Mash

I'll Have My Hat In a Pastry Case with Gravy On the Side

2008-02-14T13:17:00.003Z

I jumped the gun a bit yesterday. I mentioned that Don Givens may have actively pursued Trapattoni, and that the appointment was definitely NOT the product of Delaney's oft-mentioned-behind-the-scenes machinating. It was just a hunch. And according to the Don's statement, my hunch was correct. I can tell you know exactly how it happened with Mr Trapattoni. We were interviewing people who had

Brain! Does Not! Compute!

2008-02-13T15:12:00.006Z

I’ve refrained, for quite some time now, on commenting on the ever-winding road that was the search for a new manager. Just listening to the phrase ‘Terry Venables’ repeatedly was responsible for volcanic activity in the blood. Way beyond boiling point, pal. Plus, well, the bookies. I will not dwell o’er long on this, but the endless reports of the latest slashing of odds, swiftly followed by

Oh, the Humanity

2007-11-22T13:40:00.000Z

The great thing about crashing out of Euro 2008 early is that it has made me start paying attention to other teams' football. And I'd not seen Croatia play properly yet, so it was a pleasure to sit in and watch a game of international footie without having to be too concerned about the results.(Well, not quite. As a pal put it - we're reduced to cheering for England, just to avoid the

Exciting, Wha'?

2007-11-09T13:26:00.000Z

The Lidge move jammed me inside on the ol' posting front for two reasons. One was the late announcement (3.30 in the morning my time), and t'other was real life keeping me preoccupied with real life issues. It does however galvanise me into posting some preliminary thoughts on the offseason, which I should have done a bit back. Like last week.Anyhows, the thing which piqued my interest most was

Sobering Reading for Fans of Phuture Phils

2007-10-20T13:28:00.000Z

I think the large proportion of my readership currently already know about this interview, but if not, check out FTN of Phuture Phillies/Back She Goes' piece with Keith Law of ESPN, (formerly with the Blue Jays). It's a sobering assessment of our current minor league system. Good job, Floppy.

A Fine Example of Leadership

2007-10-20T13:03:00.000Z

Tom Humphries wrote a piece responding to all the blame the fans seems to be coming in for lately. It's here, but it's that whole subscription thing, so you'll have to pay a small amount for a day pass. Nonetheless, I'd recommend it.And its timely too, because we, the Republic of Ireland fanbase, are also coming in for a knocking. Lacklustre. Unimaginative. Not motivated enough, apparently.

The Sound of One Rat Squealing

2007-10-19T10:02:00.000Z

John Delaney in last nights interview on 6-1 News:"It was very clear," he said, "that three people were involved when Steve was appointed, it was a subcommittee of the FAI of three people who made the appointment of the management team. It's unfortunate that I've been personally linked to the appointment when it was a decision of a committee of 10."Before anyone thinks I'm being unduly harsh on

And Another Thing . . .

2007-10-18T13:00:00.001Z

Andy Keogh, back of the class. Compare your comments: "I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it doesn't help when the fans are getting on the team's back. We need the country behind us and trying to be that extra man as the Irish are renowned for, the great support they give." to those of Stephen Hunt:"Individually, I didn't play well. That's the first time I haven't been able

Hoist Them Both By Their Own Petards.

2007-10-18T11:15:00.000Z

I trust that my Irish sporting blogging brethren are even now combing over Stan’s utterances seeking ammunition for a broadside of withering sarcasm. Organising a veritable blitzkrieg of outrage, speeded on to absolute satirical victory by too many adjectives and a love of good slagging. Eagle-eyed, they crouch over their keyboards, fine tuning their words, adjusting for poor playing

Steve Finnan, Get With The Programme

2007-10-17T21:04:00.000Z

Did ye not get the memo?

Stephen Staunton is a Historically Bad Manager. Fear Him.

2007-10-17T16:23:00.000Z

Whilst lamenting the sad fate of Ireland with a friend today, I suddenly realised that this is the worst qualification campaign we have had since the race for World Cup 86.Think about this. On every occasion since then, we have either qualified, made a playoff (shudder) or had a shot at a playoff place in the last game of the campaign. You'll recall that two of those final games involve

On Raglan Road (the Sporting Remix)

2007-10-08T12:28:00.000Z

I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.On Raglan Road - Patrick KavanaghWith the Phils swept into History's dustbin, and Ireland's chances deader in the water than fish swimming off the Cumbrian Coast, it's time to call time on this fan's sporting season. Granted, I will still tune into Match of the Day, and watch

You Go, Brett Myers. Fuckin' A. You Tell 'em.

2007-10-05T12:17:00.000Z

"If we go out there and say we've gotta win them all, we're not going to win," said closer Brett Myers. "But if we sit there and say, 'What have we got to lose?' then we've got a chance. Then it's fun. We've got this chance. Let's make the most of it, because a lot of us in this room might never get a shot to do this again."Todd Helton waited 10 years to get here. You think he doesn't know he's

I WILL Watch to the Last Out Of This Series

2007-10-04T21:18:00.000Z

And I will believe every bit of the way that we can pull a miracle out.But it doesn't stop it hurting with every panicked move by Charlie, every K by Chase and Ryan, Every fat as a hoagie meatball down broad street served up steaming hot to the Rockies.I have to believe in miracles.It's the only thing that's going to make this happen.

