1. “There’s a unique, internalised strand of resentment endured by Cork fans when the footballers get annihilated by our neighbours to the west, particularly when we’ve already beaten them in Munster just months previous. It’s our annual check-up with Dr. Reality. Maybe it keeps us grounded. It would ultimately get the better of Cork captain Colin Corkery that sunny evening.
Corkery was the pitch-level embodiment of a Cork football fan. Vocally disenchanted with a number of refereeing decisions and doubtless aware that the game was beyond his side, he snapped, lashing boot to ball after referee Brian White had whistled for a Kerry a free-in about 40 yards from Kevin O’Dwyer’s goal.”
Gavan Casey of Balls.ie pens this love letter to one of our favourite footballers, Colin Corkery.
2. ”For three days, teams of AdvoCare members in matching T-shirts swarmed the concourse, taking photos with the company mascot (a generic superhero) and buying armloads of AdvoCare gear. There were raucous musical performances, as well as appearances by the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and former President George W. Bush. On Sunday, the organizers held a church service featuring Christian singer Michael W. Smith. The event was called Success School, but it didn’t feel like an educational seminar, according to members who were there. It felt like a revival. The weekend’s biggest applause was reserved for AdvoCare’s national spokesman: Drew Brees.”
ESPN’s Mina Kimes looks into the Saints QB land his relationship with AdvoCare.
3. Denis Hurley on a Cork City great, Paul Bannon.
4. ”Now, the allegations in the Cremona files cast doubt on tennis authorities’ claim that match-fixing is not systemic and that evidence is “historical”. Roberto Di Martino, the chief prosecutor, said fixing is a “worldwide problem” that happens “very frequently” at “all tournaments”.
The files include references to at least 37 players, only eight of whom are Italian and 29 of whom have ranked in the top 50. Prosecutors are still combing through thousands of pages of evidence and say it is not yet clear how many of those named were actually approached or whether some rebuffed the fixers’ offers to throw matches.”
The matches to fix and athletes to pay off was all there, writes Heidi Blake and John Templon for Buzzfeed.
5. ”Dani Alves rocks back in his chair, a glint in his eye. “Imagine if I’d been any good,” he says. Imagine. If he’d been any good, he might have made more La Liga appearances than any foreigner ever or provided a hundred assists, more than any other player apart from Lionel Messi over the last decade in Spain. He might have been voted into the FIFPro team five times or won so many trophies that he’s lost count. If Dani Alves had been any good, he might have won five leagues, four cups, three European Cups, three Club World Cups and two Uefa Cups.
Oh, right.”
Sid Lowe sits down with the Brazilian full back for this enjoyable chat in the Guardian.
