Here's Johnny!!!

I notice today that Airplane is among the films that have been enlisted in the National Film Registry in the US today.  A worthy honour, coming so soon after the death of star Leslie Neilsen, though I must say that it's a shame it has taken so long.

I'm an Airplane fan - it's the best comedy ever - and it's character Johnny, played by Stephen Stucker, is, for me, it's highlight.  Enjoy the compilation below.

Stubborn

stub·born 

adj. stub·born·er, stub·born·est

1.

a. Unreasonably, often perversely unyielding; bullheaded.

b. Firmly resolved or determined; resolute. See Synonyms at obstinate.

2. Characterized by perseverance; persistent.

3. Difficult to treat or deal with; resistant to treatment or effort: stubborn soil; stubborn stains.

4. A quality which is questionable, at best, and distasteful at it's worst.

---

[Middle English stuborn.]

---

stubborn·ly adv.

stubborn·ness n.

Beware of The Danger That Is Christmas

It's a good job that Christmas is drawing to a close because, as this video shows, it's dangerous.  Until the decorations are taken down, wherever you are, be careful!!

More details on the story available here.

Well I Never...

Anyone doubting the increasing global reach of the Premier League need only see this.  A screen capture of the frontpage of ESPN.com (the American version) taken in the last few minutes.

I know that ESPN show some Premier League football in the US, and thus have a vested interest in promoting the match, but on a night in which the 'World Wide Leader In Sports' will be showing a key NFL encounter on Monday Night Football, it is Fabregas and Drogba which adorn their home page.  Progress such as this makes a development like the so-called '39th game' even more likely in years to come, trust me. 

Shame about the heroin-esque headline mind...

Viewers Deserve Better Than Mattie Muck

There's always been a routine to Sunday nights in the winter in my house. El Familia watch whatever they want on the TV as I log online on the laptop to watch the Chiefs. So right now, we're doing very well against the Titans while t'others watch Mattie on RTE 1. Awful doesn't cover it.

RTE comedies have generally been poor in recent years. The Panel and Podge and Rodge have had their moments, but I struggle to think of a decent RTE scripted comedy...ever. Mattie is no different. Don't just take my word for it; as a show Mattie is full of idiotic, flat, scarcely believable characters in constructed and unrealistic situations.

As if that wasn't bad enough, RTE are now advertising Mrs. Brown's Boys, made by Brendan O'Carroll. The ad looks awful, though that's hardly surprising given the type of material spewed out by O'Carroll in recent years. In many ways, this is comedy for the populace - Shortt and O'Carroll do well when it comes to drawing in punters, even if their works are largely shunned by the critics.

However, the best comedies of recent years, The Office and Extras, The Royle Family, Alan Partridge, Father Ted and (to a lesser extent) Phoenix Nights are completely different to this and offer a more critical, introspective show which we don't get from RTE. How a station which can give us The Panel and the Rubberbandits on Republic of Telly, can at the same time shove such shite (a term often used in Mattie tonight) I shall never know. Instead, we're set for offerings like this:

Oh look, Winning Streak is on now. Merry Christmas indeed.

Wired Fm – Student & Web Radio Station » Series Info

Wired Fm – Student & Web Radio Station » Series Info

Thanks my Gavin's Documentary-I demand you listen in to it on Wired FM tomorrow morning at 9am!

Hours of hard work went into this, blood sweat and tears went into and that was just my input! Gavin worked a little bit too!

We went all over Ireland to get the best interviews for you! And I went along for the road trip...

It's fantastic!!

Please please please listen!!

Wired Fm – Student & Web Radio Station » Series Info

Wired Fm – Student & Web Radio Station » Series Info

Thanks my Gavin's Documentary-I demand you listen in to it on Wired FM tomorrow morning at 9am!

Hours of hard work went into this, blood sweat and tears went into and that was just my input! Gavin worked a little bit too!

We went all over Ireland to get the best interviews for you! And I went along for the road trip...

It's fantastic!!

Please please please listen!!

