Pulsating Irish win over Australia in Rugby World Cup

Ireland's Jonathan Sexton tackling Australia's Kurtley Beale(Photo – Sandra Mu/Getty Images)

Ireland's win over Australia in the Rugby World Cup today was incredible. Fantastic. Tremendous. I'd have to consult my thesaurus if I want to do justice to what the whole country watched this morning.

It's not a massive upset on the scale of say, the "USA!" win over the USSR in the 1980 Olympics, but it's a stunner nonetheless. What made it great, what made it so much fun to watch is that it was one of those sporting events that anyone can enjoy without necessarily understanding the sport.

The noise in the crowd - most of the fans in the New Zealand arena were rooting for Ireland - made for an electric atmosphere. The dedication, desire and drive of the Irish team were awesome to watch.

It was gritty stuff. Fans of old time football (gridiron variety) would have appreciated it. Woody "Three yards and a cloud of dust" Hayes would have loved it. For long stretches of the game a three yard burst would have seemed a long run.
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Rugby can be that sort of game. Sometimes there are great moves with lots of passing leading to tries. Other games both teams push and shove with equal intensity and it's only a little break here or there that makes the difference. Ireland won such a game this morning. Every man defended with all his body and spirit could give.

Unlike in football there are no timeouts and players play both offense and defense. Other than a few players who are substituted, most players play the full 80 minutes. Their only break is the 15 minutes at half-time. It can be a grueling affair and today was about as grueling as you could hope to see.

Yet it wasn't dull. The game was fraught with tension from the start and it only grew as the contest played out. With the clock winding down the Irish players, who had kept pace with and actually outplayed a team that was - on paper - superior, made a determined stand on their line to deny Australia a try in the closing minutes.

When the final whistle sounded Ireland had won 15-6. It was a fantastic spectacle and, thanks to the 9am start, the party in Ireland will be a long one.

{I only learned the other day that American Scott LaValla was a student and rugby stand-out at Trinity College in Dublin before playing professionally for Ulster.}

Why the Irish are suddenly great at golf

CBSsports.com Senior Writer Steve Elling said last week - before Darren Clarke's victory in the British Open - that there is "no rational explanation" for why "the Emerald Isle has accounted for five major championships since this very month in 2007."

Now what I know about golf could fit on a matchbook cover. I don't play and I only rarely watch it on television. What I do know is this: Irish people LOVE golf and they play it all the time.

By 'all the time' I don't mean every single Saturday from May - October. They play year round in just about any weather. Honestly, unless the courses are covered in snow - a rarity - or it's one of those days where you can be drowned while standing on the side of a hill - less of a rarity - Irish golfers will be out there playing. {I bet Rory McIlroy will regret his whine about the weather in England this weekend because (a) the average Irish golfer knows he learned to play in those conditions and (b) Irish people don't like weather wimps.}

Playing golf in any weather - warm, cold, dry, damp - has got to be excellent preparation for the rigors of top level golf.

The other contributing factor to Irish success on the golf course is the transformation of life here over the past 25 years. The winding down of tensions in the north and the Celtic Tiger in the south were massive, intertwined confidence boosts for everyone in Ireland.

More than more physically demanding sports, golf is dominated by confidence. Self‑doubt is a killer in golf and if there is one thing Ireland has been great at producing it's self‑doubt. Once Padraig Harrington was able to channel that national confidence into success on the biggest stage it opened that psychological door for Graeme McDowell & Darren Clarke. McIlroy was raised in the new confident Ireland, brought up to believe he can succeed. Greatness awaits.

One other thing the Celtic Tiger brought to Irish golf was a lot more golf courses. The sport, which was a preserve of the well‑to‑do in times past, is now played by youngsters from all walks of life. For that reason, I expect Ireland's golfing prowess to continue to grow. Ireland will be a golf powerhouse.

{Photo - Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell & Padraig Harrington}

High-mindedness, principles are nothing for this Met fan

As I was listening to last night's Met game, as the Mets self-destructed to blow one they should have won, I realized how unwilling I was to blame the main culprit (in my mind) - Francisco "Frankie" Rodriguez (a.k.a K-Rod). Three months ago K-Rod would not have gotten such a pass from me.

At the beginning of the season I didn't want K-Rod {photo} on the team. I was done with him and I wanted the Mets to off-load him at almost any price. In fact, I was done with him last August.

On August 11 of last year Rodriguez was arrested after assaulting his girlfriend's father in the family room at Citi Field after another bad loss for the Mets. The assault reportedly took place in front of some of Rodriguez's teammates' family members, including many children.

For the rest of the 2010 season and over the winter every time I thought of K-Rod I thought about how much I didn't want such a dirt-bag on the Mets. How could I root for that guy?

That was then. This is now.

Other than a blemish during the first week of the season, when I was still annoyed that this 'loser' was on the Mets, K-Rod has been perfect. Until last night. Last night he entered the game with the Mets ahead 8-6, but he yielded a 2-run-homer that tied the game for the Braves in the 9th inning.

An inning later and the Mets had completed the Braves' job for them when the Mets' pitcher balked home the winning run. A strange baseball play to end a strange game, one the Mets really should have won.

