Show us the money

My article on private investment in Irish sport in this month’s Magill magazine:

Show us the money

Imagine a team that are champions of Europe. They have a fan base of many thousands stretching out across the globe. Their red shirts are instantly recognisable and their support is legendary, following the team anywhere in the world. Jerseys, jackets, key-rings, pens, flags, posters….people just can’t get enough of them and their star players. There are sponsors queuing up to sign on the dotted line and be associated with the team. It has a rich history of lore and legend and stories told of famous victories and a pedigree to be envied in any sport.

But it’s not Manchester United of £245m annual turnover but Munster Rugby, budget €5m. And yet, the comparisons between the two clubs and teams are similar. On the back of winning their second European Cup, the province is on the verge of becoming one of Europe’s biggest sporting brands. With their huge fan base, successful team, and commercial opportunities galore, the potential for Munster to become the Man Utd of rugby is obvious.

A fishing dream

My article on finding fishing peace and on female world fly casting champion, Glenda Powell, as published in June’s Mad About Sport magazine:

A fishing dream

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.”
From Walden, by Henry David Thoreau

Same shit.  Different day.  It’s another few hours of slogging it through.  Of getting to the final whistle come six pm and clocking out befor starting it all over again the next morning.  You don’t mind work really.  It’s just that, it only gets you through.  You don’t want to think about twenty years hence because if this is all there is….

If you’re buying a house, moving house, having a baby, looking after a baby, changing jobs or stuck in your job, chances are you would give anything to just get away from it all.  If only for even a few hours.

For some it’s the football.  Fall deeply for a team’s fortunes and your own life’s ups and downs can be substituted for the teams.  It hurts less if it’s only the Champions League results riding on how you feel today.

For others it’s about escaping into the bottom of a glass of wine or beer.  Or for others it’s finding the good times with white powder up your nose.  Crouched over a toilet cistern snorting cocaine up your nostrils, and you don’t think you’re finding peace but at least you’re not concerned with the worries of it all.

So.  This day is like any other.  Ups and downs.  People annoying you, wanting to get angry, wanting to be free of it all.  But I have one thing to help me get through it all.  I’ve tasted and tried other vices and thankfully come out the other side seeing a world that could go awry for me.  They are not worlds I would want to revisit but there is one world that I want to fall into completely and let it smother me whole.

Blazing Glory

My piece on sport’s administration as published in last month’s Magill magazine…

Going down in a blaze of glory: why the cult of the administrator is ruining Irish sport

Night after night they sit in non-descript old rooms.  It’s a midweek night and while most people are at home watching the tv and relaxing, for these men and women it’s a thankless task that they approach with gusto and glee.  They attend committee meetings and pass motions following arcane procedures.  For some, they have to travel half way across their country and back again.  For others, the badge of honour is in the blazer they wear carrying a big and bold crest stating what organisation they are from.  These are our sports’ administrators.  A unique bunch of people who stay in the background, happy to spend their time taking minutes and pushing through agendas.  These are the power brokers running Irish sport but are they running it into the ground?

“You have well intentioned administrators” explains one Irish athlete on condition of annonymity, “but they are only there because of their enthusiasm and ability to attend enough meetings.  The culture of the volunteer is all pervasive and while it can be a strength to have that kind of commitment, it is a weakness too.”

Mick O the miracle man

How does he do it?  It was the second weekend of Championship football and finally it awoke from its slumber.  But in what a way.  In an incredible afternoon of football  Mick O’Dwyer’s Wicklow beat Kildare by four points (0-13 to 0-09) in the first round of the Leinster Championship.  Who would have thought Wicklow had it in them?  Who would have credited the old dog O’Dwyer to conjure up another footballing miracle with a small county in Leinster.  It’s Wicklow’s first ever win in the Leinster Championship in Croke Park and judging by the dancing and jumping around by O’Dwyer afterwards he’s not done yet.

Normal Service Resumes

And we’re back!  After a bit of a hiaus there and realising that blogging daily was just too much at this stage - well until someone wants to pay me to do it that is - I have decided to return to sporting matters but on a weekly basis.  Better to have something good to say once a week than nothing at all on a daily basis right?  So, weekly it is then.  And who knows, I might feel adventurous sometime and even blog twice a week.

Good to be back.

Should Europe boycott the Olympics?