Italia 90 Documentary

Wired Fm – Student & Web Radio Station » Series Info

Click on the link above to hear Gavin's Italia 90 documentary at 9am tomorrow morning on Wired FM-Limericks student radio!

It's a great documentary (if I do say so myself....and I do!!) Hours of hard work, labor and love went into this, and thats just what I did never mind Gavin!! We've traveled the length of the country from top to bottom to get some great interviews and some great running commentary (thats all Gavin I just went along for the road trip!!)

Please listen in its FANTASTIC!!

My Choice this year

Ok so last year at the start of the premiership I spent ages trying to pick a team to follow. Gav and I argued over which team would suit me best and why. I spend hours on google learning about them all. And far too long on Wiki trying to grasp something that would find me the perfect team for the year. If you don't remember the post then shame on you for not reading it well enough. And shame on me for not making it good enough to remember. So if either of those two statements are true I'll leave a link here so you can go back in time and find my post and hear all about my issues with each premier team.
Now that you're all up to date I can safely say that I chose the right team last year. I had Chelsea as my team for the season and I was clearly right as they were the out right winners, which needless to say pissed Gav off totally as he is a staunch Man Utd fan. So for that reason alone I am ruling Man Utd out as my team for this year... There's no fun in us both supporting the same team. Although we did watch the Man Utd v Rangers match together last night and for a change I was half paying attention to it and almost enjoyed it. Especially when there were so many close calls. But there I am again going off point.
The point is I need a new team this year to keep me "with it" in regards to the premier league. So after a week or two of watching and listening to the essentials of the season I've chosen a team.

I've always been about the under dogs really! So with such an impressive start to the season I've bitten the bullet, gone for gold and chosen the new comers.
They were founded in 1887 in the seaside resort of Blackpool. This year sees their first ever trip to the top tier of the Premier League and their 100th season in league football. The nicknames make me smile, the colours make me ill but still I'm backing them to do well this year and be my side for 2010/2011. May 09 saw the currant manager Ian Halloway take over on a one year contract so we hope he does well and stays around! They play their home games in Bloomfield since 1901 which was done up for this years Premier league fixtures, woohoo! And there's even an Irish man playing Forward for the team, Billy Clark. Something I like very much in my choice team! As a supporter I'll be known as Tangerine Army or Seaside Barmy Army! 


So thats me. I have a team so support again this year and as much as I hate tangerine as a shade of orange (and orange in general) I shall fly the colours proudly and cheer on the greatest under dogs and the unexpected promoted team of Blackpool FC. Lets just hope I'm right again this year...

A Blog Post...For Your Ears

I did this once before, but it's going to become more regular. I introduce you to the Almost Daily Sports Blog Podcast. Here's my thoughts on the Republic of Ireland, following wins this week over Armenia and Andorra.

I'll have another one of these on the start of the NFL season tomorrow.  Please leave feedback below.

Haye Hits Bum Note

Just a quick addendum to Hellie's post about the Haye - Harrison fight yesterday.  Most pundits reckon that the fight is going to be a fairly easy one for Haye - the bookies have him a 1-3 favourite to win by knockout, and 1-12 to win the fight in any method.  It's also odds on to finish inside the distance, and there are no surprises there.

Another person who thinks it is likely to be one-sided is Haye himself, as you can see from the quotes below.  Here's another, that didn't really emerge until the publication of the papers today however.  Haye said to Audley: 'You're going to get violated... This fight is going to be as one-sided as gang rape.'

Unsurprisingly, the comments have been met with widespread condemnation.

In the heat of the moment, men in particular say a lot of things that aren’t met.  While never being in the situation, I can imagine that to be particularly likely in a pre-fight press conference – two men are building themselves up to dislike the opponent, while controversial comments sell tickets, and in turn generate money.  Therefore, odd as this may seem, I can understand why Haye said this.  I cannot, however, condemn the fact that he has yet to apologise.

