Ahead of Paul O’Connell’s 100th international cap, Three released a touching video reliving the Ireland captain’s childhood spent swimming and working at a local deli:
But if he did make the sandwiches they would probably have been the best sandwiches in the world.
A great little anecdote about ‘Old Big ‘Ed’ from Sean Michael Harkin:
“I had the honour of meeting Brian Clough at the 25th anniversary of Forest’s first European Cup win. I was 16 at the time and completely starstruck. I approached him, probably said something stupid and went to shake his hand. He gave me a little slap on the cheek and said, “Now listen here sunshine. You go back out that door and this time make sure you’ve got both hands out of your pockets. Alright?”
“Trevor Francis had this look on his face as if to say, “that’s happened to all of us kid.”
You could tell even then that all the lads still slightly feared him.”
Andrew Hickey with a Guinness-themed nod to Ireland’s new midfielder Harry Arter. Nice work:
“To Arter.”
Claire Grant tells her own story after the news that Sinead Kane, a visually-impaired athlete, was told she couldn’t compete in the Women’s Mini Marathon with a male guide. Thankfully, organisers have made a u-turn.
“My father has been running with a visually impaired athlete for the last 5 years, every year he has to get a female to act as a guide for this particular event. He trains three days a week rain, hail or shine with this woman. A couple of years ago he attempted to run this race with her, as her guide and was told he could not run because he was a male, they then asked the crowd for someone to volunteer to be a guide. Due to not knowing the person she had no trust and found this very difficult. It’s already difficult enough for visually impaired athletes as they only start a couple of minutes before the main event and have to deal with many people passing them and often stopping dead in front of them increasing the obstacles on the course (I have acted as a guide for this lady and personally witnessed this). This is not a new occurrence and needs to be changed as soon as possible.”
Paul O’Mahony is in awe of Tony Kelly’s piece of brilliance in the Fitzgibbon Cup final:
“Jaysus, if you tried that in training you would get a bollicking. Some skill and some player.”
What odds was he at Cheltenham, Oliver…?
“Hindsight is always the best backed horse in the world.”
A great shout by Anthony Marren, who called yesterday’s Gold Cup winner:
“The overnight rain at Cheltenham will suit Coneygree..the forecast rain was one of the factors in persuading Coneygree’s trainer to go for the Gold Cup rather than Wednesday’s RSA Chase. In with a good shout, e/w @ 10-1″.
Evin Cashman on another incredible goal by Ireland’s Stephanie Roche:
“She’s not a fan of the tap-ins is she?! Great goal.”
After Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor apologised for the Zimbabwe Herald article which labeled Ireland cricketer John O’Brian an ‘alcoholic’, Robby Rottenest wrote:
“Yet again sport rises above the dross spouted by feckless fans, internet trolls and bitter 2nd rate hacks. Well done team Zimbabwe. Still, what about the ignoramus himself?”
