There aren't many games that let you steal cars, get involved in a cop chase and punch passing pedestrians, all in between picking out a spiffy new shirt and bringing your date to the local bowling alley.
If Kilkenny's performance in their All-Ireland semi-final victory over Galway is a benchmark for the way they will play today then Clare, like Tipperary in the senior game, will need to give the performance of a lifetime to stop the Cats.
I can't profess to have ever read The Art of War, written hundreds of years ago by Sun Tzu, the famous Chinese military strategist, but apparently Napoleon did, along with countless other generals throughout the ages.
W HEN Larry Corbett knocked on Josie Collins' door yesterday, she pressed a bottle of holy water into his hand and sent him on his way. There wasn't much said. No need.
I N the 1967 All-Ireland hurling final between Kilkenny and Tipperary, John Doyle, a man on a mission, made his last championship appearance aged 37. Doyle had filled his pockets in a lucrative career dating back to 1949, including three All-Irelands by the age of 21, and now history beckoned as he sought a record ninth senior medal. It wasn't to be. Kilkenny defeated Tipp for the first time since 1922, inspired by Ollie Walsh.
A JULY evening in The Marshes back in the middle of the last decade, the Down footballers being put through their paces by Pete McGrath. The atmosphere is light and convivial. You see Mickey Linden alighting from the dressing room, instantly corralled by a gaggle of schoolkids, Tommy McGivern -- the team's evergreen kitman -- throwing his head up and smiling. Tommy has seen it a thousand times.
T his year's All-Ireland football semi-finals provided marvellous entertainment, and when you add in minor games of great attacking quality, the 145,000 supporters who paid in over the two Sundays would not have had as much enjoyment at another sports occasion anywhere in the world.
T his year's All-Ireland football semi-finals provided marvellous entertainment, and when you add in minor games of great attacking quality, the 145,000 supporters who paid in over the two Sundays would not have had as much enjoyment at another sports occasion anywhere in the world.
He didn't play his first full senior inter-county game until he was 30, but Tipperary hurler Cormac Bonnar still managed to rack up the honours. In four years the full-forward won three Munster championships, two All-Irelands and two All-Stars.
INCONSISTENCY is a plague on many teams -- if something of a requirement to keep sport interesting and unpredictable -- and for the first half of Brian Cody's management career his selections were afflicted too. Fallible enough, at least, to have Kilkenny move naturally in the company of ordinary mortals. If you pricked them, did they not bleed, like the rest of us?
IF, or maybe when, the sports capital programme is resurrected by this government, or indeed the next one, a radically different approach to how money is distributed will be required.
A JULY evening in The Marshes back in the middle of the last decade, the Down footballers being put through their paces by Pete McGrath. The atmosphere is light and convivial. You see Mickey Linden alighting from the dressing room, instantly corralled by a gaggle of schoolkids, Tommy McGivern -- the team's evergreen kitman -- throwing his head up and smiling. Tommy has seen it a thousand times.
T his year's All-Ireland football semi-finals provided marvellous entertainment, and when you add in minor games of great attacking quality, the 145,000 supporters who paid in over the two Sundays would not have had as much enjoyment at another sports occasion anywhere in the world.
Tipperary club Shannon Rovers became the first team to be crowned back-to-back Bord Gais Energy St Judes All-Ireland Junior Hurling Sevens champions on Saturday following a 1-9 to 1-6 extra-time final win over Galway's Pádraig Pearses.
Dublin's Eoin Kennedy secured his seventh consecutive All-Ireland 60x30 Senior Singles title in Abbeylara, Longford, beating Westmeath's Robbie McCarthy in a thrilling final.
Kerry captain Bernie Breen secured a replay for her team as the Kingdom and Tyrone fought out an epic TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship semi-final stalemate at Ballymahon, Longford, on Saturday.
Donegal produced a devastating second half attacking display to book their place in the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies intermediate football championship final on 26 September.
The GAA has confirmed that both of the presentations following Sunday's GAA Hurling All-Ireland Championship finals will take place in the Hogan Stand.
Kilkenny legend DJ Carey believes that the 'Drive for Five' will have no bearing on how Kilkenny approach Sunday's All-Ireland Hurling Final against Tipperary.
Kilkenny legend DJ Carey believes that the 'Drive for Five' will have no bearing on how Kilkenny approach Sunday's All-Ireland Hurling Final against Tipperary.
