THE Dublin and Galway game on Saturday began with the usual musical diazepam. If the soldiers whose lives were pledged to Ireland had been marching behind this singing they would have come over very sleepy, then changed their minds and gone home. The mood didn’t improve after the throw-in. Éamonn Fitzmaurice was co-commentator on RTÉ. He has […]
JOE BROLLY: Derry not for Sam
DUBLIN’S opening two boring defeats in the league prompted me to ask the question, “Why won’t they kick the ball in to Con O’Callaghan?” For those games, he was a peripheral presence, traking back and tackling round the middle third, taking a handpass at the last minute in a crowded defence. What a waste. Like […]
JOE BROLLY: Decisive contributions
THE difference between Dublin, Kerry and the others is that the big two are capable of making decisive contributions in big games. The Mayo-Kerry game on Saturday evening provided a perfect example of this. With the sides level and two minutes of injury time left, Mayo, with the wind, were in control of the ball. The […]
JOE BROLLY: Only one Tony Scullion
“We had very little money. None let’s be honest. I was a backward child. Not forward. But on the pitch that’s when things levelled out. Makes no odds on the green grass if you haven’t two shillins to put together. It doesn’t matter a damn what you own or how much money you have. When it […]
JOE BROLLY: Boring Dublin
I WATCHED the Derry game in Smyths in Ranelagh with Sean Muldoon from the Loup. Three Englishmen were in the booth with us and were intrigued by the game. We explained the rules to them – three points for a goal, a point for a point, the solo, the bounce, the tackle. They could not […]
JOE BROLLY: God save the King
IT is being suggested by some southern commentators that in the event of a United Ireland, the new Ireland should immediately join the Commonwealth of nations, where we would bask in the great bounty of living under the shelter of his glorious Majesty and his family. This is a great boost for all of us in […]
JOE BROLLY: Tweedledum and God
THERE is a five-year old chess sensation nicknamed ‘Tweedledum’ who is currently setting the chess world alight. A video emerged of him last week, playing in a tournament against a seasoned chess master from China. The child sucks on a piece of lace, yawns and looks all around him as his 50 year old opponent […]
JOE BROLLY: Luke not so Littler
THE year ended with 16 year old Luke Littler humiliating ex-world champions and men three times his age at the World Darts Championship. He looks as though he was born with a beer belly and three kids, a laboratory baby made from Phil Taylor & the Crafty Cockney’s DNA. Like the very great ones, this is […]
JOE BROLLY: The new religion
REFLECTING the genuflecting of Ireland’s GAA journalists (if they could roll over and let JP McManus tickle their bellies they would), Cahair O’Kane wrote in the Irish News a few days ago that JP has been “trying for more than 20 years to spend his money meaningfully” and that “governments tend not to spend money […]
JOE BROLLY: Jimmy’s Wall
MANY years ago, I wrote: “It is only a matter of time before teams are investing in stealth and cloaking technology and bug sweeping devices. It will also become the norm to maintain 24 hour surveillance on the movements, phones, smart devices and computers of all players. Behavioural contracts will be the norm. Players will have […]