Rape of any kind is a heinous crime, and to liken a fight to it is quite frankly disgusting.  For a man who sells himself as a genial fellow, and one who the British public in particular should like, his refusal to apologise is surprising.  Controversy may generate publicity, but to this extent it is not needed.  The fight will still go ahead, it will still cost fans €22 or so to watch it on TV, and I’m sure many will spend that...  But I hope Haye sees the error of his ways sooner rather than later.

Another Fight I wanna see!

David Haye
Born 13 October 1980 in Bermondsey, South London
WBA Heavyweight World Champion
Former Cruiserweight World Champion


 Height 191cm or 6ft 3
 Reach 198 cm


 Total Fights 25
 Wins 24
 Wins by KO 22
 Losses 1

Audley Harrison


Born 26 October 1971
Sydney Olympics 2000-First ever British gold medal in Superheavyweight boxing
Turned professional 2001


Height 1.96m or 6ft 5
Reach 86inchs 


Total Fights 31
Wins 27
Wins by KO 20
Losses 4

And the point to this post today?? 

News out today is that David Haye will defend his WBA World Heavyweight title in a fight against fellow Briton and Olympic Gold Medalist Audley Harrison.  (which explains the fact-file type section above!) I loved the press conference from the BBC today so I'll put the link HERE. It's well worth a look but I'll leave some of the quotes that made my day right here for you to nose through at your own time!

"I don't believe Audley deserves a chance but enough people want to see him finally destroyed, that is why this fight is happening," Said Haye

"The fight will be a public execution"

"His resume is not as good as that of the last five people I have fought." Thems fighting words there Haye....

"I'm the most devastating fighter on the planet. This is the time your career gets well and truly finished." You'd never think that these two used to be friends and trained together would you? That is until a falling out some time last year...

Although Harrison had a few choice words to say as well!

He is a guy I groomed,"  

"I have tasted his punches and power and he never hurt me in a training session.

"This is my destiny - on 13 November Audley Harrison will be champion of the world and of that there is no doubt.

"If David Haye thinks I've taken this fight strictly for a payday, he is in for a rude awakening."

As I say this is a fight I badly want to see... Bring on November 13th for what should be a great fight from a World Champ and the wannabe Harrison who recently won Prizefighter...Not that he's had a fantastic career but David Haye is decent fighter and I suspect this to be a cracking fight (as Gavin would say)

I've marked it into my diary already...

Mack the Knife

In just over a month Gav and I are off on our hols. Weird hols I know but we're off to Bermingham to see Macklin fight for a European title fight.  I decided before going I should learn some more about Macklin and be more clued in. So where better go to go then the Almost Daily Sports Blog to share my new words of wisdom!

Born in Bermingham Macklin is considered to be an Irish pro boxer. We'll claim anyone with a loose Irish connection! But here I can't blame us for claiming him as our own. He's one hell of a boxer. The Tipperary Tornado is the former Irish, British and European middleweight champion. Hence why we love him so! September 2001 saw Macklin turn pro and leave his amateur days well behind him. Round One saw Mack the Knife Macklin beat the previously unbeaten Ram Singh from Wisbech in Glasgow. 
2006, the Jamie Moore fight was considered to be THE FIGHT OF THE YEAR! Everyone was talking about it. And then Macklin was beaten. Summer 06 saw Macklin hand the over the Irish Middleweight title to the Dub-Jim Rock. John Duddys matchmaker Jim Borzell said to Macklin "the European title then maybe you'll have something John wants." Macklin replied that he may have something that Duddy doesn't want right now. 
Macklin beat Rafa Sosa Pintos in late 09 on points bringing him even closer to a shot at a world title fight. He's since given up his European title fight to try for the world title. Since so far it hasn't worked out the way he wants he's going back to fight to regain his European title. This is what we're off to see in mis September. WOOHOO!
I've spent a while looking at some of his fights and this one is the one I've decided is one I really enjoyed!!  (I must say sorry for only having a link and not the actual video here-I've no idea how to do that trick that Gav does so a link will have to do for now!!)




Macklin is a fighter I am really looking forward to seeing. I really can't wait!! 

