Section of Irish rugby fans an embarrassment during loss to England

Ireland were pretty much knocked flat on their face on Sunday by a powerful (if stupefyingly boring tactically) English team. Perhaps worse yet, the legend of great Irish fans support took a serious body blow, inflicted by none other than our own.  One of Irish rugby’s most endearing features, and indeed one of its proudest traditions, was the veritable silence afforded the kicker, even opposition kickers, during play. Sadly, English outhalf Owen Farrel was subjected to boos, whistles and cat calls on almost every one of his six kicks on Sunday.

It was ugly.

Let’s face it. We supporters of Irish sports and Irish Rugby would be the first to cry foul if Ronan O’Gara or Johnny Sexton were booed by English fans while lining up a kick at Twickenham. For years foreign teams, players, commentators and pundits alike commended Ireland and its fans for the respectful way they treated the opposition and its kickers during games. Indeed, many thought that the strict, almost shocking, silence that continues to greet kickers at Munster’s home games is in fact intimidating for the opposition.

You could argue therefore that this silence maintained during kicks was actually part  of Ireland’s home field advantage, an advantage that would appear to be all but gone (Ireland has won a pathetic six out of its last twelve home matches).

One more point before we get on to the demise of Ireland’s home field advantage. Apart from the booing of the kicker, the pathetic booing  of the English fans singing was pure bottom of the barrel stuff. Full disclosure, as a passionate Irish fan, I have been known to mock the single most inappropriate fan base anthem, ‘Swing Low’ on many occasion (Seriously England, a slave song?! From the most colonialist country of all time?!). However I would rather listen to a thousand English fans bellowing ‘Swing Low’ than a handful of ignorant Irish fans booing same. Furthermore, Irish fans and journalists alike were up in arms earlier in the season when a stupid English team official insisted on playing loud rock music at the Saracens against Munster game, whenever the travelling visitors tried to sing.

We can no longer complain about incidents like that, if we are going to behave in exactly the same manner as a sports supporting nation.

Back to the overall dissipation of Ireland’s home advantage. The atmosphere at Sunday’s game was about as good as at a football friendly between Ireland and Kazakhstan. Apart from the classless behaviour of a large portion of the fans, the noise levels of actual support were pathetic, and there was a constant stream of ‘supporters’ leaving their seats to attack the concession stands, or whatever it is people do when they are not caring about what’s going on in the action on field.

What exactly is leading to this apathetic, boorish, ugly behaviour, coupled with a noticeable reduction in the actual support levels of the Irish rugby fans in Dublin? Is it the high ticket prices? That aspect can’t be ignored. Tickets start at around 50 euros and march upwards towards 100 euros if you want to have anything approaching a decent seat. In this day and age, during this stifling recession, that is ridiculously expensive.

Sorry if this offends, but the fact of the matter is, the people that can actually afford the tickets would appear, on the evidence before us, to be bringing down the lofty standards of Irish rugby support.

Sadly, Irish rugby might be laying in a bed of its own making. Take a look at the Boston Red Sox for what can happen to a passionate crowd. For decades, prior to 2004, Red Sox fans were known as among the most passionate, knowledgeable and supportive of all fans in not only US baseball, but all US sports. Red Sox playoff games in the late nineties and early 2000s were nothing short of sensational events. The home playoff opener in 1999 was one of the most exciting, enjoyable events I have ever seen on TV, and Red  Sox fans still remember nostalgically the incredible support that poured forth from the stands and bleachers that day. Fast forward to now, and the home support at Red Sox games is effectively gone. In fact, it is worse, it has a tangible negative effect on the home team, as Red Sox fans have taken to booing their team,  something unheard of in the nineties.

What happened? Simple, the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and 2007, this success bringing with it a truckload of fair weather fans and wildly over priced tickets.

In the summer of ’99 I sat right behind home plate watching Pedro Martinez pitch for Boston and my seat cost $28. Today that same seat would cost around $200, if you could get it, all the best seats at Fenway have been bought out for the next five to ten years by corporations, businesses and ticket re-sellers.

Success on the field has led to the pricing out of the average fan in Boston.

This would appear to be exactly what is happening to Irish Rugby. Success for Ireland and Leinster in the last five years in particular is leading to increased ticket prices which in turn is leading to a new, rich and basically apathetic crowd at the games. This has the adverse effect of eroding Ireland’s previously enjoyed home field advantage.

Perhaps it will take a few years in the wilderness for the real fans to be allowed back in.

In the meantime, if you care at all, and if you are at an Ireland game where a ‘fan’ boos the kicker, please do your country a favour and chastise them for it.

That is, if anyone cares anymore.

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Comments
We love your comments! The communicative back-and-forth is one of the best parts of sports journalism. A couple of quick notes on same. This is a sports blog, and it deals with both the USA and Ireland, hopefully that answers a few questions! Also, your opinion is greatly valued, strong ones even more so, but if you revert to personal attacks or any kind of hate speech, your comment will be deleted. Repeat offenders will have their IP address banned.Thanks for all the great feedback to date! 

The curious story of Harry Potter and the Dublin minor team

No, this is not another installment of the popular JK Rowling book, or movie. This is even odder. You may have noticed pictures of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe celebrating with the Dublin GAA Minor (Junior) team doing the rounds on the net last night and thought to yourself, ‘Nah, that’s not Harry Potter! He’s too small, and besides, what would he be doing drinking with the Dubs?!’

The crazy thing is, it’s all true!