Yet, after a disastrous start to the season, surprising their fans as much as anyone, the Mets have actually played pretty good baseball since May 1.

One big reason the Mets have been playing well is K-Rod. He's been fantastic and for me that seems to have overridden all those noble ideas about what type of character I want on the Mets. I have had no trouble rooting for K-Rod.

Last year is soooo last year. Even yesterday seems last year; all that matters is tonight, tomorrow, the next day, the rest of the season. Go K-Rod and 'Let's Go Mets.'

{Picture thanks to NJ.com}

International Cricket body could learn from NCAA

Despite last night's bust of a final, this year's NCAA was great, entertaining even for a casual sports fan. Loads of close games, upsets and a fantastic "Cinderella" story. This year's tournament had it all, except a good final game. {Maybe we'll get that tonight in the women's final along with a Fighting Irish victory, but it's not on live here.}

It's hard to imagine the NCAA tournament without all the small colleges, without those David vs Goliath battles we expect every spring. Yet, it almost happened.

Back in the late 1980s the NCAA wanted to get rid of the automatic entry for the winners of the small college conferences because those teams were simply not competing in the tournament. Then there was the epic Georgetown vs Princeton game in 1989 when Princeton lost 50-49. That game saved the smaller conferences' automatic bids and probably the tournament too.

The NCAA Tournament could hardly be more unpredictable, exciting and unmissable than it is today.

Unpredictable and exciting. What sport, what championship tournament wouldn't want to be unpredictable and exciting?

Well, the World Cup of Cricket, it seems.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the body that governs world cricket has decided that from now on Ireland and other smaller cricket-playing nations should not be allowed to compete in the next two World Cups, but maybe after that.

That means the Irish team, which memorably beat Pakistan in the last World Cup and even more memorably beat England at this year's tournament, is out of the 2015 and 2019 World Cups before a ball's been bowled (thrown).

The Irish cricket team and organization are not disappointed. They're livid.

The Irish team provided one of the great story-lines in the World Cup with their win over England and with Kevin O'Brien setting an all-time record for run-scoring in the game.

The Irish team generated a lot of interest in cricket here, but also made news everywhere cricket's played. They won many friends among the fans in India where the games were played and even in England, where fans are sportingly outraged that Ireland has been ousted from the next World Cup.

It's such a stupid decision that I can't make sense of it. The sport was gaining in popularity in Ireland, making news where it rarely does (I saw the Ireland vs England game reported in American papers) and so in order to prevent any further developments along those lines the ICC has barred Ireland and the others.

Seven years after that fateful, narrow loss to Georgetown, Princeton beat the defending champions, UCLA, in the first round of the tournament. Just imagine if at that moment the NCAA had opted to oust Princeton and all the other smaller schools from the tournament? We would not have the exciting tournament we have today. We would not have enjoyed Butler's amazing run last year and this nor VCU's astounding success this year.

It would have been an incredibly stupid decision, one that we all know the NCAA never considered. Yet that's essentially what the ICC has just done. Stupid.

{Both pictures found at images.google.com.}

Ireland has its own March Madness

It's March 17 and that can mean only one thing. People have been waiting for this day all over Ireland and in America too, of course. Yes, it's time for March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament.

Okay, that's a lie. There is virtually no interest in the NCAA Tournament in Ireland. Basketball is a popular game to play here and there are some NBA fans in the country, but interest in the college game is limited to Americans who live here and those Irish people who spent years living stateside, especially if some of that time was spent in college. Maybe now thanks to digital television - ESPN America in particular - more Irish people will be drawn to the great spectacle that is the NCAA Tournament.

So the Irish don't gather at water coolers to discuss the office's March Madness pool. {Fortunately for me that need is met by a pool among my college friends. I have Georgetown winning it all.} No NCAA pools, but I could if I was a gambler - and I'm decidedly not - go into my local Paddy Power betting shop and (legally) bet on each and every game in the tournament. Paddy Power doesn't miss a trick, although I doubt there's much Irish betting on the tournament.

No NCAA here, but the bookies do cash in on Ireland's own form of March Madness. Cheltenham. Those who have lived in Ireland (or Britain) are fully aware of Irish people's obsession with the 4 days of racing in the west of England.

For many Irish people - more men than women - this is what St. Patrick's Day means: Cheltenham. They seem to live for the chance to get over to England on St. Patrick's Day. To these people talk of the patron saint and national holiday and parades is blah, blah, blah. It's all about the horse-racing.

I'd never heard of Cheltenham before I moved here and it surprised me how important this English race meeting is in Ireland. I mean, there are big Irish race meetings - Leopardstown at Christmas time, the Curragh around the Irish Derby and the Galway races - but nothing compares with the interest in Cheltenham.

I'm not a fan of racing. I have never been to a racetrack in all the years I've lived here. I've never set foot in a bookie's shop to bet on a horse race (or anything for that matter). It's not my thing. But even I'm aware of Cheltenham, how the "Irish" are doing (that refers to the horses as well as the "punters" - bettors).

You can't miss it because it's live on television, a top item on the news, front pages of the newspapers and, if you're listening to the radio during the afternoon, whatever program you're listening to will be interrupted to bring each race live to those who can't be in front of a television.