Fantasy Premier League Results wk1

A wee reminder!
It's premier league season again and I've had a quick look at the table as it stands in the fantasy league.
Congrats to Paul McDonagh who started off in flying colours with 73 points, followed closely by moi with 68. Our own Gavin is currently sitting in 5th place. If you wanna join in the madness again this year the link to the website is here and the code you need to join is: 725971-165763 and off you go!
We'd love to see you and hear all your opinions...HINT HINT
We're also looking for the goal of the month each month, Gavin has already chosen his. Which one is yours so far? Who scored it, have you a youtube clip? We'd love to see if anyone out there agrees with our own Mr Grace! It would be a first if anyone did :)

Antonio Pettigrew RIP

It's emerged in the last few hours that the 1991 World 400m Champion Antonio Pettigrew has died.  Pettigrew was 42 years old, and leaves behind a wife and child.  A drugs overdose is to blame - it's not yet known if that is accidental or otherwise.

Pettigrew was a controversial sprinter, given that he admitted taking performance enhancing drugs.  He handed back the gold medals that he won in the relays at the 1997 and 1999 World Championships, and his transgressions meant the USA were stripped of their 4x400m Gold Medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

It's too early to speculate what may have happened Pettigrew - I don't intend to do that here.  What I will say however, is that his untimely and tragic death is reminiscent of those of Marco Pantani, Florence Griffith Joyner and a host of other athletes who have taken drugs to improve the careers, but ultimately lost their lives at a young age.  Performance enhancing drugs, despite distorting competition, are also extremely dangerous to one's health and deaths such as these should be a reminder, as if one were needed, that they must never be tolerated.

I've included a video of Pettigrew in action, the best I can find.  May he rest in peace.

A-Rod Reaction Reveals Baseball Ambivalence

This week, Alex Rodriguez has hit his 600th home run in Major League Baseball.  It’s a feat which puts him in 7th position in the all time home run list, and at the age of 35 he still has a good chance to surpass Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds et al and become the leading home run hitter of all time.

To understand the significance that this event would have had in years gone past, one must realise the special place held by baseball in American society.  There was a time in which it was more than a sport – it was also a pastime, as intrinsic a part of American society as apple pie and the 4th of July.  Also, more so than any sport popular in the States, baseball has historical resonance – A-Rod’s numbers are comparable to those of Babe Ruth, for example, because they played the same largely individual game, even if they did so in different eras.  Therefore milestones such as 600 home runs are moments to be celebrated, a time in which heroes are to be revered.

Normally.

The reception to this landmark, which bear in mind had been coming for some time, has at best been muted.  Fans, pundits, and even A-Rod himself have acknowledged that this moment is not as special as it once was, and perhaps should have been.  That is for one simple reason, steroids.

Like the aforementioned Barry Bonds, and along with the likes of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemons (and a heck of a lot more), Rodriguez’s career has been tarnished by his use of steroids.  He has acknowledged that he has cheated in the past, but such revelations naturally impacted on his popularity.  Once the special one, the sport’s future Golden Boy, he is now hated by some, and certainly disliked by many, yours truly included.  He is a cheat, and cheats should be castigated and excommunicated, of that there is no doubt.

But let’s look at this a different way, just for a moment.  Alex Rodriguez took steroids in a time where other players took steroids too.  Drug use, for a long period of time, was rampant.  Did he cheat?  Yes.  But did he gain an unfair advantage?  Well, probably, but he did so at a time in which several of his peers were doing the same.  Pitchers such as Clemons, who Rodriguez faced throughout his career, were also on steroids so why shouldn’t he?  It’s an argument I don’t like, but it’s a reasonably valid one regardless.

The sport itself seems to validate it by not imposing heavy suspensions on the likes of A-Rod when their transgressions emerge.  Bonds and McGwire still hold their respective home run records, with not even an asterisk alongside them in the official record books, and the same stands for Rodriguez who has taken performance enhancing drugs while soaring through the rankings.  Though they have competed in this tainted era, and though their records are tainted, the sport itself has not acknowledged this in the way that athletics would, stripping cheats of medals and records.