Taking a jab-step back for a second, a little context. On Sunday 23rd ‘The Dubs’ as they are affectionately known captured their first minor title since 1984 beating neighbours Meath by 14 points to 8. Naturally the celebration lasted a while, until the small hours in fact. Let’s turn to Dublin player Niall Walsh who wrote on his Facebook page: "Walkin down Grafton Street round 3ish bump into Harry Potter head gone lookin for the party, get few pics, get our wands out for quick leak then into a taxi to Capt David Byrnes for the after-sesh."

Beautifully put.


We think that translates to; ''We were walking down Grafton Street at  3 am in the morning when we chanced upon movie star Daniel Radcliffe who was looking for a party in which to be part of. We took pictures with the young man and then urinated on the street. We then took a taxi to a late night party in the home of our team Captain, a Mr David Byrne''

Radcliffe apparently hit it off with the boys and joined them for the house party, and if you take a peek at our headline snap (click on it to view it in it's entire glory) you will note the clock indicates the party was a Lionel Ritchie joint, as in, all night long. Radcliffe is in Ireland filming a movie, and as you can see from the below snaps, apparently is enjoying his time on the Emerald Isle.

Click individual snaps to enlarge. 

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Ireland U21 beat Italy in Casarano with a wonder goal from Conor Henderson - VIDEOS

Conor Henderson

It may have been 'only' under 21 level, however last night Irish soccer achieved one of its finest results ever, as our young guns pulled out a stunning European Championship qualifier win in Casarano, Italy. The hosts had already won the group and Ireland would have to settle for a non qualifying yet admirable third place. This doesn't take the gloss of what was a wonderful result against some of the best U-21 players in the world. Add to this the fact Ireland had not one but two players sent off, and you have to consider this as a fine achievement.

The goal of the night was scored by young Conor Henderson, on the books currently at Arsenal.

Check this cracker out:



No doubt senior side boss Gio Trapattoni will be ignoring him soon.

You can catch more highlights from the astonishing match below, a truly wonderful result for Noel King's side. The future looks bright for the Irish youngsters, with seven of the Irish players are eligible for the next Under-21 campaign so manager King will have more time to mould the lads into potential stars for Irish soccer's future.



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Irish soccer legend Damien Duff visits Irish troops in the Lebanon

Some professional athletes talk a big game. Others put their money where their mouth is.

While we go about our normal lives, worrying about paying the bills, what we are going to have for dinner and what’s on TV later, there are currently over 330 Irish soldiers serving in the Lebanon as part of the strong UN remit in that country, keeping the peace in a time of great stress for the region. It is an incredibly dangerous task, and tragically, 47 Irish soldiers have died defending the peace in South Lebanon. All the while the fear remains that the problems in neighbouring Syria could explode across the border. It is a tense time to be a UN peace keeper based in the region.

This brings us to Damien Duff, or ‘The Duffer’

The veteran Irish soccer star could have stayed at home, licking his wounds after the disastrous Irish European Championships campaign. He could have zipped off somewhere hot and sunny and hit the golf links, or collapsed by the pool. Instead, The Duffer chose to make a difficult, dangerous trip to Beirut, and subsequently on to the Lebanon. He has gone to help lift the spirits of the Irish force there, and will no doubt offer them stories from his Irish team and Premiership exploits in his colourful, successful career. Duff also paid his respects the memory of the 47 Irish men who died in the name of peace.

It is a fantastic, unselfish gesture from a clearly level headed and thoughtful man. The 33 year old Irish star will spend three days with the Battalion, and apart from meeting and spending time with the troops, he is also scheduled to visit a local orphanage.

Professional sports can be a depressing entity at time. Having to listen to the likes of morons like Dwight Howard procrastinate as to what team he wants to pay him millions of dollars to play basketball next season, while holding the NBA loving city of Orlando to hostage, is very unappealing. The same goes for Carlos Lee, the bloated Houston Astros slugger with his similarly bloated $100 million contract. We really need to read endless stories about what team he refuses to be traded to, seriously?

Modern professional sports can be an ugly creature. Thankfully there are still characters as strong and honourable as Damien Duff. His heart warming decision to visit his countrymen in the Lebanon is an example to us all.

It also makes your heart burst with pride to be Irish.

Hopefully Duff and the boys in green enjoy his visit to the utmost.

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Boxing's remaining dignity left in tatters in the wake of the Pacquiao Bradley fight

Sadly, the once proud and noble sport of boxing, is swiftly becoming one of the ‘I remember..’ sports. In other words, ‘I remember when Ali was a glorious leading light’ or ‘I remember the drama and suspense before and often after Mike Tyson fights’. I remember my family bringing home a new puppy when I was young, and the obvious choice for his name was ‘Bruno’, it being the night of the Frank Bruno\Tyson fight and the crowd baying ‘Bruno, Bruno, Bruno!’.

I remember Tyson, Bruno, Evander Holyfield, George Foreman and heck, even Lennox Lewis had a certain ‘draw’ to him. The great heavyweight fights, the drama and the prestige. Being allowed stay up late to watch a big bout. People talking about it the next day in school, college and then work. Well, people are still talking about fights, however the water-cooler conversation is now invariably based around whatever controversy is drowning Boxing at the time.

The once great sport is absolutely reeling right now in the wake of the incredible scenes after the Pacquiao versus Bradley fight from the weekend just passed.

Essentially, every single person who watched, commentated on or wrote about the fight is saying, with authority, that Manny Pacquiao was the clear winner of the fight. Post-fight analysis of the statistics is also showing, again with authority, that Pacquiao was an overwhelming winner. The only dissenting voices around? Two of the three judges. Duane Ford and C.J. Ross both scored the fight in favour of the challenger, Timothy Bradley Jr, thus awarding him the welterweight title fight 2-1.

If you didn’t see the fight the evidence that Pacquiao dominated and should have won, easily, is all around. Take for example these telling excerpts from this excellent round-by-round account in the LA Times.

