The Emerald Diamond: The story of Baseball in Ireland: Video

John Fitzgerald, the director of the award winning documentary 'The Emerald Diamond' has created a shorter version of the movie, designed to give first time viewers a taste of the piece, and a quick look at the recent history of baseball in Ireland. The Emerald Diamond, in its original format, is a 90-minute documentary about the Irish National Baseball Team, Baseball in Ireland on the whole, and a look into the history and the future of the game therein. The film's budget of $70,000 was financed on credit cards by the first-time filmmaker, and recieved universal critical acclaim.

The film debuted to a sold out crowd in New York on February 25, 2006 and has been seen in dozens of theaters across the United States since then. It has been featured by The New York Times, New York Post, FoxNews, National Public Radio and has also been covered extensively by the Irish media. Reuters came to Corcaigh Park, home of Irish Baseball, and reported the story as such.

Frank McNally of the Irish Times wrote this brilliant article after he had seen the Emerald Diamond at the Sugar Club in Dublin.

On November 12, 2006, "The Emerald Diamond" won the Critic's Choice Award at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival in Cooperstown, NY. The award was selected and presented by film critic Jeffrey Lyons.



Without further ado, here for your viewing pleasure is the shortened, edited version of The Emerald Diamond. It is a really enjoyable, funny and informative movie. if you do find yourself drawn to it, visit the links at the foot of this article to show your support. Enjoy!


The Emerald Diamond
For a Two minute preview trailer click here

Full 48 minute edited version



Links
If you are interested in learning more about The Emerald Diamond

• The Emerald Diamond facebook page
• The Emerald Diamond official movie page
• Buy the collectors special edition of The Emerald Diamond

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.

Gary Neville gets it wrong (again): La Liga is the best soccer league in the world

Quiet weekend in US sports news (unless of course you were ‘glued’ to the NBA All Star game, and who wouldn’t be transfixed by ten multi millionaire playboys jogging up and down a court tossing each other alley-oops ad nauseum). Sunday in particular was an extremely lazy day in terms of sports across the Atlantic, so more American eyes than usual were trained on coverage of the English Premiership, with Arsenal entertaining Tottenham in a wildly entertaining 5-2 Arsenal come-back win.

The game had a bit of everything, great goals, plenty of passion, and some truly terrible, and I mean terrible, defending. Former Manchester United great Gary Neville was Sky Sports pundit for the day, and as the goals flowed, Gary exploded, saying that people can say what they want but the Premiership is the best league in the world.

Neville is on something of a roll. Last week, as Italian side Napoli picked Chelsea to pieces, destroying them 3-1 (it could have been 7-1), Neville dead-panned that Napoli were no great shakes. Apparently Neville had forgotten Napoli’s incredible destruction job on the expensively assembled Oil Money Globetrotters otherwise known as Manchester City.

Napoli are enjoying a tremendous season. They are daringly playing three up front, and remaining disciplined and organised at the back. On Sunday they easily dispatched former Italian giants Inter Milan, 1-0 (and in that case, it could have been 5-0 but for some heroic goalkeeping).

Neville triumphing that the Premiere League is the best league in the world is nothing short of redundant. There are so many easily-picked holes in his statement that you could write a 3,000 word article on same. How better to retort, however, than a couple of quick glimpses at what happened in La Liga on the weekend.

First, to the Rayo Valecano v Real Madrid encounter. Rayo are real minnows by anyone’s standards, but they are playing some neat, attractive football this season and charging up the Spanish league. They fenced back and forth with the Spanish giants Madrid for 52 minutes, and then this happened…



That was just the entrée. The match of the weekend didn’t happen in London, instead it was in Madrid, as Barcelona travelled to Atletico, in the hopes of clinging to their La Liga title challenge. The match was an incredibly passionate, skillful encounter. Madrid threw everything at Barcelona, and with 10 minutes to go, a 1-1 draw looked on the cards, then, this happened..



The goal itself is a thing of technical beauty. The great Messi himself could try this sweeping, curving shot 10 times and only catch the back of the net on 2 or 3 of the attempts. It was an almost impossible attempt, pulled off by a pure genius. Whatever about the technicality of it all, the reactions are brilliant to watch. The Madrid goalkeeper flaps his arms in complete dismay, whilst one of the defenders just kicks the goal post. Messi’s team mates react with a mix of ‘Oh my god did he just do that?’ and ‘Unbelievable, he just did that!’