During the Celtic Tiger years Irish attendance at Cheltenham was massive, but it's fallen off somewhat since our economic collapse. Maybe not as much as you might imagine, however. So those who can, still go and those who wish they could go, get themselves to the bookies to place their bets and then find a television or radio in the afternoon to follow the action.

I thought growing up near Saratoga that local interest in that annual one month of racing was very high, but it is as nothing compared with the focus on Cheltenham. It's a madness that overcomes the people of Ireland every March.

{Photo from Getty Images.}

Was cricket invented in Ireland?

I was all set to wax lyrical on Ireland's big victory yesterday and simultaneously impress you with my encyclopedic knowledge of cricket. I was ready to put it all in context comparing yesterday's win over England with the 1980 US Olympic hockey team's victory against the USSR.

Unfortunately, two things conspired to stop me. First, I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of cricket, although I was almost able to explain a 'yorker' to my daughter last night, which impressed her no end. {Cricket has an amazing language all its own. You can get a sense of that here.}

Second, Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe has done a great job of putting yesterday's win in context, including the 1980 Olympics reference. It's worth a read if you're a sports fan but know nothing about cricket.

What Cullen can't quite convey is just how much this cricket win has caught the imagination of the Irish people, most of whom are as cricket-savvy as I am. To put it mildly, cricket is a minor sport here, but everyone in the country from north to south and east to west is thrilled by the Irish part-timers' success against the English all star team.

The Irish team is a collection of electricians, carpenters and salesmen whereas England fields the stars from their professional cricket league. Beating England at anything is always special here, but particularly in cricket it's extra special because nobody here really understands anything other than "We beat England." The fact the team contains players who have experienced the same troubles as the rest of the country due to the economic downturn has only enhanced the joy people feel.

If you live in America or Canada, cricket is most likely a mystery. That wasn't always the case, however, as cricket was widely played in America before the Civil War, but was eclipsed by baseball after that. Of course some people claim baseball evolved out of cricket, but I'm skeptical of such claims, which ignore the fact that "Base Ball" was being played in Pittsfield, MA in the 1790s (sorry Abner & Alexander, although Alexander Cartwright did lay down the rules we recognize today). Besides, the two games aren't really all that similar.

The origins of cricket are pretty murky and despite some claims that the game was invented in Flanders (now Belgium), most believe it was invented in England many centuries ago. However, I had a friend who believed it was invented in Ireland.

I wish I could ask him about this now, but unfortunately he died some time ago. From what I remember of the conversation (1993) he said the game was played in and around Wexford way back when (c 1250) and that the first English army to set up camp in the area absorbed the game from the locals and over the centuries it spread wherever the English/British Army went. I can't remember why he said it died out, but if it became associated with the English that may have been all that was needed.

I can't assess his claim, but I can tell you he was not just some loon. He worked for the National Museum of Ireland and his working life was devoted to the history of Ireland and protecting and interpreting the archaeological artifacts in the Museum's care.

I really wish I could remember more, such as was this theory based on items found in Wexford, which is what I think he said. It's really annoying me today, but that conversation sort of went out of my head until yesterday when I was suddenly transformed into a die-hard cricket fan along with the 5.5 million other people living here. We cannot wait for the next 'innings' this Sunday.

{Photo from Getty Images: Yesterday's record-breaking hero Kevin O'Brien}

Are QE2 fears driving McIlroy home?

Rory McIlroy is quitting the American PGA Tour to return to Europe for his golf in the new year. McIlroy said he was lonely and homesick in America, missed his girlfriend, his house and his dogs are all in Ireland and he missed all of that.

McIlroy is 21 and it's entirely plausible that homesickness is the reason he wants to move back home. I'm sure he really misses his girlfriend and she misses him. Same for his dogs.

However, he's not the only European golfer to spurn the US tour recently. Germany's Martin Kaymer, England's Lee Westwood and Italy's Francesco Molinari have all opted for Europe's tour over America's.

Now maybe they're all homesick, but maybe there's another factor that made it easier to give in to their homesickness. Maybe they're unhappy with QE2.

No, not Queen Elizabeth the second, but the recently announced second round of Quantitative Easing. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has decided that printing an additional $600bn is just what the American economy needs to get things going again.

Maybe he's right, but I have my doubts and I'm not alone. There are many people who believe that QE2 and many of the other measures being pursued by the American government will have little positive effect on the economy, but will seriously undermine the strength of the dollar.

You may scoff at the idea of a 21-year-old professional golfer understanding the ins and outs of the actions of central banks and currency movements, but these guys all have advisers who do understand. If the advice is that the dollar will decline by 15-20% over the next 12 months, then that's a serious hit on the golfer's income, enough to make the European tour more attractive to any "homesick" golfer. Driving down the value of the dollar makes imports more expensive regardless of whether it's a barrel of oil, a bottle of French wine, a Japanese car or an Irish golfer.

Announcing that you're going to play professional golf in Europe because you disagree with the way the custodians of the American dollar - Bernanke and President Obama - are doing their job would not be a winning ploy. It's much better to be seen as a lovesick puppy rather than a mercenary professional athlete.