•  Round 3 Pacquiao is bobbing and weaving, looking for an opening. With 90 seconds left, he finds it and gets off the kind of lightning-fast shot Bradley fears.
• Round 4: The most action in the fight so far with both men mixing it up in the center of the ring. Pacquiao is getting the best of it, and Bradley is cautioned for a low blow
• Round 5: Bradley has become much less aggressive, and now it's Pacquiao who is charging forward, his confidence growing
• Round 6: Bradley lands a soft left, but it doesn't hurt Pacquiao, whose speed is overwhelming the challenger. Bradley flinches every time Pacquiao so much as feigns a punch. Pacquiao gets off a good left counterpunch.
• Round 7: It took Pacquiao most of the first two rounds to get a feel for Bradley, but he's unstoppable now.
• Round 12: The fighters touch gloves to start the round. Bradley needs a knockout

In reading even that alone the most casual of observers would obviously say that Pacquiao must surely have been given the win. Despite all of the above obviously pointing to a clear and easy Pacquiao win, those afore mentioned judges found a way to award Bradley the fight on points. ESPN reported the end of the match as such;

"Nearly every media member at ringside, as well as HBO's broadcasters, had the fight as a wide victory for Pacquiao and the crowd of 14,206 rained boos down when the result was announced.’’

HBO boxing analyst Max Kellerman is reported as having said he scored it eight rounds to four for Pacquiao, and that he thought doing so was being generous to Bradley. Manny Pacquiao clearly won the eyeball test. For the duration of the fight, particularly the middle rounds, he constantly outfight, harassed and at times clearly terrified Bradley. Manny Pacquiao clearly and undeniably won the statistical battle also.

ESPN.com scored the fight 119-109 for Pacquiao. HBO's unofficial judge, Harold Lederman, also had it 119-109 for Pacquiao, meaning he gave Bradley only one round. Most ringside media also scored it clearly for Pacquiao.  Pacquiao also dominated in the ‘CompuBox’ punch statistics. According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 253 of 751 punches while Bradley landed only 159 of his 839 attempts. Pacquiao also connected with 82 more power punches (190-108) and landed more overall punches in 10 of the 12 rounds.

There is not one shred of evidence, visual or analytical that even hints at suggesting a Bradley win. So, where did it all go wrong?

Let’s start with boxing mega promoter Bob Arum, who interestingly promotes both Pacquiao and Bradley (conflict of interests, much?!). In the aftermath of the fight Arum has presented himself as an angry man, disgusted at the result. Despite promoting Bradley, he has shouted very loudly that the result was wrong. He has gone so far as to submit a formal request to the office of Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto for a "full and complete inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the scoring" of Saturday's fight.

Arum is quoted as saying;

"The public has a right to know (what happened). The fighters have a right to know. The only way to restore fans' confidence in boxing is by letting an independent body investigate every detail of the fight no matter how big or small. Sunshine never hurt anyone."

Arum continued to play to the crowd with the following vociferous monologue;

"What the hell were these people watching? ... How can you watch a sport where you don't see any motive for any malfeasance and yet come up with a result like we came up with tonight. How do you explain it to anybody? Something like this is so outlandish, it's a death knell for the sport. This is f------ nuts. I have both guys, and I'll make a lot of money in the rematch, but it's ridiculous. You have these old f---- who don't know what the hell they're looking at. It's incompetence. Nobody who knows anything about boxing could have Bradley ahead in the fight."

Here’s a thought, and it is based around Arum. Maybe this is exactly the way it was meant to happen. We are already hearing about a re-match. Maybe Arum and co will re-brand the re-match as a ‘redmeption’ match, ensuring a massive buy-in from the angry boxing public. Arum is spouting vitriol to everyone and anyone who will listen to him, and his protests are so vehement that, at this stage he is starting to insist a little too much upon us. He isn’t just spouting off about the result, he is wandering around like some sort of modern day Iago and placing the seeds of doubt in anyone who will listen’s mind, take for example this pithy little anecdote he was spreading around post match

"I went over to Bradley before the decision and he said, 'I tried hard but I couldn't beat the guy.'"

Bob, you can fool some of the people some of the time…

Meanwhile, Arum’s stable is dutifully spitting out the company line. Bradley himself is barely able to conceal his interest in a re-match "We definitely have to do it again."  Pacquiao said he wants the rematch, too. "No problem, I'll be ready for the rematch." Of course he will be ready, he has $26 million reasons to be ready, and Bradley will take another $5 and laugh his way to the bank. Those are the dollar figures both men earned in 'round one'.

The wheels are in motion. The awful decision on the night is already almost behind us. Arum and his cohorts are busy moving the chess pieces around the board.  Bradley and Pacquiao will fight again, and everyone connected with the fight, the boxers themselves, Arum, and all other interested parties will make a large yacht full of money. Everyone will forget Ford and Ross, and the whole venture will be deemed a success.

A success at the cost of sporting-justice.

A success at the continued and eventually complete erosion of boxing’s remaining dignity.

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Ireland and the Boston Celtics lose, but their fans come out winners

It is going to take a while to shower the clingy, sticky mucus that was the sporting weekend just past off. For fans of the Irish soccer team and fans of the Boston Celtics (and indeed fans of both like myself!) Monday morning is depressing to an extra factor of twenty after the brutal results Saturday and Sunday night. Don't even talk to me about the Red Sox.