Until baseball does this, until it takes corrective action, until Bud Selig admits that they got it wrong and allowed this to happen and until the integrity of the game is protected, then muted receptions like the one we have seen this week will continue.  The ‘meh’ response from fans must act as a wake-up call to those in charge, though why it would happen now and not before I don’t know.

Heroes who should be heralded will be disliked, and innocent players will have unfair doubts cast upon them.  The sport as a whole will suffer, and its role as America’s past-time will be consigned to the past.

That Time again!

Well our Mr Grace is up the walls at work and I'm up the walls with study for pesky exams that start next week. But I very nicely took time outta my busy study night to do this VERY quick post.
Last year we had a wonderful Alost Daily Sports blog Fantasy Premier League and I wanna do it again this year!!
SO........
I went and set one up again! I'm sure Gav is delighted to hear it! It's very easy to join in and you have weeks to join us! All you need is to click here to be directed to the home page. Register your details.....it's very easy and then to join us in our own personal league you need to go to league on the tab to the left as you look at it and type in this code: 725971-165763 It's just that simple! Pick your team and off you go! The rules are there ready for you to read and at the end of it the season I hope to say 


HAHAHAHA I won :) Best of luck!
Looking forward to kicking some ass again this year!

Non World Cup News Round Up

If like me you're well fed up of World Cup stuff and need something different you're in the right place. Have a look below for the weird and wonderful sports round up of bits and bobs that tickled my funny bone this week!


* Boxing in Moscow last weekend saw us take a Gold and Silver medal thanks to our boys Barnes-who nicely took the gold and O Neill-the silver. A great fight from both men however O Neill's opposition out classed him on the night.

* Dong Fangxiao of China was stripped of her Oylmpic medal last week when committee officials discovered she was only 14 at the time of the 2000 Sydney Games. 


* The luck of the Irish was with our rowers last week when Queens University Belfast took the eight and quads in the men's top division at Queen's Regatta in the Castlewellan Forrest Park lake in Co Down. Galway RC won the fours, St Michaels RC from Limerick took the double scull and pair and City of Derry BC took the single sculls. UCD were placed first and third respectively in the novice eights. According to rte.ie the womens teams also did well. 


*Kerry footballer Paul Galvin has been suspended (yet again) following a clash with Cork's Eoin Cadogan. He'll be quiet for at least 4 weeks while he cools his "unnacceptable" temper. 


* Mayo's successful Ladies Football team bolted from the campionship this year due to issues between the players and the management. Since they're no longer insured to train it's unlikely they'll be able to play on June 19th against Sligo. 


* Micheal Schumacher the seven times F1 champ won't be punished after tipping Massa's car last Sunday. Massa had to stop with just 6 laps to go for a new front wing. Schumacher's team boss Ross Brawn defended his driver claiming his tyres didn't have enough grain or grip. No malice they say on Micheals behalf. 


* London Mayor Boris Johnson wants to take total control of the grounds of the 2012 Oylmpic  Games stadium in London. He's torn between letting West Ham have it for their stadium or use it as a venue for "pop concerts". I know which one I like and it's not West Ham....


* 67 caps for Ireland and Geordan Murphy has won the captain armband at long last. He'l be El Capitan against New Zealand's Maori in Rotorua International Stadium on Friday. 


* Woods claims to be almost at his best form following his intense preparations for this weeks US Open at Pebble Beach. This is Golf related right Wood?


* Barry Hearn is to take a 51% controlling share of the commercial business end of snooker. Eh I don't know if this makes any difference to a sport I don't believe to be a sport but eh......


* A magnificent century from Shahid Afridi could not prevent Sri Lanka from a 16-run win over Pakistan in the first match of the Asia Cup in Dambulla. Eh yeah what he said....


Enough rambling for now I'm off for a nice glass of wine and some Greys Anatomy...

