February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
I hope . . .
? that the Cian O’Connor case is resolved sooner rather than later, and whatever the outcome, Irish people will start realizing we are no cleaner in this respect than any other nation on earth. We can stop tut-tutting about the way sports has gone to pot (literally) when we go a year or two without being embroiled in a high-profile doping scandal ourselves.
? That Sonia O’Sullivan gets properly acknowledged if she decides to call it quits some time soon. And if she doesn’t, it’s important we understand she’s earned the right to leave the stage whenever and however she wants. She’s given us more than a decade of memories and we will owe her a sendoff of grand proportions when she alone reckons her time has come.
? that the OCI and the Irish Sports Council and the government finally get around to agreeing that internecine politicking aside, the reason Ireland isn’t winning more Olympic medals is because they aren’t investing enough money in sport. At that point, they can also figure out whether the third-world facilities at grassroots level have anything to do with the nation’s failure to produce more than one elite athlete per generation.
? that Ireland qualifies for the World Cup, and Roy Keane manages to stay in the fold all the way through the tournament this time. It’s the least he deserves because, as currently constituted, Manchester United will not be able to furnish him with the Champions’ League final appearance that Alex Ferguson, among others, feels he deserves before bowing out.
? that Irish soccer fans stop singing songs in English accents before, during or after international matches. It’s bad enough some of them do this during their seasonal pilgrimages to various sacred grounds in Manchester, Liverpool and London. It’s way beyond embarrassing when they do it in places like the Stade de France.
? that Cork City go one better in the Eircom League. It would be so refreshing to see a club that doesn’t spend hundreds of thousands of euros that it doesn’t have (hello, Shelbourne) winning the title. I just hope they don’t need three points from their last game of the campaign against those financial geniuses Shamrock “Incorporating Various Property Developers” Rovers up in their beloved stronghold of Drogheda.
? that the next time some deranged denizen of Tolka Park or Dalymount, or wherever, advocates selecting an Eircom League player for the senior international squad, the name of Ronnie O’Brien crops up in the subsequent discussion. Surely being one of the best players in Major League Soccer — where he measures himself against current international footballers in every single game — should count for something.
? that somebody in some important office somewhere in government figures out that the growing rate of childhood obesity isn’t solely the blame of McDonald’s, bad diets and the fact nobody walks anywhere anymore. It may also have something to do with parents treating sports teams as glorified babysitters, a lack of proper facilities (yes, that old chestnut again), and way, way too many PlayStation 2s.
? that the GAA’s annual congress holds a proper, civilized and public debate about opening up Croke Park before then voting on the matter. If they vote yes, the money gleaned from the IRFU and FAI paying rent can be put to good use promoting the games at grassroots level. If they vote no, they will have exercised their democratic right to do just that. More power to them.
? that the Cork senior footballers emerge from the darkness into the light and make some sort of a legitimate run at Sam Maguire. Elsewhere on that trail, it would be good if the new Dublin manager, Paul Caffrey, was given time — a summer or two, for instance — before being subjected to calls for his resignation from the county’s fair-weather fans. And what neutral wouldn’t pray for Mayo, blessed Mayo, to get a shot at redemption.
? that Ben O’Connor learns a few words of his native language before he gets up to accept a major trophy again. As sweet a hurler as he is, it would be a pity if the rest of Ireland remembered him as the guy who so badly mangled the cupla focail that time Cork won their 29th. Maybe he just didn’t rehearse that portion of the speech into the mirror as a kid, like every other child in the country.
? that Padraig Harrington finally closes the deal in a golfing major, any major. The way in which he has constantly strove to improve at every juncture in his career is a lesson to us all. Not to mention that he recently became the first Irish sports superstar to follow the American example and establish a charitable foundation in his own name. Perhaps one of our Premiership millionaires will now consider a similar move.
? that the British Lions Tour takes back the coveted mantle of most overhyped sports event of the modern era from its nearest rival, the Ryder Cup. After Europe’s absolutely historic, never-seen-anything-like-it-before (well apart from when they won two years previously) in Michigan last September, it’s time to save up the clich