Goal difference is no way to decide the league champions

The Airtricity League is Ireland's domestic soccer league and it just doesn't get a lot of love. Although soccer may well be the most popular sport in Ireland, most soccer fans devote their attentions to the goings on in the English Premier League, not the local league.

There probably isn't a whole lot the people who run the Airtricity League can do about this state of affairs, but they aren't above trying different things to generate interest. A few years ago they changed the season from one that ran basically from through the winter to one that runs through the summer. The idea was that Irish soccer would attract more fans to games on warm summer evenings than on cold, wet winter nights.

Here's another idea that the league should adopt immediately: have a one game playoff for the league title if two teams are tied at the end of the season. Last week's exciting conclusion to the season was only marred by the fact that Shamrock Rovers claimed the title by virtue of a better goal difference than the runners-up, Bohemians. That is just plain wrong. And dumb.

Soccer in Europe is structured differently than any American sports league. Here the team that as the best regular season record wins the league. End of story. That's how it should be really. There are no playoffs, no one-off championship to decide who the best is, but rather it's decided over the long season. The team with the most points (or wins) is the league champion.

They don't have loads of division champions, wild card teams, etc. playing a tournament to decide what's already been decided.

However, where soccer could learn something from America is when two teams are tied at the end of the season. Sure, I understand the goal difference, but it doesn't really say much about which of the two tied teams is best.

Last Friday night Shamrock Rovers could only manage a 2-2 tie with lowly Bray while Bohemians were winning their game. Both games were live on tv simultaneously. It was exciting. I'm sure a lot of non-fans tuned in. It was a great ad for the Airtricity League.

It would have been an even better ad for the league if rather than conceding the title to Rovers, the two teams had met for a one game playoff to decide the championship. Maybe it's too American an idea for the league, but they should consider it because goal difference is really a poor way to decide who's best after a long season.

The Ryder Cup would be nothing without anti-Americanism

The Ryder Cup teed off this morning and, well, I don't care. It's probably more than not caring because I actively dislike the Ryder Cup. To me it's an event that is built solely on hype and a ludicrous battle between American chauvinism and anti-Americanism.

The ridiculous, over the top, embarrassing nationalistic displays and language used by the American team is intended to lure Americans into rooting for the team (and helpfully boost the TV ratings) because it's "America vs Europe." Despite these efforts, from what I can make out taking American newspaper sports sections and web sites as a guide, American interest in the event is not great.

Over here it's a huge deal. I don't know if people in Germany, Spain or France care about the Ryder Cup, but in Ireland and in Britain this is one massive event.

Golf itself is a big deal over here and I can accept that golf fans would want to watch the Ryder Cup. What I don't understand is all this 'rally around the blue flag' nonsense because nobody really feels "European." Even the flag is a fiction because that is the EU flag, not the flag of Europe. Would the European Ryder Cup team shun a Swiss or Norwegian player because those countries are not EU members? I seriously doubt it.

So, as I stated above, the Ryder Cup's appeal outside of true golf fans is to anti-Americanism. There will be a lot of let's stick it to the Yanks type rhetoric from the tabloid media and those ignoramuses who pay attention to golf every two years. The ostentatious displays of American patriotism play into this anti-Americanism beautifully.

I am sure that the PGA loves encouraging all this WWE style nonsense because it boosts the ratings. They probably also like it because it might actually, hopefully, possibly get the players to really care, almost as much as they might if they were playing for a genuinely desired golf title, like the Masters and British Open, or even a minor title with a tidy pay check.

Fortunately for me, the Ryder Cup is on a pay TV station, one I don't subscribe to. So I'll have absolutely no trouble avoiding it on my TV this weekend. For the past few days it has led every single sports bulletin with the latest on what the players are saying, eating, scratching, whatever.

Maybe there just aren't enough big-time sports here at this time of year and the sportswriters and broadcasters have to do something and the Ryder Cup is it. I just wish they didn't have to stir the pot of anti-Americanism to generate interest. Of course, it probably wouldn't exist without it.

ND vs Navy will be security nightmare for Ireland

Notre Dame is going to play Navy at the new soccer/rugby stadium in Dublin on September 1, 2012. It will be a great occasion, but not one without some not-so-serious and very serious security implications.

In America Notre Dame vs Navy is simply a college football game. Nothing more. That will probably not be the case here because Navy is, after all, part of the United States Navy, which is, as we all know, part of the 'American death machine.' I fully expect tens of people from the usual anti-American rent-a-crowd to turn up to protest at the presence of the Navy's midshipmen in Dublin.

Those protesters will be annoying, at most, but nothing the local police force can't handle. However, there is a far more spine-chilling threat that the Irish government and gardaí (Ireland's police force) will have to devote a great deal of time and energy on: al Qaeda and friends.

Is it likely al Qaeda will target the game? I don't really know, but I do know that there are very few opportunities in Europe where 30,000 Americans, including possibly thousands in the military, are gathered in one place. Yet, that's exactly what we'll have here on September 1, 2012.

I have great faith in the gardaí and I trust the Irish government to do their damnedest to guarantee the security of all the Americans who come to Dublin for the game, but nothing is 100% certain. And although the game was only formally announced this week, the details are as they were when it was first mooted back in 2005. Seven years is a long time if you wanted to plan something.