The Celtics, injury ravaged to an unbelievable degree, teased us with an early ten point lead, only to tire and get worn down with the ridiculous LeBron precession to the free throw line, finally succumbing to the abhorrent Heat and their Nuremberg Rally like fans (Note to Miami: Big rallies where everyone dresses the exact same, and chants to pre-arranged material handed down from 'the authorities' has been done before, and is pretty creepy). Ireland? What can you say about Ireland? Well, I had this to say about them last week in my Irish Central column;

''There are some in Ireland suggesting this Irish team might unite the country much like the Jackie Charlton led teams and indeed the Mick McCarthy World Cup team did in years previous. Largely fueled by greedy companies trying to cash in on merchandising and such, Ireland is being led down a blind alley of false hope in the inevitably doomed belief it might win a match or two and qualify for the next round. A huge dose of realism is well overdue. Glenn Whelan in midfield? This might be the single worst quality team to qualify for a European Championship in the last decade. Having said all that, Ireland's undoubted grit and determination, and wonderful, colourful and positive fans (the single greatest traveling fans, bar none, in all sports) will bring something to the tournament, even if Ireland don’t score in any of the three matches.''

Now, in light of the unbelievably poor showing against Croatia, we don't want to get all Brian Griffin on you, however, it must be noted, we did tell you so!

However, the 'lost weekend' of sports wasn't without a couple of dignified, heart warming aspects to it. First to the incredible Irish soccer fans who have traveled to Eastern Europe to follow their team. It is important not to just nod your head and mumble 'yeah I know, they are great'. What we are seeing unfold in front of us is one of the greatest displays of support ever seen in soccer and maybe in sports as a whole.

Think about it for a second.

Despite a knee-buckling recession in their homeland, Irish fans have thrown caution to the wind and flocked en-masse to follow a team that includes such luminaries as Keith Andrews, Simon Cox and, yes, him, Glenn Whelan.

They not only deserve our adulation, they deserve a medal! UEFA release some incredible figures last week, as it turns out, Irish soccer fans bought up 35,000 tickets to the finals. By comparison, English soccer fans bought a miserly 15,000. That gives you some idea how passionately the Irish support their team.

The fans in green are being recognised around the world for their magnificent support. Take for example this comment from The Guardian;

''The remarkable Irish supporters had scarcely been cowed even by the disturbing start. Those fans made such an impression in noise and number as the match began that they might have been mistaken for followers of a host nation.''

Even better yet, the Irish fans are doing it all with a smile on their faces. First here...

...and then, a little inside, I know, but this is a cracker

Now to the Celtics fans, and their incredible display of support as Game 6 slowly phased itself out to a close. At first glance this below footage may not look like much, but then consider the context, Boston had just been beaten up by LeBron and the Heat, on their home court. Consider the likelihood that this was probably (and as it turned out, most likely) the last time these fans would see these players together as a unit.

Then consider the sheer volume and passion of the 'Let's go Celtics' chant that hovers in the air for a full four minutes as the game fades away slowly to zero seconds.





You can see LeBron and his cohorts chuckling away to each other as the game dies out, however we all know full well they were thinking 'I wonder is this how Miami fans would react?' 

For me, this amazing display of passion from the Boston Celtics fans was a dignified and heart warming 'thank you' to the big three in particular. Everyone knows the team will probably be blown up this off-season, and Celtics fans have loved every second of cheering for Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and their team mates.

Despite being down and beaten on the night by Miami, the look on the faces of Allen, KG and Pierce is one of incredible dignity and thankfulness to have played in front of such a basketball-knowledgeable  and passionate crowd. That thankfulness is repaid in full by the Bostonians in attendance on the night.

Terrible sporting weekend, however the memory of the incredible Celtics fans, and the colourful, passionate and gregarious Ireland fans will live on way longer than the score of any game.

Let's go Celtics. Come on Ireland.

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Baseball Ireland A-League weekend wrap up May 19th-20th

The weekend just past saw a full slate of league games in the Irish baseball league. Beautiful Corcaigh Park, the home of Irish Baseball, saw the 2011 Champion Dublin Spartans host the Greystones Mariners. The Mariners banged out an impressive 10 hits on their way to a very respectable 5-2 win over the Spartans veteran side. The Spartans are now on a surprising 4 game losing streak, whilst the Mariners announced they will be pushing for the playoffs this season, sitting on a nice 3-2 record after 5 games.

In Shankill at ‘BlackSox Park’ the Munster Warriors and the BlackSox played a double header, with the Sox taking both close fought encounters. The Sox won the first game 7-5 and the second 6-4. The Sox are now 5-1 and second in the league to the Dublin Hurricanes. 

The Dublin Hurricanes

                                                     

The latter traveled up North to play the Belfast Northstars. The game was a well-played, tight affair with the score at 4-3 ‘Canes in the fourth inning. The ‘Canes bats erupted however and the Dublin team ran out 16-4 winners on the day. The Hurricanes are on a stunning run dating back to last season. In 2011 the ‘Canes won all 15 of their league games, and they have started 2012 5-0, meaning they have now won 20 league games in a row over two seasons.

The ‘Canes face a big challenge in two weeks’ time against the Greystones Mariners. Next week the A-League sees action between the BlackSox and Spartans, Saturday morning at BlackSox Park in Shankill, and Munster will be desperate for a win against Greystones, the game being played at Corcaigh Park in Dublin.

You can view the schedule and the league tables for both the A and B leagues on the Baseball Ireland website Adult league page. For more about the Irish National Baseball facility at Corcaigh Park click here.

If you are interested in playing baseball in Ireland, go to this page and contact the League Coordinator. Most other baseball Ireland related queries can be answered starting at that contact page.

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Baseball Ireland - we do it wetter

                                      

USA soccer team shocks Italy 1-0 - VIDEO

Clint Dempsey

Former German Uber-striker Jurgen Klinsmann may have physically taken on the role as US national soccer team manager back last July, however his reign will, in time, be considered to have started last night. The United States took a notable scalp with a hard fought 1-0 win over European soccer giants Italy.

