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 […]
JOE BOLLY: Player contracts
BEFORE the Connacht semi-final between Corofin and Ballina, an interesting thing happened. Ballina came out an hour before throw-in and started into one of those standard-form, laborious warm-ups that have become the norm. Then, about 25 minutes before throw-in, they went back inside. Finally, at twenty to two, Corofin appeared. They jogged in and out […]
JOE BROLLY: The story of David and Adam
DAVID Clifford. Scored 12 points in the Kerry intermediate final last weekend then missed the vital one at the end to force penalties. It’s all very well scoring the unimportant ones. What a loser. Used to be you could drive two miles to see a game of football. Nowadays, you have to drive 300 (to […]
JOE BROLLY: Roll up and watch Rory
RORY Beggan kicked a three in-a-row of gravity-defying points on Sunday to slay Kilcoo and didn’t get the Man of the Match. It was the most extraordinary display of long-range kicking I have ever seen. Add to that the fact that all of the kicks were under the most tremendous pressure with the outcome at stake, […]
JOE BROLLY: Won’t somebody please think of the audience?
AFTER 29 minutes of the Mayo Senior Football final on Sunday, co-commentator John Maughan said, “All I can do is apologise to the viewers for this really terrible spectacle. I’m not sure it’s going to get any better.” At half time, hundreds of people upped and left, leaving empty rows of seats in the middle of […]
Peter ‘the Giant’ Canavan
WE have so many small boxing champions, from Rinty Monaghan through to Carl Frampton. Once, I was playing in a charity match in Belfast. Both teams were full of All-Stars and a few famous sporstmen from other sports. Paddy Barnes, the famous boxer, was on our team. He is about five feet tall. Before the […]