Some World Cup Quick Hits

So with only a matter of hours left until the beginning of the World Cup, I’ve put my neck on the line and I’ve predicted the results all the way to the final on July 11th.  You can see my predictions here.

The main points in Gavin Grace’s World Cup are as follows – France miss out in the group stage, Mexico reach the Quarter Finals before losing to England, while Brazil are champions with a win over Argentina in the final.

A couple of points about it:

• Firstly... ya it’s not the most exciting of predictions.  England/Argentina/Spain/Brazil in the semi-finals is far from a shock.  However years of filling out similar brackets for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament have taught me that going chalk is the way to go!

• France’s early exit is only partly based on my dislike of the French football team.  They are a team in decline, and are most people’s selections for a flop in the next two weeks.  Reports of revolt in the camp don’t bode well, and I’m not inspired by anything I’ve seen from them in recent times, especially in last week’s loss to China.  You’ll also notice that I’ve predicted that South Africa will emerge from Group A.  They’re not the strongest team, but the Bafana Bafana are unbeaten in their last 11 matches, and no home team has ever failed to reach the second round of the World Cup.  I think they’ll maintain that streak, albeit finishing behind Mexico, but it could be one of the tightest groups of them all.

• Some of the groups are pretty easy to pick the top two out of:  Group C (England/USA), Group F (Italy/Paraguay) and Group H (Spain/Chile).  Others weren’t so easy however, even if the winners are most obvious.  Portugal should finish ahead of Ivory Coast in Group H, while I’ve picked Greece to beat Nigeria to second in Group B – I’m not too confident about that, to be frank.  I like some of what I saw of Nigeria in the African Nations Cup, but the Greek’s defence is why I went for them.  South Korea could cause an upset there too.  Germany’s group is also a corker.  I’ve gone for the Germans to top it ahead of Australia (in part because of the fact that I think the Aussies will go far-ish).  Serbia’s loss to New Zealand was enough for me to write them off, while Michael Essien’s absence means I’m not backing Ghana to do much.

• In the knockout stages, there’s some games that I feel could go either way:  I went for Brazil over Holland, but the Netherlands can attack, of that there’s no doubt.  Germany v USA is a potential upset – the Americans are good, and the Germans are lacking experience.  Meanwhile Mexico just might, maybe, perhaps be capable of knocking England out.  

• How easy is Italy’s run to the Quarter-Finals?  Paraguay/New Zealand/Slovakia should pose little threat, and provided Holland win their group then Cameroon/Japan/Denmark should provide fairly easy fodder.  

• I worry about the impact that the long seasons for players in England and Spain could have, and in part that’s why I have both nations falling short of the final.  Mind you, when I’m doing that then I readily admit that I should also perhaps degrade Argentina’s chances as well, given their dependence on Messi and Aguerro.

• I’m looking forward to seeing some teams playing, even some that I say won’t exit the group stage.  I’ve had a grá for Honduras for several years, and their games against Spain and Chile in particular will be interesting.  Nigera can play, and if Drogba can return to fitness then they could trouble anyone in Group H.  And speaking of Group H, I honestly fancy North Korea to get a draw with Brazil.

• For top scorer, since i have them going to the final, I’m going to go with Luis Fabiano but my outside bet is Lucas Barrios of Paraguay, given their fairly easy group.  

They’re no Olympics, but I do love the World Cup.  Heroes and villains will be made in the next month, and no matter predicitions from both experts and people like me, things will happen over the next month that none of us can foresee.  We will enjoy it, we will love it, and I hope that we also get some phenomenal moments that I’ve been revelling in while watching classic matches in recent weeks.
 
Let the games begin.

Ten Days To Go....

June has arrived.  More importantly, June 2010 has arrived.  It is the month in which most of the World Cup will unfold before us, and come July 1st only 8 of the 32 teams who have qualified for South Africa will be in with a shout.

Therefore, I reckon it’s high time that we start to get excited for all things football here on the Almost Daily Sports Blog, and that’s the plan for next few days.  Between now and Friday week I’m going to post a preview of one of the tournament’s pools, A-H as FIFA dictates, followed by a prediction of how the knockout stages will unfold on June 10th, the night before the opening game.  More blogging will then be done throughout the tournament, where I hope to bring you some unusual/interesting pictures and videos and more than just simple match analysis.