Should European countries now look at boycotting the Beijing Olympics in light of China’s treatment of Tibet? The 1980 and 1984 Olympics were subject to boycotts over ideological differences between the US and USSR, so why shouldn’t countries now similarly look at boycotting the 2008 games over political and inhumane practices?

“Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, led a chorus of European criticism yesterday over China’s actions in Tibet, refusing to rule out a boycott of the Olympic Games opening ceremony.

“I don’t close the door to any option. I want dialogue to begin and I will graduate my response according to the response given by Chinese authorities,” Mr Sarkozy said.

Or should we not be so naive to think that Western countries would do anything to upset the giant capitalist market that China is in the name of ideology?

Sports Rights

Interesting piece in last Monday’s Media Guardian looking at the place of sports rights in TV business model. It seems that since ITV couldn’t afford to hold onto both Champions League and F1 coverage, a deal was done with the BBC whereby ITV dropped out of its F1 coverage a year early so it could renew the CL deal while allowing the BBC to snap up Formula 1.

According to his article, ad funded TV can’t compete with pay per view or license funded Beeb. Interesting though how different the model is over here as RTE struggles to compete financially with Sky, Setanta and now TV3.

Mascherano & player respect

At long last the issue of player respect to match officials has reared its head and is the main talking point following the weekend’s big games.  Anyone watching the Man Utd v Liverpool on Sunday couldn’t help but notice the backbiting and insults (and barely concealed scorn) thrown by Mascherano every time Steve Bennett blew for a foul against Liverpool.  

 For the entire half he was having a go at him and it’s ridiculous of Benitez to claim it was just the one occasion of Mascherano asking him ‘why?’.  As if he was some sort of choir boy asking in his most gentle of terms and most politely, what ever could be the matter?

For the game to improve at all it needs managers to step up to the plate as well and matters aren’t helped when you hear Benitez trying to make excuses for Mascherano’s conduct.  Even more ridiculous was the Spaniard after the full time whistle, walking twenty feet away from the officials while trying to cast a steely glare at them as he walked near them.  Let’s hope the FA follow through on the threats to extend Mascherano’s ban and let’s hope we see more officials follow Bennett’s example in not taking any more crap from the petulant and emotionally retarded footballers that have got away with it for far too long.

Funny enough, I didn’t notice any of the players giving grief to Bennett after that.  Funny how like children they only eventually learn their lesson when their toys are taken away from them. 

Player respect for referees

Anyone who saw Mascherano’s attitude and reaction today and saw Cole’s petulance towards Mike Riley on Wednesday night’s game got a clear view of how immature and childish Premiership footballers are.  Imagine raising a boy who has little or no interest in education, reading, or the outside world.  The universe for him revolves around football.  Imagine then this same person being feted and molly coddle by those around him as he impresses and succeeds on the pitch.

As the boy becomes a teenager and becomes a man he grows up in a football culture that see nothing beyond its own world.  A world where sex, women, and flash cars are real achievements in life.The man becomes a Premiership footballer and earns millions playing football becoming a celebrity in the process with all that life has to offer handed to him on a plate.  All he to do is a kick a ball around the park for ninety minutes and his life is looked after for him.  The man is the same as the child in every way, except he now has a few million to flash around making him think he is bigger than the sum of his parts.

Footballers like Cashley Cole will never change until the culture that they grow up in does.  Football is like the NBA in terms of player attitudes and mentalities.  But the game is so awash with money now, the arrogance and belligerence of players will continue.For players to start respecting referees, examples need to be set by managers on the touchlines and by clubs and players from youngest level up.  

Sin bins, as in rugby, should be introduced for disrespecting officials and for other more serious fouls.  And only captains should be allowed talk to officials.  For any transgressions then 10 minutes on the sidelines should sort them out. 

Boxing dreams

Nice to see a colour piece on an inner city boxing club in the features pages of the Irish Times during the week and from a non sports writer as well,

“John says every boxing club across the world has a Billy, the gym’s resident “warmer upper”. Every night, tough and wiry at 55, he leads members in jumping jacks and skipping and shadow-boxing as the music pumps, his charges nice and limber for sparring sessions in the ring. After a while he is fairly warmed up himself, tiny rivulets running down his head.

The steam that rises off his pate as he talks is mesmerising. “I come here because of the family atmosphere, we are all like brothers,” he smiles. “For me it’s about looking at the young fellas, seeing their raw talent and trying to bring that talent out of them.”