It was a Late Late MNS this week as the show was booted from its usual 8:00 p.m. slot by a group game from the most pointless international tournament of them all. Con told us that it was the ‘first Late Late since Pat’s departure’ and that Rico, Pat Morley and Steve’s big brother had all stocked up on the coffee to get them through it. I found beer worked better myself. Con the conman then went on to explain in his online blog that the show was actually pre-recorded so it seems that he was lying to us. TV fakery from Montrose? Surely not.
It’s a shame that this week, of all weeks, was shunted into the wee hours as it was FAI Ford Cup Third Round time, a weekend crammed with more one-sided victories than your average Harlem Globetrotters World Tour. There were some juicy ties though, and to be fair to the MNS crew, they were covered well.
Tony O went Leeside to report on the Cork – Sligo game. Yours truly thought it a bit odd to see the managers interviewed before the game, giving their thoughts before an event that had already happened days previously. Paul Cook told us unequivocally that he didn’t want a draw at Turners Cross, yet we all knew that a 2-2 was on the way. It was like watching a particularly deadly knockout punch for the 12th time on YouTube – you know what’s coming, the victim doesn’t.
Speaking of boxing, it’s clear that Paul Cook’s voice went through a tough 12 rounds during the 90 minutes. Cook’s match day bout of laryngitis is as regular as sunset but the two interviews, either side of the match, shows the battering the genial Liverpudlian puts himself through for the Rovers’ cause. It was as if Stevie G himself had munched on a kitten. Hope there were plenty of Hacks on the team bus home.
It was nice to see a feature on the Tralee Dynamos. Their 2-1 win over Salthill Devon was described as ‘the biggest game in Kerry soccer history’ and no doubt the locals, interviewed before the game, will be happy that the Dynamos are one step closer to picking up the “Heineken Cup, Super 14 trophy or ‘McCarthy’” as they identified one of Irish soccer’s most important trophies.
The match itself seemed to give good entertainment to the 14 or so souls who forgot that there was a game going on in Pairc Uí Chaoimh. Reporter Eamonn Donohue took full advantage of the unusual inclusion of the Dynamos on MNS by using as many tortured puns as possible... a tactic that this reporter thought he had an exclusive hold upon.
To ensure that RTE got their full value from the trip to Kerry as this week’s Karaoke King came from Tralee’s David O’ Leary. If there’s been a more annoying feature on a sports show anywhere in the world, ever, then it would surprise me. This week’s King should be dethroned as soon as possible. Warbling isn’t the word that one should use to describe his version of Sex on Fire from the Kings of Leon. Heck, even Paul Cook sounded better.
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