Speaking of interesting videos, and to get you somewhat into the mood, ESPN have created some short video pieces which you can see here.  It’s some of the finest work the station has ever done in my opinion, and contains interviews with several players who have scored goals in World Cup Finals, including Ireland Assistant Manager, Marco Tardelli.  It’s wonderfully shot, and well worth checking out.  Enjoy it, and come back here soon for our World Cup coverage.

+++

PS Thanks for your votes in the quandry I posted recently.  I’m taking your advice on board and some changes will likely be implemented, albeit not until after the World Cup at the earliest. 

€400,000 Picture?

So says the age old adage a picture says a thousand words. The logo committee for the London 2012 Oylmpics are trying to tell us now that this picture tells us 400,000 words. I tend to disagree.
Look at it!! It's essentially a collection of shapes with badly drawn angles in a bad mix of two tone colours. What were they thinking? Now I'm no graphic designer nor am I a world famous artist BUT I know that a junior infant could have drawn this one! It's quite frankly rather rank. It's horrid and thankfully I'm not the only one to think so. The bad taste logo came under fire today from so many sources it's hard to know where to start. But I will say one thing....it's not by any means worth the €400,000 spent on it. In all fairness the senior infants I worked with last week could have designed a better logo than this one and I'd have gladly given it to the Logo Committee for a pair of tickets (admittedly to see one hell of a lot of events) for the art work. It would have been more cost effective and certainly would'a been a lot prettier and not quite as insulting to so many people.

A Penny For 'Em...

I know that this blog isn't as going as well as it once was.  I relaunched it last year with the hope that it would be bigger than Elvis, and more important too.  And while I am proud of it, and while I think that some of the content on here is very, very good (not all of that written by me), I do realise that perhaps this never quite went as well as I'd hoped.

I still love it however.  This, in a way, is my sanctuary, my online speaking post.  I can come here to show you a video, or to rant, or to express an argument.  This blog gives me the outlet to do all of that and while I may not do it as often as I should, and while I would love for it to be read by more people, for that reason alone it is here to stay.

Not so long ago there was a prolonged silence here, and things haven't got back up and running properly since.  I have a new job, I'm far busier now than I was, but another reason for this is that I started to run out of motivation.  My love of sport didn't go, I just found it hard sometimes to write articles that I knew wouldn't get as large an audience as I would have liked, sometimes on topics I'd already covered.  I made a promise that I would blog all the time, but I couldn't even keep that.

On a number of occasions recently, I've had some interesting thoughts, some clever ones too, on topics not linked with sport.  I'm talking television, movies, politics, music.  However I've not been able to express them in a drawn out, calculated and erudite fashion because this is a sports only speaking post.  I don't want to start another blog - I barely write enough to maintain this one - but I am conscious of the fact that when a site says Almost Daily Sports Blog above it's online door, then you come to expect sport inside.

Once I've blogged about something that wasn't sport, and even then it was to show a picture, so my question to you now is this.  Would it matter if there were discussions here on topics other than sport?  Would you read my views on other issues?

I can just stick them in here as it is, or I could slightly re-model the site to indicate what it entails.  Rest assured, the likelihood is that the site would be primarily a sports based one - it will always be my passion.  But would you have any problem if Michael Schumacher was joined by, say, Michael Jackson, if fights in the boxing ring mixed with bouts in the Dáil but if it was all commented on with the same humour and questionable insight.

Let me know.  Comment below, vote in the poll.

What do you think of the proposed changes to the Almost Daily Sports Blog?

Go for it. I can't wait.Do it, but re-jig things a little bit to reflect the change.No way. I want sport, and only sport.