Of course, it isn't just the few hours during the game that the police will have to be worried about, but the whole weekend. Back in 1996 when ND and Navy last played here Dublin seemed to be filled with Americans, many in uniform. The city will have to be on alert the whole weekend.

I don't want to put you off coming for the game. I hope to see you all there. Just don't be surprised if you see A LOT of police personnel while you're here.

Oh, while I'm at it, I'd like to recommend that this game be called the Commodore John Barry Bowl. He was, after all, an Irish Catholic and the father of the American Navy. What could be more appropriate?

Listening to Irish sports announcer a great cultural experience

Ireland's premier sports announcer shocked Irish sports fans when he declared that this Sunday he will broadcast his last All-Ireland Final. Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, who is 80, has been bringing Gaelic games to life for 60 years.

Ó Muircheartaigh (Moriarty in English) is Ireland's answer to Vin Scully. Only, whereas Scully is often described as lyrical, Ó Muircheartaigh is musical. Listening to Ó Muircheartaigh {photo} describe the action in a Gaelic football or hurling game is very like listening to traditional Irish music.

I can remember the first time I ever heard Ó Muircheartaigh. It was the 1980s and I just stumbled onto WFUV's live broadcast of the All-Ireland football final. I knew nothing about the game and, in truth, I had trouble following the details of what Ó Muircheartaigh was saying, but the sound of his voice was magical.

I was captivated as he called the play on the field without interruption: his voice rising and falling as the excitement waxed and waned. Occasionally, randomly and without warning he switched to his native Irish (Gaelic), which only enhanced my enjoyment. Whenever the players took a breather he'd take the opportunity to tell us something about one of the 30 athletes: what he did for a living, his hometown, his parents, brothers, sisters and, even grandparents. You got the idea that Ó Muircheartaigh knew everyone in the country (and he probably does).

Having lived here a long time I can now follow the action when Ó Muircheartaigh is calling it, except during those snippets of Irish, which I still enjoy. In fact, as has been said by others this week, listening to Ó Muircheartaigh on the radio is often superior to watching as he had that ability to make a pedestrian contest sound like an event you'd dearly have loved to have witnessed personally.

Oh, and that's another thing about Ó Muircheartaigh. He's strictly radio. Like Scully, Ó Muircheartaigh learned his trade in the days before TV. I don't know if he ever tried his hand at a television broadcast, but I can't imagine that would have worked. His words and the sound of his voice could transport you and seeing the image on a television set would only distract you and ruin the experience.

It's a sad day for fans of Gaelic games, but if you have never heard Ó Muircheartaigh you can listen tomorrow at 10:30EDT through rte.ie (& on WFUV and probably other stations across America). It will be more than worthwhile.

Dublin's new stadium has two names

Last night the Irish soccer team played its first game at the new stadium built for soccer and rugby. The new stadium is called the Aviva Stadium because the naming rights were bought by the Aviva insurance company.

I know this is not new to any of you sports fans in America as most of the new sporting arenas have made similar deals. My own Mets traded Shea Stadium – named for Irish-American Bill Shea whose hard-ball tactics with Major League Baseball brought the Mets to life - for the stomach-churning Citi Field - named for one of the bail-outest of banks.

What makes the Aviva deal interesting is that it will not officially be the Aviva Stadium always. No, the money-grubbing Football Association of Ireland (the Irish soccer authorities) have done a deal with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to bring the Europa League final to Dublin next May. The game will be played in the FAI's new stadium, but the stadium will be called the Dublin Arena for that one game.

When I first heard this I thought, "Great! Someone with integrity and clout calling a halt to this 'naming rights' nonsense. Now to America with the same campaign."

Only that's not what's going on here. No, what you have is the bigger money-grubbing body telling the smaller money-grubbers, "Yes, we will deign to bring our (second-rate) European soccer final to your city, but we will not be caught dead in anything called Aviva. Why, they're not even one of our official sponsors."

And that's what happened. UEFA forced the FAI to change the name of the stadium for that one game because Aviva is not one of UEFA's official sponsors. Where's my gun?

It would be like the Olymipcs or World Cup going to America and forcing the money-grubbing Mets to change the name on their new baseball stadium to suit the Olympics or FIFA's sponsorship deals. {I'm sure the Mets would do it so long as the money-grubbing Mets and money-grubbing Citibank were monetarily satisfied.}

Oh, and although this name change is only for one game, it's a permanent change on UEFA's web site where the name is now and ever shall be the Dublin Arena. So two official names for the new stadium.

Thankfully the rail authorities have refused to play ball as the DART stop for the new stadium still has only the old Lansdowne Road. Their own attempts at money-grubbing apparently thwarted.

Irish amateur sports final the equal of any pro championship

Yesterday's hurling final represented the third Sunday in a row that the GAA provided edge-of-your-seat sports excitement. In yesterday's game, underdog Tipperary beat Kilkenny to end the latter's bid for five straight championships.

You don't have to be an expert on hurling to have appreciated yesterday's contest. It was a replay of last year's final in which Kilkenny came from behind to go past Tipperary to win their fourth straight title. Yesterday for much of the game it looked like it might be more of the same as Tipperary led most of the game, but they just couldn't put Kilkenny away.