Ballsology

2007-10-03T23:09:00.000Z

As a famous Corkman was once reputed to remark. No, not that one. I'm talking 'bout the big fella. But it also seems apt, since the top of the order could do with studying the science of testicular fortitude. Of course, tonight's ump could have done with studying the science of the strike zone. Or is it Art? Whatever, it's clearly open to ill-informed interpretation along the lines of '

Go, Fight, Win.

2007-09-18T13:27:00.000Z

Wow, practically a whole season has gone by without me saying anything about the Phils. No writing about doing a stage of the Tour de France (a flat one). Or indeed how cool LCD Soundsystem were on the last night of Connect at Inverary Castle. (Or even the mud at Inverary.)Partly its down to my posting on Back She Goes. For a long while I was getting my daily fix of spouting shite about the

Miles From Home

2007-09-14T12:22:00.000Z

Serendipity remains one of my favourite words. I like the idea, and the sound of the word is cool. True, it's marred by its association with a face-punchingly tedious romantic movie, but this should not be held against it. Naturally, I've just slapped on Peshay's album of the same name as I started to muse on what to call this post. And although I've done that in the past because I've been

Jimmy Rollins Tops the List of Good Things about the Phillies Right Now

2007-04-06T16:06:00.000Z

This post started as a list of all the good things to be said about the Phils amidst the offensive misery and Madson's woes. I was going to talk about Il Pulpo's good outing last night, Geoff Geary being Geoff Geary (2006 edition) and Myers and Hamels looking awesome. But the more I looked at J-Roll's pitch selection numbers in April, the more interesting it got, so I stuck with that.Jimmy

Badly Behind

2007-04-01T19:24:00.000Z

By my count there should be two at-the-game match reports and a post-match fulmination due. Worse, the new season has started, and I've said little in the way of thoughts on the Phillies. And I watched the final part of Adam Curtis' The Trap along with 300 at the weekend, yet still nary a word. Plus the whole holiday in parts foreign . . .My apologies.Quick thoughts then on yesterday's loss.

Burning In Climate Change Hell

2007-03-24T11:53:00.000Z

Other folk get the bus to a game. Or a train. Occasionally they drive a car.Me? I got up at 5.20AM this morning, had a shower, kissed my (lovely) wife goodbye, grabbed a bus, then another bus, then a plane, then another bus.Just don't tell George Monbiot, okay?Two matches in a week. No one ever told me being a football fan meant getting up early. Last week I was up about 7 to get into town to

If The Past is a Foreign Country, Can Someone Take Stan's passport Off Him?

2007-03-16T13:45:00.000Z

There were some disturbing resonances in Stan's quotes about the team selection for the upcoming games. Specifically, his descriptions of Caleb FolanHe's not the most pleasing striker on the eye, he's been likened to a few big strikers that wouldn't be the most comfortable on the ball. But he scores goals. Caleb is big, quick and he'll put himself about . . . He'll run down the channels and

Lest We Forget ( . . . Oh Crap, I Already Have)

2007-03-11T10:58:00.000Z

When I moved to London in 1998, I had the good fortune to scab accommodation off a number of friends in the Big Smoke before finding my own place. Probably prevented me turning into a line out of a Pogues song. Ah, the hardship. It would melt your face, as Soph is fond of saying.Anyhow, the first place I crashed down was with a friend in Islington, and his very accommodating family. It was a

Benchmarks

2007-03-10T21:35:00.000Z

As of my daily commute into work Thursday morning, I've got 500 miles on my bike computer so far this year. (Or 806 kilometres, but I don't really think that way.)Plus today, I managed to hang tough with a chain gang doing 28 mph. Judicious consumption of dates and figs kept me ticking over nicely. At the turn though, we hit a tough headwind, and fought it back up the coast. When we were

Lack of Productivity Will Be Tolerated For As Long As I Damn Well Feel Like It

2007-03-06T20:24:00.000Z

More reasons for doing nothing. I've been off in sunny Andalucia celebrating one year of happy marriage. For our anniversary, I got Zidane on DVD, and Soph got LCD Soundsystem's first album. I think it's safe to say we understand what's important in each other's lives.More on't holiday later. More on more interesting stuff later. But I can't resist gloating at a certain poor chief exec who's

Bah Humbug, and other Sour Grapes.

2007-02-14T13:39:00.000Z

I don’t like spring training. I really, really, don’t like spring training. In most b-ball circles, it’s a time for rejoicing . The pop of the ball in the mitt, the easy throws, the crack heard at the batting cage etc. The endless metaphors for regrowth, rebirth, springtime, happy rabbits, sunny flowers. Bleah.Not for me. February through to the end of March is one big tease. I hate ST