The goal was a well worked team effort, with a crisp, efficient finish by Clint Dempsey.



That’s a lovely touch from Jozy Altidore to set it up. Dempsey is fast becoming not just a great player, but one of the most successful players to have worn the USA jersey. Or, that odd-ball, high-school style jersey they had on last night, either! Dempsey’s goal makes it 25 in 83 Internationals, not a shabby haul for a midfield player, and not bad for International level either. Dempsey is already the all-time leading scorer amongst US players in the Premiership with 43 goals, and at only 29 years old he has plenty of time to add to that impressive haul.

To put the win in perspective, this was the first time the USA have ever beaten Italy. Furthermore, Dempsey became just the fourth American to score against Italy, joining Buff Donelli (1934), John Harkes (1992) and Landon Donovan (2009). If you want to be picky you can include the own-goal Italy scored against themselves in 2006.

The States continue to go from strength to strength under Klinsmann, with last night’s big win they have now won four straight under the German.

There are still plenty of ignorant doubters out there in the US sporting media, but one undeniable fact is the US sporting public loves a winner, and if US soccer continues to produce results, it is only a matter of time before soccer breaks into the cartel that is NFL, NBA, MLB and to a lesser extent NHL.

For now, those loyal US soccer fans there is can enjoy a tremendous win against a famous opponent.

James McClean left out of Irish squad - Here we go again...

Okay first things first, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way. We are all suitably delighted the Irish soccer team have qualified for the European Championships. The qualification for same harkens back to the glory days of the Charlton era and no doubt will give Ireland a much needed national boost when the tournament comes around. The inevitable hard fought 0-0 group round draws, the feisty performances and the lovable underdog tag will undoubtedly be a blast. The heart breaking tournament exit after a penalty shoot-out will give us all a reason to knock back a few brews. Fabulous.

The problem is, you can pretty much write the script months ahead of the event itself. How come? Because the Irish manager, Gio Trapaphoney, is a stubborn old man.
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To continue the disclaimer before we head into the rant, whilst it is a fantastic achievement to qualify for the Euros, and whilst we will all put our reservations to one side and get behind the boys in green when it starts, this doesn’t mean we have to agree with the method and style in which we achieved said qualification.

James McClean - good enough for the Premiership, not good enough for Trapaphoney

Trapaphoney has announced the Irish squad to face the Czech Republic in a friendly, and amongst several other notable absentees, he has perhaps most glaringly omitted one of the hottest, most energetic and most exciting prospects in one of the if not the biggest leagues in the world. Leaving Sunderland’s hard working, enterprising young winger James McClean out of the squad should be a shock to anyone who has seen McClean literally change the fortunes of the team that has finally given him his chance.

However, it is no shock to anyone who is used to Trapaphoney’s tired old schtick. He has his trusted few and he is going to stick with them, the future of Irish soccer be damned. The style and development of Irish soccer be damned. The ability for the Irish team to do something special, be damned.




Mark my words, this team is a fantastic, gritty bunch of over achievers, however we all know they lack that something special. They will inevitably play some hard working, tough tackling soccer and we will all be proud of them, but there is no way they will be doing anything special.

We need someone with a creative spark.

Enter James McClean. Buried by Steve Bruce, McClean got his chance when Martin O’Neill became Sunderland boss and had the Cajónes to play the young starlet in the making. The rewards have been plentiful. McClean has goals and assists to beat the band, and Sunderland are a completely different team since his inclusion. He has a few tricks as a winger, delivers a great cross, has an eye for goal and, most impressively perhaps, tackles back. He protects the fullbacks and works very hard both in and without possession.

Finally, he has youthful energy, gallons of it. He rampages around the park looking for something to to.

Watching Sunderland beat Stoke recently, watching Glenn Whelan, one of Trapaphoney’s most trusted soldiers, fight his personal battle against falling down while walking, it was painful to think, no doubt Whelan will be in the team ahead of McClean. Worse news would follow of course, now that we know Trapaphoney doesn’t even deem a place in the squad necessary for one of the most exciting prospects in Irish soccer, nay, Irish sports.

You know what, one giant **** you to Trapaphoney. Seriously, it can’t be said strongly enough. This is like some kind of Brugellian nightmare, one you can’t wake up from. The Irish team are on the cusp of a once in a lifetime opportunity, and yet ‘the man who got us there’ is determined to scupper our chances of actually doing anything when we do begin play. **** you Trapahoney, you stubborn old fart. **** you for screwing with our hopes and dreams of shock wins and a surprise run into the latter stages of the tournament.

It cannot be said strongly enough, we are not going anywhere with the likes of Glenn bloody Whelan, as he stumbles about the pitch like a disabled baby deer, falling over himself and swiveling around to play the ball backwards at every opportunity. McClean offered a wonderful opportunity to bring some pace, some attacking energy and some youth into a tired, limited old squad.

Instead we’re going to go ahead and ignore the chance to be progressive.

One more time, with feeling, **** you Trapaphoney. **** you because I love the Irish team, and I hate to see it held hostage like this.

We can only hope for the future of the Irish National team that young, gifted, up and coming players like McClean are strong enough of mind and character to wait Trapaphoney out, and eventually get their chance to shine when a more enlightened manager takes over.

That time can’t come soon enough.




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Irish figure heavily in stunning Sunderland win over Manchester City

The weekend just passed saw a number of shocks in the English Premiership, none bigger than Sunderland’s shocking 1-0 win over Premiership behemoth Manchester City.