Then the magic moment arrived. Last year as the game entered the final few moments Kilkenny uppped the pressure and Tipperary buckled, lost their discipline and Kilkenny went past them for victory. Yesterday, when the critical moment arrived Tipperary held firm, found an extra step and buried Kilkenny with a late flurry of scores to make the final totals look lop-sided. The champions had been dethroned.

What's amazes me is that because Tipperary had won the game with a couple of minutes to play it was actually a let down in terms of late excitement compared with the two football semi-finals played the previous two Sundays. Both of those games were in doubt until the last minute and, in fact, the Down vs Kildare game was only settled when a last second shot at goal hit the crossbar.

Thrilling, heart-stopping stuff in front of 80,000 fans and hundreds of thousands watching on TV. You can't beat it, but the fact that the GAA is an amateur organization and all the players have to earn a living outside of sports only enhances the enjoyment. Of course professional sports are exciting, but they don't provide more excitement than what this great amateur body offers.

Baseball in DC won't last

I was in Washington a couple of weeks ago and went to see the Nationals. I love going to baseball games and I knew I wouldn't be able to see the Mets this summer for the first time in years (and it doesn't look like they'll be drawing me back in late October for any big games) so I was looking forward to this one.

The Nationals have a new ballpark and it's nice, I guess. There's a part of me that recoils at the shopping mall/food court model of modern stadiums. I've been to Citi Field in New York and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and those are nice stadiums too. Actually, both of those are better than Washington's park, but maybe only marginally so.

Washington has its nice new stadium and, from what I can see, a team on the rise. The Nationals have a core of good, young talent and more on the way. The future is rosy for the Nats.

Or is it?

They have everything going for them - except their fans. In fact, I doubt Washington has many fans at all.

The game I went to had almost a full house because Stephen Strasburg was supposed to pitch, but he was injured and replaced by a spot starter. The crowd booed the starter. Loudly.

Okay, they were disappointed. I was disappointed too, but I didn't boo. And, if you're a fan of the team you still root for the team to win - that means rooting for the replacement if a star can't play.

That was only a small thing, but it was indicative of what the Nats' have in DC. Strasburg is clearly the crowd favorite even though he's done very little. It was pretty obvious that Ryan Zimmerman is playing second fiddle to Strasburg even though Zimmerman has been with the Nationals since their first year and he's young, an excellent ballplayer and a legitimate star. Yet, the Nats fans are all about Strasburg.

This focus on a pitcher you've seen, what? - four or five times?, rather than an established hometown (Zimmerman's from Virginia) star is a sign of a phoniness and a fickleness among the Nats' so-called fans, whose interest will pass quickly and leave the team with virtually no fan base.

Want more evidence? By the end of the 6th inning the stadium was way more than half empty - on a night when a stand-in starter and the bullpen had the Nats in front of the first place Braves 3-0. {I took this picture just after the 3rd out in the bottom of the 6th. Those fans are all heading for the exit.}

Strangely, the crowd arrives early, very early. We got there more than an hour before the first pitch and the place was buzzing. The Nationals announced that the first 10,000 fans through the gate would get free tee shirts, but they were all gone when we entered. (I should note here, that when the announcer asked the fans to wave their shirts it looked like 2-3000 people had shirts and not the 10,000 who should have had them.)

Yeah, they get there early because, I think, it's the place to be. Yet, the place to be seemed to be not so much in the seats, but walking around, sampling the various concession stands, etc. In fact, the Nats' fans seem to spend as much time out of their seats as in them despite the fact we had beautiful weather and it was an excellent game with a home team victory in the offing.

Of course you can read too much into one experience, but the one impression I left with is that compared with New York or Philadelphia, this team, in fact baseball itself, is just a fad in DC. I really doubt that franchise will be there in 10 years.

Irishman may have solved baseball's broken bat problem

An underemployed Irish roofing contractor believes he may have the answer to a problem that is plaguing Major League Baseball. Flan Marsh of County Clare is hoping that a treatment he developed for hurleys, ash sticks used in the Irish game of hurling, can be adapted for baseball bats and help rid Major League Baseball of the scourge of broken bats.

Over the last decade or so MLB has seen a significant rise in broken bats and injuries related to those bats. Stories about fans being injured by flying pieces of bats - like the boy hit in the head by a broken bat in Milwaukee during the early part of this season - have become all too common. Players and umpires are also at risk from broken bats.

Marsh developed his treatment for hurleys because of his concerns for the safety of those who play hurling. Hurling is more like lacrosse, with lots of close contact clashes with opponents. These clashes often lead to broken hurleys where the hurley breaks in two with knife-like sharp ends flying amidst the players.

Marsh's hurleys will still break, although breaks are less common. However, when one of his hurleys breaks the two pieces stay together {see photo above} - no sharp missiles are launched.

I think Major League Baseball might well jump at Marsh's development, so long as it doesn't affect the flight of the ball. That will be the real test. The last thing the baseball authorities want is media and fan complaints that the bats are "juiced", although given the pitchers' dominance this year they might secretly cheer a bit more offense.

Something that would save them the bad press and even lawsuits from broken bats flying into the stands would probably sound enticing.