Gary Neville’s boring, inane comment that the Premiere League is the best soccer league in the world did nothing but show him up to be a blinkered commentator. This is backed up by his insistence that Napoli, enjoying a fine season, are ‘no great shakes’. It is sad when a man talking to millions upon millions of viewers hasn’t even bothered to check out the alternatives, before a jingoistic comment that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Hey, everyone is fully entitled to their opinion, but at least taste the other dishes before you go telling everyone that Fish and Chips is the best meal available.

Racism in sports in the USA: The Jeremy Lin addendum

At this stage there has been basically no stone left unturned when it comes to New York Knicks rookie sensation Jeremy Lin. As each shot hit nothing-but-net in his incredible 38 point destruction job on the Lakers a couple of weeks ago, his burgeoning stardom went ballistic. It broke a hole in the stratosphere. The carpet bombing campaign of rushed articles that followed almost broke the Internet. We know everything. He came from Harvard, nobody in the NBA wanted him initially, he likes ice cream, puppies and is possibly more religious than Timmy Tebow. If the tidal wave of good-will articles written are to be believed, Mr. Lin would appear to be a talk-you-down-off-the-ledge kind of chap.

As the swirling tornado of his fame faded slightly with a couple of pedestrian outings, things took a dramatic turn with two events. ESPN published a disgraceful headline with a serious racial slur in the form of a schoolyard play on words, while a Fox journalist made even dirtier, more disgraceful references on Twitter.

Jason Whitlock of FOX sent out a couple of subsequently deleted Twitter messages that were nothing short of shocking. They alluded to race and sexuality, and put it this way, if they had been written about a Caucasian or an African American, Mr. Whitlock would probably be in jail.

The response was, well, meh. The response was relatively loud. It wasn’t a nuclear storm of rebuke and anger, as it should have been. It was, in a word, meh. ESPN fired a no-name (in that they didn’t name him or her) headline writer. The Fox journalist, who doesn’t even deserve to be named, is still in a job (no, seriously, he is) and the world went on turning. Apart from a couple of articles saying ‘Hey maybe we should have another look at this whole racism thing’, we would appear to have stood-down to normal alert levels.

The bottom line would appear to be that for certain groups in the United States, you may not even suggest a hint of a thought of the beginnings of a suggestion of a racial slur. For some, you can do it, get your wrists slapped, but ultimately get away with it. For other, hey, knock yourself out, and here’s a shovel!

Let’s break it down like a fraction

• Group A: The untouchables – Caucasians (rare as it is) and African Americans. There is no wiggle room here. Instant metaphorical death for the career of anyone who comes close to even touching a racial slur against these two groups.
• Group B: The Whitney Houstons (It’s not right, but it’s OK) – Asians, Asian Americans, Japanese and natives of Pacific or Caribbean Islands. Joke about this group, and whilst people will show some indignation, you will probably be OK. If you are Jason Whitlock or other FOX journalists, you can make a seriously offensive joke about anyone in this group and get to keep your job.
• Group C: The Knock yourself outs – Your American Indians, your Irish, your Italians. Anything Aborigine or Native basically, most minority ethnic groups. Knock yourself out. Fair game. The racial slurs and stereotypes against these types are freely evident in modern American sports. The mascots, the nicknames and even the logos. Leprechauns are offensive to most Irish people. Lumping all Italians in with the Mafia is wildly racist but widely accepted. Let’s not even get started on American Indians. Apparently mass genocide wasn’t enough.

One final little addition to the Group C section. If you take a step back and think about it for a second, how completely insane is it that we have a team called ‘The Washington Redskins’. It is so mind numbingly stupid and racist that it appears to have slipped past the censors. Imagine for a second a team called ‘The Seattle Yellowskins’. Stunningly racist, and completely unacceptable, right? Well, if that wouldn’t be socially acceptable, how come we have a team called the Redskins, and no one gives a single damn about it?

The Redskins - pretty offensive

You could go on all night. Imagine the ‘Brookyln Blackskins’. It is almost scary to even type it, as a team with that name would basically start riots up and down the United States of America.

Well why aren’t we all up in arms about the Redskins?

It is disgusting, racist and needs to go away.

Like Jason Whitlock.

It needs to go away yesterday.

The Redskins - offensive!!

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.




Linkage

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Apparently Boston Bruins Tim Thomas hates "The Troops" - VIDEO

There is a great moment in the seminal mini-series ‘Band of brothers’ where Captain Sobel attempts to march past Captain Winters without acknowledgement due to his personal distaste for the latter. Winters stops him and says, with authority:

‘Captain Sobel, we salute the rank, not the man’.

Apparently Tim Thomas has never seen ‘Band of brothers’.

