It doesn’t matter which sport is being played the quality of the game depends as much on the ability of the referee as the level of performance of the players. Having done a stint with the whistle myself I tend to observe the referee as much as the players while watching football games, soccer or Gaelic.
Top level secrecy used to bring maestro to world stage
There’s so much soccer on TV these days that it’s hard to keep track of the games. It is great to able to watch your favourite team at home or in the pub but for me it comes nowhere near to attending games live. When the subject is aired – who’s the best footballer you ever saw? – I restrict myself to players I have had the pleasure of observing in the flesh.
A heady brew of Belfast’s spiritual history
In the late nineteenth century Belfast was hailed as a great industrial city. The shipyards of Workman, Clerk & Co and Harland & Wolff were major employers.
More than A Drop In Your Hand in the UTV bar
I greatly enjoyed Paul Brady’s From The Archives series recently on UTV. Some of the film shown was priceless including the renowned McPeake family who kept traditional music alive in Belfast for over half a century; fiddlers, storytellers and singers John and Mickey Doherty from the Blue Stack
A time to reflect on the year gone by and prepare for 2012
This is the time of year when we pause to take stock of what has occurred in the year just past. Sports clubs do this as well. What were the highlights? What went wrong? What lessons can be learned for the incoming year?
Drink drives the mistake of taking the wrong car
The news last week that someone had borrowed a Garda car after being stopped suspected of drink driving reminded me of a couple of events from the past.