I hope Marsh's approach to MLB works out for him. It's a great story. However, even if MLB turns him down he may well be onto a winner with youth and high school baseball leagues. Many of those have recently banned (the repugnant) aluminum bats because of fears that the metal bats hit the ball too hard. Pitchers can't respond fast enough to protect themselves.

Metal bats have been legally banned for youth leagues in New York and North Dakota. Many other youth leagues have imposed their own similar bans. Metal bats are increasingly being replaced by wooden ones.

One of the worries about a return to wooden bats is cost: metal bats are cheaper because they need to be replaced far less frequently. If Marsh's treatment can solve the problems caused by metal bats, but also make the wooden bat less breakable he could help tip the balance in the direction of wood over metal. He may just be the right man, with the right idea at the right time.



{picture of broken bat in crowd from AP-Charles Krupa}

Nothing unAmerican about USA's World Cup team

Every four years the same articles appear in the Irish and British press about how Americans don't understand, don't 'get' soccer, err, "the beautiful game." They love to portray Americans, tediously, as looking for touchdowns or home-runs in soccer games.

The journalists who repeat these statements from Americans do so earnestly, not seeming to realize that it's an American way of saying soccer is a big yawn. Although people here can sometimes wax lyrical about the great defense in a 0-0 game that sort of scoring pace doesn't interest a lot of Americans.

However, this year those stories seem to be less common, possibly because it isn't just Americans who've been bored by this World Cup or possibly, just possibly, because they've realized that there are many Americans who do 'get' soccer.

Maybe that's why on Saturday the Irish Times ran with a different variation on the 'Americans & soccer' theme: conservative Americans don't like soccer because it's somehow "unAmerican" or even "Hispanic." As evidence Davin O'Dwyer cited Glenn Beck and G. Gordon Liddy, who uttered negative remarks about soccer, although only Liddy attached his argument to anything even vaguely "Hispanic."

I can't totally fault O'Dwyer, however, because I've come across similar views in the American press. In fact, last week NPR's web site published a piece that said much the same thing as O'Dwyer, basically claiming that race and ethnicity were contributing factors to Americans' failure to love the "beautiful game."

The race/ethnicity argument is laughable and it's a shame that someone outside America would repeat such nonsense. You only have to watch America's sports to realize how wrong that is: black stars dominate basketball and football and baseball features many, many players from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, etc. Conservatives watch those sports, root for those players as much as liberals do. There's not much of a political angle in Americans sports.

Sure some Americans like soccer and some don't. I know plenty of Americans who don't like soccer. They find it boring or can't understand why anyone would watch or play a sport where the opposable thumb is an unnecessary appendage. I also know many Americans who love soccer. Political considerations have nothing to do with it: liberals and conservatives fit into both camps.

Among those who love it are many who've taken to watching the English Premier League and Champions League thanks to satellite television. Mostly these are men who are sports fanatics and who had a gap in their lives for live sports at 10am on Saturdays and Sundays or mid-afternoon on weekdays. European soccer was able to fill that gap.

These guys have a pretty good understanding of soccer. They're watching the World Cup pretty intensely and using the internet to source sports radio discussions or are using Facebook, Twitter, bulletin boards and chat rooms to get more information, analyses and opinions. The World Cup, like the Olympics, also attracts a lot of other American fans, people who'll watch this big festival of soccer, but who wouldn't consider themselves ardent fans of the game. Their interest will remain pretty high so long as the American team stays in the tournament.

All of which brings me to the most important issue of the day: the US team's must-win game against Algeria (10am on ESPN). If you watch you'll see the faces of the American players are the faces of America, their names are not solely Hispanic, but represent all of America and the players give every appearance of being extremely proud to wear USA on their jerseys when they play. UnAmerican? I don't think so.

What's more, Americans take can take great pride in the team because despite being far from the most talented side at the World Cup the USA team plays with real heart, never gives up and leaves it all on the field. What more could we ask for? Go USA!

RTE provides masterclass in sports broadcasting

Ireland's national television channel RTE's coverage of the World Cup provides a model that American sports broadcasters should emulate. Actually, I'm not even talking about watching the actual games, although RTE does a fair job on that. I'm talking about the pre-game, half-time and post-game analysis and discussion of each World Cup match.

The World Cup draws a massive audience, including many people who don't watch a lot of soccer. Yet unlike what seems too common on American tv, RTE doesn't dumb down the coverage to meet the limited understanding of the game that some of the less devoted soccer fans might want or need.

There's no razzmatazz in RTE's production. A panel of two or three analysts and a director of the conversation sitting around a big table discussing tactics, performances and using nothing more technologically adventurous than instant replay.

The analysts are all unsentimental, intelligent, and opinionated, unafraid to go against the views of the mob or each other. Even their personalities seem like a slap across the face to an American sports fan used to fake smiles and/or "characters" among our analysts.

RTE's panelists range from clinical (Johnny Giles or Ronnie Whelan) to grumpy (Eamonn Dunphy) to dour (Liam Brady or Graeme Souness). For this World Cup RTE has worked in ex-German player Dietmar Hamann who has fit in well.