Sunderland, given absolutely no chance by the bookies or TV pundits, are a famous, proud old club but even with owner Ellis Short ploughing some £80 million of his own money into them the last couple of seasons, they are complete minnows when up against Manchester City and their £650 million transfer money outlay, and £700 million annual wage bill. However, on the day, Sunderland matched City in every department, Lee Cattermole was absolutely immense, winning every single tackle he went in for, and frankly playing much more illustrious City players off the park.
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--------------- There were three strong Irish elements to the superb win.

John O’Shea, the Irish defensive veteran, playing in his first season at the club, was an absolute rock at the back. After less than 10 minutes his center back partner Wes Brown had to leave through injury and O’Shea had to help seldom used Matt Kilgallon through the remaining 80 minutes whilst also doing his job. O’Shea won every header and kept multi million pound star City striker Edwin Dzeko in his back pocket most of the day. A brilliant showing from O’Shea, which augers well ahead of the 2012 European Championships. O’Shea was absolutely immense.

Sunderland have now won three out of Irish manager Martin O’Neill’s first five matches in charge of the club. O’Neill has performed a minor miracle in changing the fortunes of the team, previously mired in nothing short of a deep depression. O’Neill has the team working hard and looking very organised and well drilled. The confidence the side showed against the Premiership leaders was fantastic.

Perhaps most excitingly of all, from an Irish perspective, O’Neill bravely chose to give a full debut to 22 year old ex Derry City starlet James McClean. The young Irish winger repaid this faith with a hard working display, full of promise. McClean looks skillfull, tough, willing and well able to compete at the Premiership level. If he gets a decent run in the side it could mean a full call up to the Irish side, and McClean would bring a very lively, fresh new look to the Irish attack. Giovanni Trapattoni, take note.




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Dinamo Zagreb take a dive in the second - French gambling authorities taking a close look at Lyon’s 7-1 win last night.

An extraordinary night of Champions League football last night, and no, we don’t mean both Manchester super-powers being dumped unceremoniously out of the tournament. We are referring to the extremely dodgy circumstances surrounding the Zagreb v Lyon game.

Before last night’s Champions League action kicked off, French side Lyon looked, for all intents and purposes, dead and buried. Lagging three points behind second-placed Ajax, Remi Garde’s side needed to win their final game against Dinamo Zagreb and make up a goal difference of seven to make it to the last sixteen.

Well, unlikely as it may have seemed, the impossible happened. Lyon won 7-1 and perhaps less surprisingly Ajax lost 0-3 to Spanish giants Real Madrid. Needless to say, all hell has broken lose today. Ajax are absolutely furious, claiming they are victims of a conspiracy. Lyon are furious that anyone would suggest any wrong doing. Zagreb have sacked their coach and are frantically performing the Chief Wiggum ‘Nothing to see here!’ act. The fact that the French gambling authorities have become involved suggests they have spotted ‘unusual betting patterns’. For example, a large number of bets coming in from a region, say for example the Balkans, on Zagreb to lose, or to lose heavily or any other unusual circumstance.

Let’s break it all down Mulder and Scully style. Ajax are probably barking up the wrong tree, despite having had two seemingly good goals ruled out for offsides. The fact of the matter is Real Madrid’s B side is good enough to win most leagues. That 0-3 result is probably legitimate. Lyon? It is highly doubtful they are involved in any kind of match fixing, more than anything they probably just gleefully took advantage of what has appeared to been handed them.

That leaves Dinamo Zagreb.

Let’s have a look at the evidence, which is beginning to stack pretty high against them.

The case for the prosecution

• The damning video evidence
• The timing of the goals
• Lyon’s goal scoring record to date
• Domagoj Vida - ‘The wink’
• The sending off
• Dinamo’s history of corruption
• Dinamo sacking their coach

The damning video evidence
This is a real video nasty. The defending is horrendous, suspiciously nonexistent at times. The goalkeeper doesn’t even try to stretch his hand out for a couple of the later goals. It is so bad that Dinamo don’t even appear to be trying to stop Lyon from scoring. Don’t take anyone else’s words for it, judge for yourself. Take careful note in particular at the ‘defensive’ play of Domagoj Vida. More on him later. By our count, Vida is to blame for at least three of the goals.



Another odd element of this is, Lyon’s bland reaction to the goals, as they fly in. If your team scores three goals in under seven minutes, a Champions League record, wouldn’t you at least break into a half smile? The Lyon players react as if they are about to be forced to watch the Twilight movies back to back to back.

The timing of the goals
This could mean nothing, or it could mean everything. Check out the timing of Lyon’s goals. Extremely suspicious. Three goals in under seven minutes? What the what?! Then another clutter of goals in an eleven minute spell between the 65th and 76th minute.

• 45 - B.Gomis
• 48 - M.Gonalons
• 49 - B.Gomis
• 52 - B.Gomis
• 65 - Lopez
• 70 - B.Gomis
• 76 - J.Briand

It just looks wrong, no? Particularly when you consider..

Lyon’s goal scoring record to date
You may say, ‘Well, Dinamo are absolutely rubbish, so it is no shock they were beaten so badly’. Not so fast! Consider also Lyon’s goal scoring record in the tournament to date. Lyon are a decent side (all Champions League teams are decent sides) but they are known as hard to break down and well organised, they are not known as a free scoring machine. Did you know Lyon had scored just two goals in their first five Champions League matches? Two goals. And now, in one half of football, six goals. Remember, Lyon hadn’t scored in their last three Champions League matches . Nudge nudge, wink wink, cough cough.

Domagoj Vida - ‘The wink’
Back to our mate Domagoj Vida, he who was to blame for possibly half the goals scored last night. If it does turn out that Vida was involved in some kind of half witted match fixing attempt, then someone should probably give the lad an IQ test before he is carted off to jail. He may be exempt from prison on the basis of low intelligence. Strong comments, however we have two pictures to back them up.

