I ASKED RTÉ before one of the Mayo All-Ireland finals if they would open the show with Beck’s song, “I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me.” They refused. “Why?” I asked. “Because it’s not polite.” It might not have been polite but it is true. As they demonstrated again on Sunday for […]
‘Maradona has the ball, two are marking him. He touches the ball. He passes them both. Maradona, the genius of world football. He dashes to the right. He leaves the third defender behind him. He’s going to pass to Burruchaga. No he doesn’t. He passes the fourth defender. It’s still Maradona. Genius, genius, genius, he’s […]
IN 2000, the sportswriter Eamonn Sweeney was at the top of his game. A successful novelist and sports journalist, he was a regular on TV shows, a drinker, a socialiser, an intellectual and a 32 year old man in a loving relationship. In his new book ‘The Last Ditch”, his first in 20 years, he […]
AFTER the Ulster final last year, Jimmy McGuinness stood on an articulated trailer in the centre of Donegal town and told the throngs, “There is only one thing left for us to win, and we are going to go after that with everything we have.” Since then, a panel of players that looked very ordinary […]
AFTER the Ulster final last year, Jimmy McGuinness stood on an articulated trailer in the centre of Donegal town and told the throngs,”There is only one thing left for us to win, and we are going to go after that with everything we have.” Since then, a panel of players that looked very ordinary before […]
LIKE the Little Red Hen, Jimmy doesn’t need any help. But unlike the Little Red Hen, he doesn’t ask for it. I watched them training once in 2011, shortly before their All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin and was amazed that, apart from the goalies, he took the entire session himself. The drills, the running, the talks […]
THERE used to be a county court judge in the North who did not like hearing complicated cases, a sensible man who liked to get home early in the day. Once, I had an equity civil bill in front of him, neighbours fighting over a ten foot square of land at the bottom of their […]
ON Saturday I got a lift to the Mayo game with a lad from Ballina. As we got close to MacHale park, two hours early, there were parking spaces everywhere. “There’s one,” I said. He drove past it. “There’s another one.” He drove past it. “I don’t know how to reverse Joe,” he said. “How did […]
KEVIN McStay told TG4 before the throw-in against Armagh, “We’re going to play the game on its merits and see if we can come up with two points and that sums it up really. Hopefully, the wind stays nice and mild, because we all know about the wind.” I assumed this was some sort of […]
IT must be very confusing being Paddy Tally. In the first round, we played Tyrone, who he coached. In the second, Kerry, who he coached. In Celtic Park on Saturday evening, it was Galway, who he also coached. It is a wonder he remembers which dressing room to go into. Paddy also previously coached Derry. […]