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World Cup Hype - TV Advert Style

Not long now until football's greatest showpiece so Nike have released their ad to tie in with events in South Africa.  It's epic, even more epic then their Take It To The Next Level ads in 2008, directed by Guy Ritchie.  Showing that the World Cup is a truly global event, this ad not only ropes in Nike's plethora of soccer superstars but also the likes of Kobe Bryant, Gael Garcia Bunuel and even Homer Simpson.

I don't like using this blog as an advertising space - Nike won't pay me for the privelege - but it's a cracking ad and you may as well see it here first, before it premieres during coverage of the Champions League final this Saturday.  I will make two points about it however.

The use of Ronaldinho was at best unfortunate, given his own omission from the Brazil squad for the tournament and secondly, if there's one footballer in the world that imagines a massive statue of himself being built then it has to be Cristiano Ronaldo!

Andy Lee and Mamadou Limerick

Andy Lee has defeated former European champion Mamadou Thiam in the Yanjing Fight Night at the University Sports Arena in Limerick. YA YA YA YA we know that RTE but what you may not know is that myself and Gavin were there Saturday night in Limerick and can give you a better idea of the whole night!! First of all I can't say I was all that impressed with UL or the arena. It could be me being a girl and fussy but I couldn't help thinking that if you are gonna go to the trouble of arranging a massive fight like this one perhaps proper toilets would be a start?? A handful of port-a-pots will not do the trick when there are that many people at the arena! For that matter, 3 trailers serving drinks isn't enough either.....People don't wanna queue for 30 mins to get a drink in between fights! But onto the actual fight. Mamadou arrived out in a flurry of blue and red lights, the crowd clapped along nicely. As for Andy Lee, he arrived out in a wave of green and orange lights, wearing his usual trademark crimson and canary yellow robes and trunks. We went wild! The French national anthem was played, there were a few rumbles but over all there were no issues. Gav and I let a small sigh of relief, we were half afraid that there would be issues after the Henry mess back in Nov....thankfully there wasn't. Our own national anthem was sung by a guy from NewcastleWast and Marty Morrassy put on his crowd warming up hat and we were OFF! I'm still not sure how he does it but Marty gets the crows going, surprising since he rambles on a bit.....Sorry Marty! 

Round one saw Lee show the strength of the Irish. He had total control of the ring and the Frenchman knew it. Mamadou slipped, once, twice and a third time before round one was over. Andy Lee's supporters were loving it! Round 2 began and again Lee was holding more than his own. After two unbelievably one-sided rounds Lee was clearly "kicking ass" and the Senegalese-born Thiam threw the towel into the ring and claimed a back injury. The fight doc was called in to check out Mamadou as Andy Lee's hand was raised in Victory. RTE's writer Tadhg Peavoy says that Mamadou was clutching his back from round one when he went down....I didn't see it but who am I to question that? Have a look here and see for yourself....As Lee was declared winner the crowds left disgusted that they didn't get the fight that was expected and deserved. There were mutters in the throngs leaving about Mamadou and Henry being of similiar breed, taking away something the whole of Limerick and Ireland was looking forward to, a good fight with a fighter we can look up to. Something we need now that Bernard Dunne has retired but that's a whole different blog! 


The interview with Andy Lee was something worth a second look..... 


A delighted looking Lee commented: 'I was happy to get the stoppage. I would have liked to see a few more rounds. He was looking dangerous, but I think I was a bit too fast - that was the difference.


We were delighted to hear Andy Lee go on to say......
'I want the European title. I want to fight for it here in Limerick. Brian Peters - organise it.

'I'm in that [European] class. I just need to get the fights.'

We know Andy and we can't wait!! Even as we walked out of the Arena and out of UL Gavin and I couldn't help but ponder over Lee's next move....Could it be Macklin? Doubtful I know but I do like Maklin....Sorry Gav :) We did agree on Darren Barker as a possibility and hopefully we'll be right cause we all want to see Andy Lee do well and give us a FANTASTIC night out!! 

On a wee aside note, the pics I've uploaded here today are all ones I took at the fight on Saturday night and are all my own work on a small old camera if you like them I'd love to hear it and enjoy the compliments!!