NEIL McManus retired this week. I was at St John’s for the Waterford and Cork games last season and was riveted. In the Waterford game, Neil missed a penalty with the last puck that would have won the game for Antrim. But what a game. What entertainment. In the Cork game, we basked in wonderful […]
By Joe Brolly LIKE Freddie Kruger re-appearing at the window, the Cats never die. On Sunday, over the course of two electrifying hurling contests (are there any other sort?), I jumped up and sat down. I held my hands over my face. I shouted at the television. I groaned and twisted on the sofa. From […]
By Joe Brolly MODERN Gaelic football is a masterpiece, a complex symphony that can only be understood by people of great intellect. Our eyes are lying to us. Our boredom is a source of hilarity for the experts. We are watching something epic and extraordinary. We are just too stupid to understand it. Too ignorant to […]
By Joe Brolly MY son Niall says the GAA should sell tickets for the last ten minutes of games. The rule makers are incompetent and have been unable to do their job, so the spectacle has been ruined. Most games only begin these days when the 60th minute mark is passed. The new 10 minute […]
I GOT an e mail from the Pendulum Summit this morning, inviting me to a wellness and inspirational leadership workshop at the RDS with Dr Joe Vitali. A snip at only €1,500. Joe, who doesn’t have any particular qualifications, describes himself as a global thought leader. Modesty is not a quality associated with this genre. […]
THE myth is that Gaelic football analysis is now more in depth than it has ever been before. The truth is that it has never been more empty. False politeness. Q&As off the shelf, with everyone saying the same things. Clichés instead of thoughts. Bland statements of the obvious. I watched the RTE coverage on Sunday […]
DAVID Coldrick, one of our two best referees (the other being David Gough), has been dropped from the panel for the upcoming championship after “failing the referees’ fitness test.” Croke Park sources have revealed that the referee, who went into the test with a “muscle strain”, failed because he didn’t reach the line in time […]
NO-ONE remembers who won the league. Except the Memory Man Jimmy Magee, and he is dead. I can just about remember that Mayo won the league a fortnight ago. The details of the game escape me. I know it was Galway. After that, my mind is a blank. On Sunday, Mayo faced Roscommon, in Castlebar, […]
A RECENT circular was emailed from GAA HQ to every club and county delivering a cruel corporate message. “Ard Comhairle bulletin 25ú Márta 2023 Meetings of An Coiste Bainistíochta and Ard Chomhairle took place last night and today respectively. The following decision was taken: To prohibit the promotion of charities, campaigns etc on playing gear; […]
KING Midas was asked to judge a musical competition between two Gods: Pan (pipes) and Apollo (harp). He agreed, which turned out to be the worst decision since Paddy Russell blew up God for picking the ball off the ground in the ’95 final. The two musical Gods insisted Midas choose a winner. Balance was […]
