The 19th September 7th 2010 “Johnny Pilkington got the biggest cheer of the night – he showed on the Off The Ball roadshow that he’s lost none of it. It was his honesty. Ditto for Jamesie O’Connor when he was a guest on Off The Ball on Thursday night – riveting stuff as Jamesie spoke about the 1995 and ‘97 All-Ireland finals with a level of honesty that you don’t generally ge... Read more |
The 19th August 31st 2010 “Canon Hamilton was a great man – All-Ireland final commentating wasn’t his gig but there was no disputing the powers of his oratory, as the famously gave that tear-inducing rendition at the GAA Convention in 1947 when he turned a room and a country into wanting that year’s All-Ireland football final brought to New York.” THE Sunday just gone was ... Read more |
The 19th August 24th 2010 “Hindsight is 20/20 vision of course, but at the same time a blind man could have seen back in 2006 that letting Donie Buckley slip through Clare’s net was a hammer blow to football in the county. And the astute blind man would also have told Clare GAA back then to open their eyes before it was too late. Alas, it was a case of eyes wide shut.” CLA... Read more |
The 19th August 17th 2010 “Crossing the River Lee to Páirc Uí Chaoimh for that famous semi-final in ’83, One geographically challenged Dub uttered the immortal and comical words: ‘Jaysus, I never though Paric Eeee Keeev was on an island’. The laughter was such that the boat, on which of course everyone aboard was sans life jackets, very nearly capsized.” TO go or not to go... Read more |
The 19th August 10th 2010 “‘Such was the savagery of the combatants that had it not been for the intervention of the Gardaí under Garda John Lavin the game might never have been finished,” wrote Sean King in The Clare Champion. “Had an American Army recruiting officer been present he would have been impressed by the ostentation of the unflinching commandoes from Newmarket a... Read more |
The 19th August 3rd 2010 “My new hero Alex Higgins had Scott Joplin’s, The Entertainer, blaring out as his backing track. He wore a trilby and spats, threw away his tie, smoked cigarettes, drank beer and potted balls for fun and at breathtaking speed. Snooker’s Rebel with a cause. A Georgie Best! A Jack Doyle! A genius!” IT was love, love at first sight. A first love. Man... Read more |
The 19th July 27th 2010 “What makes a legend? What they did when they were alive? What they’re remembered for when they’re gone?” It’s probably both, for Brian O’Reilly was something of a legend. MENTION Mayo football as it relates to Clare and it’s natural for most aficionados to automatically default to the John Maughan years. You can hardly blame them.After all, the a... Read more |
The 19th July 20th 2010 “Ballyea’s 2009 minor management team had every right to air their grievances with officialdom. The management team were those who put the work in with the players, week in, week out, not only in 2009 but in previous years, winning underage titles up through the various grades and bringing a side outside the county to play in the All-Ireland Féile ... Read more |