The Boston Bruins were bestowed the great honor yesterday of meeting the President of the United States at the White House yesterday, to celebrate their fine Stanley Cup victory last season. Tim Thomas, Bruins goalie extraordinaire, chose not to attend due to his political beliefs. Every single other Bruin attended, no matter what their beliefs.

This was a day to celebrate with his team mates. This was a day to enjoy the camaraderie that anyone who has had the luck of being on a team for any protracted length feels.

Instead Tim Thomas made a woeful decision and selfishly turned it into a day about him. Those same team mates had their day in the sun hijacked by someone ignorantly putting themselves first ahead of their band of brothers. That’s the worst thing you can do in team sports, put yourself ahead of your team mates. Not only did Thomas choose not to celebrate this fine achievement with his brothers, he stole the moment from them with his poorly thought out, selfish and ill conceived decision. He has insulted his team mates and he has insulted hockey. He has come out and said, 'My archaic, angry and divisive beliefs are bigger than my team mates and the game of hockey'.
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Thomas made an enormous mistake in not attending, and he did so on a fundamentally simple principle. Respect is respect, respect shouldn’t be a variable in any situation. No matter who is sitting in the Oval Office, one should respect them. Choosing not to attend shows a simple lack of respect by Thomas. Lack of respect for the station of the President of the United States, lack of respect for his team mates, lack of respect for the game of hockey and lack of respect for the United States.

It should be noted that Thomas was a silver medal winner with the United States hockey team. If he wants to make a statement, well then give the medal back. If you disrespect the President of the United States, you are disrespecting the country as a whole, no matter what turgid, redundant political ‘spin’ you try to put on it.

There will be plenty of clowns who ignorantly blather ‘But hasn’t he got the freedom to do that, freedom of speech and so forth’ yes of course he does, but do so in a respectful and dignified manner.

Make no mistake, Thomas’s action is a despicable course.

One would assume Thomas is a big part of the ‘respect the troops’ ideology that is currently sweeping the States. If that’s the case, Tim Thomas has directly spat in the eye of all the armed forces of the United States. The President is the overall commander of those same troops, and Thomas has gravely disrespected the Office of the President.

To use the dangerous, vitriolic rhetoric of the right wing goons Thomas has now forever associated himself with, apparently Tim Thomas hates the soldiers of the United States. Those same ‘freedom fighters’ he would so quickly have you believe he worships. Well, it turns out he hates them. Hate the commander, hate the troops.

Tim Thomas has tried to pull a Captain Sobel. He has tried to march past The President of the United States without saluting. It is every single United States citizens duty to their country to take him to task on that. No matter what your particulat political beliefs, salute the rank, not the man.

Massachusetts is the home, the birth place, the origin of so much that is good in the United States 'set up'. Brilliant men and minds originated from there. Sadly today it is the home to a selfish, disrespectful, backward thinking goalkeeper who cares more about his stagnant political beliefs than camaraderie, honour, team and respect.

And we're not talking about Tuukka Rask.



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Patriots travelling to London again? Might be. Rams potential 'hosts'.

Word on the proverbial street is that the NFL game in London next season could be Patriots @ Rams (the latter officially serving as hosts). Initial word pinballing around the Internet was Rams v Jets, however that soon changed to Rams v Patriots. That appears to be common consensus as we speak early Friday morning.

One St Louis paper went as far as to say;

‘’ League sources told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday night that the team will play an AFC foe — believed to be the New England Patriots — during the 2012 regular season in London.’’

So, that kinda looks official, no?

Actual official word is coming later today. You can keep your eyes on this site

As soon as we at Boston Irish find out what the actual game is, and if it is indeed going to be Patriots @ Rams, we will tweet it from here, so, there’s that.

This is fantastic news for the legions of Patriots fans in Ireland and England. Personally speaking, my brother and I travelled to the Patriots v Tampa game and had a whale of a time. Rams fans, meanwhile, seem somewhat less than delirious about the potential news, if there online forums are anything to go by.

Take this angry fellow;
‘’Such a bunch of garbage that we have to lose a home game over this. Have an exhibition game there. Quit screwing with the actual NFL schedule.’’

Some people just can’t take ‘change’ (Even this is actually ‘continuation’, not ‘change’ per say)
How about this chap;
‘’That is what really annoys me most. How can they expect to play a game that matters in really off time zone. Sure both teams get the effect, but then it's just two teams playing like cr@p. Totally unfair to both teams.’’

Thankfully, there are some positive Rams fans out there
‘’been to london a few times
I will be there’’



Linkage

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• Boston Irish blog
• IrishCentral.com