First, Mr. Vida winking at a Lyon player after one of the goals. No, seriously. Look for yourself. Winking.




Secondly, Mr. Vida leaving a bookies office earlier this season. No, seriously. A professional soccer player leaving a bookies office, in broad daylight. For real. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Domagoj Vida. Potentially the dumbest criminal of all times.



The sending off
This one is just odd. Zagreb, already out of the tournament mathematically speaking, had absolutely nothing to play for, so what on earth was light tackling midfielder Jerko Leko doing getting sent off for two bookable offences within the first 28 minutes?! Complete head scratcher, or something way more sinister?

Dinamo’s history of corruption
In short, this is not the first time Dinamo have been heavily involved in match fixing allegations. It has happened several times before. Here is an example. What can you say, did it before, more likely to do it again, right?

Dinamo sacking their coach
One last thread to connect, Dinamo Zagreb sacked their manager Krunoslav Jurcic a few hours after this debacle. At first glance, understandable given the severity of the result, however how about the fact that Jurcic’s side lead their domestic league by a healthy six point margin. How do you sack a manager when that’s the situation? Could this be Dinamo trying to divert attention from other potential issues?

The ruling...
Our hypothesis? This is not a grand conspiracy. We suggest one or two Dinamo players, working with a betting syndicate, combined to ensure Lyon got the goals they needed. At the end of the day, the whole thing is pretty easy to solve. Simply find the suspicious betting patterns, and follow them until you get to the root. That, and let an authority figure know if you see Domagoj Vida driving around in a new Bugatti Veyron.


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The NFL cares, FIFA doesn’t: Rex Ryan facing hefty fine while FIFA basically ignores rampant racism in its sport

Interesting incidents across two diverse sports this week. In the NFL, noted fat-mouth Rex Ryan verbally abused a fan at a game with a torrent of expletives that would have made Chuck Norris blush. Meanwhile, FIFA basically slapped the Bulgarian football federations hands after their fans were found guilty of racially abusing several English players during September's Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia.

Really fascinating to see how the two sports have handled their issues. One, professionally and sternly, the other, well, basically they haven’t handled it at all. No prizes for guessing which is which.

The NFL is going to announce the actual fine today however Sexy Rexy is expected to be going to be $100,000 lighter in his wallet region after they are done with him. This is after he used ‘profane language’ in a split second reaction to a fan at last Sunday night's game against the New England Patriots. This comes hot on the heels after the Jets fined Ryan when he made an obscene gesture to fans at a mixed martial arts event in Miami during Super Bowl week in 2010 ($50,000 that time).

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So, let’s get this totally straight in our heads before we move on to the wonderful world of FIFA. The New York Jets head coach is going to be $150,000 worse off by the end of this week for two relatively minor incidents. The message? The NFL and its franchises will not tolerate any kind of tarnish to their glossy coats.

Now, on to FIFA.

During the afore mentioned match, Bulgarian ‘fans’ showered English players with racist chants, targeting England’s black players with bananas, monkey chants and also, somewhat bizarrely, the Nazi salute (is Hitler big in Bulgaria?!).

You stay classy, Bulgaria!

Imagine for a second that happening during the Chiefs v Patriots encounter tonight in New England. Just imagine for one second a section of Kansas fans showering a player or players on the Patriots sidelines with racist chants, bananas and the Nazi salute. I mean, can you imagine the reaction? There is no doubt in my mind the ramifications would be enormous. They are pepper spraying and ‘tazing’ peaceful protesters in the streets, so one would imagine the riot police would have a field day in this imaginary incidence.

Back to FIFA. With the above in mind, FIFA’s reaction to the disgusting behaviour of those Bulgarian fans? They fined the Bulgarian Football Union £34,250.

I suppose you have to pick your jaw up off the floor and remember, this is the same organization that basically ignored the incredible riot performed by Serbian fans earlier this year. This is the organization whose head (The second most corrupt man in the world, Sepp Blatter, losing out narrowly to Vladimir ‘The money was just resting in my account’ Putin) thinks racism on the pitch is not an issue and can be settled with a handshake.

FIFA is absolutely littered with situations where issues stinking of racism have been basically kicked under the carpet. In 2004 the former Spanish international team manager, the despicable Luis Aragonés, called Thierry Henry a ‘’black shit’’. FIFA fined him £2,060. In 2004 FIFA fined Spain (Yes, Spain, again) £44,750 after Spanish fans racially abused English players during a game in Madrid. In 2007 the Serbian Football Federation was fined £16,500 by Uefa (FIFA’s European arm) for "the racist chanting of supporters and the improper conduct of their players" during an under-21 match against England. In 2008 Croatia were fined £10,000 for "displaying a racist banner and showing racist conduct" during their country's Euro 2008 quarter-final against Turkey. In 2008 FIFA again docked Croatia some cash, this time £15,000 after England's Emile Heskey was subjected to racial abuse by home fans during the 4-1 victory in a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup against Croatia in Zagreb.

Add those fines up, all leveled against serious instances of racial abuse (far worse in this columns book than an expletive or two) and you get £88,310. That equates to $136,000.

You can probably see where we are going with this.

Seven long years of horrific racially charged incidents have led FIFA to fine the protagonists $136,000. Two quick outbursts of profanity from Rex Ryan and the NFL has fined him $150,000.

I guess we can see which sport is professional, stern, and determined to do things the right way. And which sport is presided over by FIFA.

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Sporting superstar fragrances - David Beckham, LeBron and Ronaldo scents shoved down our throats

David Beckham

There is just something beautifully idiotic about the David Beckham ‘fragrance’ being rammed down our throats and up our nostrils on this gaudy home stretch to the Christmas spending season.

