66-year-old farmer, was batoned to death by members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the door-front of Hassan’s draper’s shop on Dungiven Main Street. The joke told about suits from Hassan’s was that the trousers were so flared you had to take two strides before the trousers moved, but […]

GERMAN authorities announced on Tuesday of this week that the world famous Oktoberfest has been cancelled. It was due to begin on the September 19, roundabout when the All-Ireland football final would normally be played. The Bavarian government concluded “there is no realistic possibility that we will have a vaccine by then and without a […]

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