Hurling Balls* and Wayward Drives
A stunning stadium
- It’s been one of my busier sporting weeks, I guess anytime you end up at the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park in the space of a few days has to be categorised as such. As it turned out I was fortunate enough to get a ticket from a fellow blogger for the opening soccer match in the Aviva, where an Airtricity XI was no match for a Man United squad going through the motions. To say I learned anything from the encounter would be a stretch, but it did further emphasise the gulf in class between the haves and the have nots – even if the have nots are in the middle of their league season and still proved to be no match for a half baked United side that won 7-1. The highlight for me was marvelling at the scale and beauty of the Aviva itself. It truly is a wonderful stadium, fit for any sporting occasion no matter the scale, and let’s hope it plays host to many memorable matches in both rugby and soccer in the years ahead.
Only The Best
- Having enjoyed a Wednesday evening at the most famous sporting landmark on the South side of the River Liffey, I was then lucky enough to have the opportunity to cross over to the North side on a blazing hot Sunday to savour what promised to be a titanic encounter in the All Ireland hurling semi-final between Cork and Kilkenny. As a guest of Vodafone I was wined and dined for the afternoon, those guys sure know how to do things in style, but I was struck almost immediately after arriving as to how serene the numerous Kilkenny fans were. Not a hint of nerves, just the sure-footed confidence that their team that had won four in a row was not about to let them down. And of course they didn’t, with the men in black and amber running riot in the first half and effectively ending the match as a contest within the first 25 minutes.
The greatest hurling team ever?
What amazed me more than anything was the gulf in class that was evident between the two sides. Kilkenny were first to every ball, cleaner in their striking, more clinical in their execution. They seemed to be playing a game that the men in red were not familiar with. The only sad note to report in the aftermath of the Cats crushing win was the news that Henry Shefflin will miss the showpiece on the first Sunday in September. The biggest games are always better spectacles when the best players are on show, and this years final will be lesser for the absence of Shefflin.
Oh and in case anybody’s wondering why I’m referring to hurling balls as such, and not as sliotars as most everyone else in the country does, take a trip to Elverys sports store in Croke Park and look at what the leather bound sphere’s are described as on the packaging. The Anglicization of this nation must surely now be complete!!
Tough times for Tiger
- So what else’s been going on in the sporting world over the past few days? Where to start might be the easiest answer!! In golf Hunter Mahan secured his second victory of the season at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, Ohio. But the biggest story of the week by a long way was the appalling play of Tiger Woods. The scandal plagued World Number 1 finished the tournament 18 over par and second last overall – only Swede Henrik Stenson finished with a worse score at 20 over. Woods is now a long shot to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team on merit, and its hard to see Captain Corey Pavin giving him a wild card considering his current dreadful form, though Woods himself has intimated he’ll accept one if offered. The years final major the USPGA starts at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin on Thursday and after Woods struggles there, if he makes the cut I’d be shocked, expect him to announce his withdrawal from public life for a few months at least. There’s just too much going on in his personal life right now for his golf game to be any kind of priority.
A cruel game at times
- The fickleness of horse racing was brought to bear again over the weekend, as the world’s highest rated horse Harbinger suffered a career ending injury on the gallops in Newmarket. Just a few weeks after pulverising a high quality field in the King George at Ascot, Harbinger will now be unable to confirm to all those who still harboured doubts about him that he actually was the real deal. There’ll be no contest against Rip Van Winkle in the Juddmonte at York, no clash of the generations in the Prix de L’Arc at Longchamp in October, no potential trip across the Atlantic for the Breeders Cup to confirm his superiority against the American stars. It’s only now that we know for certain Harbinger will never race again that he might be properly appreciated. But as racing fans take time to ponder how good he actually was, most will never get tired of watching him bound clear in that memorable King George.
- There’s a new football season almost upon us, the traditional curtain raiser the Community Shield has been and gone, and Man United took home the silverware with a 3-1 win over a Chelsea side that’s had a pretty awful pre-season. United looked good, with new Mexican signing Javier ‘Chicarito’ Hernandez providing a highlight by scoring with his face, but Chelsea were far from being at the races. Nevertheless with an easy looking start to the serious business of the league including ties against West Brom, Wigan and Stoke, I’m sure Carlo Ancelotti won’t be getting to anxious yet.
Where to now?
- The biggest news in football in the past few days was the abrupt departure of Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill. This one’d been brewing for a while, there were pretty strong rumours he’d walked out towards the end of last season too, but obviously this time around straws and camels backs were involved and the man from Norn Iron has walked. Perhaps he realised he’d brought Villa as far as he could now that owner Randy Lerner has put a stop to any kind of lavish spending. There’s the possibility that the imminent departure of James Milner to Man City may have been one blow too many, or maybe we will all realise that O’Neill was right in getting out while he could when Ashley Young is sold to Spurs before the transfer window closes. Regardless of the reason O’Neill has left Villa high and dry with just days to go before the season start. All those who bleed claret and blue must know that the difficult times are only beginning.
- To finish off I’ll leave with a bit of light humour courtesy of the ever controversial French left back Patrice Evra, who when told of Lilian Thuaram’s condemnation of his antics at the World Cup, had this to say of his erstwhile colleague. “He sullied my name without knowing what happened. Lilian thinks he’s the new coach, president of the FFF and president of France. Walking around with books on slavery in glasses and a hat does not turn you into Malcolm X” Somebody’ll have to go some to deny Evra the quote of the year trophy after that little gem!!