There is a marvelous Zoolanderesque quality to the advertising material delivered to us via different mediums. You could imagine Beckham gazing into the camera with that clumsy handsomeness of his, whispering ‘Beckham, it smells good. Like myself. Because I use it’.


Of course, Beckham isn’t the only sporting superstar to bring out his own fragrance. Let us not forget the following stars and their essence! All perfect stocking fillers.

‘$’ by LeBron

An unexpected delight! ‘$’ smells like a rolled up bundle of dollar bills, ya’ll. Subtle and carefully crafted to balance the scent of craving for cash and the sweat dripping off greedy palms. The opening notes include layers of the faint whiff of 10, 50 and 100 dollar bills. Wow, what a treat!

''mMmmm my hands, and my enormous wealth, smell good''

‘Premature’ by Tebow

New on the market, this stylishly presented fragrance comes in a mini statue of Jesus, with the scent emanating from the mouth of the statue when depressed. The smell reminds the user of that damp, stale odor of church seats, sore knees, remorse and guilt. Best worn too soon.

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Did they leave out the ''...in 2013'' bit?

‘Wookie’ by Hope Solo

A dry Sandalwood Spice blend. This sultry and rich complex fragrance opens with a heady and exotic profusion of the Forest Moons of Endor. Unique packaging with several refill bottles in a bandolier style worn over the shoulder across the body. For women who wear size 12 shoes worldwide.

‘Greasy’ by Ronaldo

‘Greasy’ is a very unique fragrance. Provocative, sensual, and very pleasing to both men and women. Often more so to men. ‘Greasy’ has a musk, sandalwood, and amber type fragrance that is very well balanced ,it somewhat reminds you of the classic men's type cologne from Royal Copenhagen. Or the men’s toilet in the back of The George after a long Friday night’s ‘partying’. ‘Greasy’ is confused, sexual and spunky!

‘Sexy!’ by Kobe

Oh, yes, this is it! A custom blend, it’s one of the sexiest fragrances on the market. Bottom notes of White Carnation and blood orange are the perfect foil for the heart notes, comprised of a sneering, aggressive and angry scents, with just a touch of pay-off. Doubles as a powerful mace alternative.

‘Swing and a miss’ by A-Rod
A unique fragrance in that it is actually inserted into the body, secreting its odor out after insertion. The beginners pack comes with its own needle and directions how to find the meaty part of your ass. A musty scent, guaranteed to go completely stale when your heart beat increases. Wearing ‘Swing and a miss’ describes you as a man who does very little when it matters most.


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Beer me - MLB announce they are going to look into Red Sox club-house drinking

Well thank God for that. MLB has finally announced an official investigation into the dramatic revelations that certain Boston Red Sox players were drinking actual alcohol in the clubhouse during the 2011 season. Thank goodness, we can all sleep just that tiny bit better at night. Put down the hot-line to the president, call off the dogs, MLB has this all under control.

Joe Torre, beefy, dreamy head of the little known, semi secret MLB office of International Intrigue, Espionage and Dramatic Story-Lines had this to say on the subject:

“It’s something we’re concerned about, just to make sure that we get all the facts and that’s my area, I know I have plans just to talk to some people.’’

So Joe Torre’s ‘area’ is to get all the facts on grown men drinking alcoholic beverages in a closed clubhouse in the late innings of games they aren’t playing in? One can only hope that Torre is amply supplied with assistants, business jets, iPads, Blackberries and other gadgets, as he fights the good fight, keeping us safe from drinking adults. We can only assume it is a tough task, you can picture Torre sitting in his war-room/bat-cave, hunkered down over multiple screens reviewing thousands upon thousands of hours of footage of Red Sox games, trying to catch a glimpse of a Red Sox pitcher, sitting on the bench with their hood up vagrant style, sipping from a bottle of Peach Schnapps wrapped in a paper bag.



Imagine the moment of pure professional joy, nay, release, as Torre finds that one glimpse, that one frame where Beckett or whoever gets caught sitting there in the dugout, huddled behind the hulking frame of John lackey, drinking from a bottle of whatever alcohol took his fancy that day. Torre would no doubt reach for the red phone to his left, a hot-line, if you will, and while never taking his eyes from the dramatic evidence on screen, whisper Batman like into the phone, ‘We’ve got them!’ or some other glib, momentary, asinine George Bush like catch phrase.

Torre goes on to enlighten us that:

“If we do happen to bar alcohol from the clubhouses, you have to understand the intent of this thing and what it looks like,’’

Naturally Torre is spot on. We all have to understand this thing, this, phenomenon. The fat guy in the sleeveless Metallica t-shirt sitting at a Marlins game, drunk off his head on fifteen cups of Coors Lite really, really cares, from a special place deep down inside his heart, whether Clay Bucholz or Jon Lester had a quiet beer in the Red Sox clubhouse way back whenever.



The overlord man at the helm that Torre reports into, Bud Selig, is also following this as close as white on rice.

“You never like to hear that. I’m very image-conscious about the sport and that’s a great, proud franchise. I’m sorry for those stories because they’re not helpful. But I also have great confidence that the Red Sox will get this cleaned up quickly.’’

No word so from Das Fuhrer as to whether the other eleven teams that allow alcohol in the clubhouse will be cleaning up their act too. Perhaps that will come in a future communiqué

The Boston Globe ran a fancy little picture a few weeks ago of the clubs that allow drinking in the clubhouse and those that, you know, don't. Let's re-post it as an aid to Bud Selig in his crusade to eliminate alcohol from ballparks, well, not from ballparks, but from non paying customers in ballparks.

Everyone else can continue to get sloshed to their hearts content





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