Each of these great teams had a pig as its leader – a captain with abnormal drive who didn’t care about publicity or the fans or the media.

IT was the summer of 2005. I was walking through the tunnel beneath Croke Park, past the dressing rooms and out through the coach exit, when there he was, standing big in the evening sun, bleached blonde hair, looking left and right. It was Owen Mulligan and the big man was restless. He saw me […]

AND Moses said unto the people “Prepare for tomorrow and abstain from sexual relations.” And on the next morning, the third morning, Moses led the people out to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain and trembled as they waited. And God gave unto Moses, when he had made an […]

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 […]