If you're a serious sports fan who'd like to understand soccer more, RTE's panel offers a university education. However, if you're a long-time knowledgeable fan of the game, you'll find plenty of food for thought. It's exactly what any sports fan wants from the broadcaster during a major sporting event.

Despite Ireland's absence, Irish keenly interested in World Cup

I know you're up to your eyes in Stanley Cups (congrats, Chicago), NBA Finals and the LeBron saga, baseball and Strasburg-mania, golf, NASCAR and other sports. Soccer news might well have passed you by, but if you were in Europe there would be no doubt that you'd be aware that the World Cup starts tomorrow.

You might be a bit surprised to learn how much emphasis the World Cup is getting here seeing as Ireland will not be playing in South Africa. The Irish team lost out when they received the Andres Galarraga treatment - the referee didn't see what he should have seen last November.

The depth of feeling on that matter all these months later has surprised me, but many Irish people are still really angry that France will be playing in South Africa and Ireland won't. In fact, some Irish people are so angry that they've announced that if it comes down to it they would rather see England win than France, and that's saying something.

Despite Ireland's absence the World Cup is a huge matter of interest here. We have five television channels and one of those five will be showing 56 World Cup games over the next month as well as hours of extra coverage with pre and post game analyses and highlight programs late at night.

It will nearly be wall-to-wall World Cup, with GAA and rugby thrown in for good measure. A full month with little time for anything other than sports. In other words, it'll be heaven

I don't know if 56 games is every single World Cup game, but if there are some games not shown on Irish television you can be sure that (a) there'll be a lot of complaints about what's been missed and (b) there'll be a lot of people looking for those games on the British channels. As I was saying, interest in the World Cup is intense.

So who will the Irish people be rooting for? Well, not America unfortunately, although I daresay that nearly everyone will be rooting for America on Saturday when they play England (2:30pm EDT on ABC).

It's not that Irish people will be rooting against America as such, it's just that, well, they don't exactly rate the American team very highly. They don't see the USMNT as likely to provide any memorable moments, other than the hoped for upset of England.

From what I can make out Brazil is the favorite here, based on the number of Brazil shirts in the stores. You can find shirts for many other countries too - I even found a small selection of adult USA jerseys (no kids' sizes, unfortunately; my son wanted one), which I didn't see in America when I was there in April - but Brazil, Argentina (Lionel Messi) and Spain (the odds-makers' favorites, America's 80-1) are the most commonly available.

I think most Irish people will be happy with a Brazilian win, but mostly they want exciting, entertaining soccer and don't much care who wins - so long as it's NOT England or France.

Tiger will get a warm welcome in Ireland

Tiger is coming to play in Ireland. It was confirmed yesterday. He's coming to play at the Invitational Pro-Am at Adare Manor in County Limerick.

You know what? He'll get a pretty good reception. I'm certain Irish golf fans don't give a hoot about what Tiger's been getting up to off the course and I bet that the vast majority of the Irish public will be more than happy to overlook Tiger's 'addiction problems'.

The Pro-Am is a charity event, which will only help boost Tiger's image here. In fact, I suspect the welcome will be so warm that Tiger might be tempted to stay a little longer.

Tiger was too perfect before, almost inhuman. I know that played well in America, but I think Irish people will actually like him more now, now that he's proven he's human after all. There's more than a bit of an aversion to the squeaky clean image here.

Fulham's win is why being a sports fan is worthwhile

"What a team; what heart; what character; what spirit; what an attitude they've got." That was ITV's Jim Beglin last night after Fulham FC beat Hamburg to secure a place in the Europa League Final.

It was one of those moments when being a sports fan seems so worthwhile, when a fairy tale does come true. And, it's just my good fortune that back in January 2009 I decided I'd become a Fulham fan after a match I'd bought tickets for was postponed on account of the weather. The club couldn't have been more helpful to me when I explained that I couldn't just turn up for the make-up game because I lived in Dublin.

I got tickets to another game in April '09 and we - my daughter, my son and I - had a great time in Fulham's ancient ground, Craven Cottage. Fulham won that day and finished last season in seventh place, which is, I believe, the best ever finish in the club's 131 year history.

That seventh place earned Fulham a place in the Europa League, which is a competition for those clubs that are just outside qualifying for the Champions League. Not the best of the best, but pretty far up there.

And last night, in front of 22,000 delirious fans, Fulham's remarkable run continued as they beat German club Hamburg for a place in the Final. This is their best ever accomplishment. The club's Clint Dempsey {photo} will, I think, be the first American to play in a European cup final when he takes to the field and joins the action (as a starter or sub) on May 12.

I'm not a fan of long-standing. I haven't endured the way Fulham's life-long fans have endured. Last night was those fans' greatest ever night in their little stadium's greatest ever night. I really enjoyed it, even though I felt and feel something of a fraud compared with those legitimate fans.

Years from now someone will ask a Fulham fan what was his greatest ever experience. Depending on the audience he may well say his wedding day or the day his son/daughter was born, but in his head he'll be recalling the feeling of that moment when the final whistle sounded and Fulham had beaten the longest odds and won the right to play in their first European cup final.

"Disbelieving joy" ITV's Peter Drury said, and that's exactly what it was for Fulham fans felt last night.