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I always thought metal bands were more trouble than they were worth, always splitting the wood at their nails or staples, always having to borrow your man's hurley to tap them back in, metal coming loose from the wood and absorbing half the power from your strike etc.

A lad from the Fox River Hurling Club up in Wisconsin has developed a technique of using the tensile strength of kevlar to provide the same support without the problems above.  Interesting bit of R&D there, they've posted a video showing how they do it:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150716858733048

There's been a spate of hurling appearing on local US TV stations and in the local press lately, so I'm going to dump all instances of it in here from now on. 

The GAA has always had decent coverage in the Irish American papers (when PROs can be bothered sending anything in) but I always considered it more important to get into the mainstream press where there's a far bigger audience.

Madison Hurling (Wisconsin) on NBC today

Baltimore GAA in the Baltimore Sun yesterday

San Diego hurling on Fox a few days ago: Part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Story about the local hurling club in the Baltimore Sun in Maryland. They followed up on this with an introductory clinic this morning and over 50 people showed up despite shitty weather. Not bad at all.

San Diego St Peters have scored a nice little PR coup by getting on the local news. Looks like a morning show:

http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videogallery/68947827/News/Heather-Ford-introduces-us-to-a-new-sport

Carl Sagan's eloquent explanation of where we all came from...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDjwF_-ydcM

[DUP Mayor cheers on Loughgiel Shamrocks' hurlers]

Seems like we need a permanent thread for this sort of story since it's happening with increasing frequency:

13 March 2012 Last updated at 08:13 ET
DUP Mayor cheers on Loughgiel Shamrocks' hurlers


The DUP Mayor of Ballymoney will be cheering on the club his late grandfather played for in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final at Croke Park.

Cllr Ian Stevenson watched Loughgiel Shamrocks win their semi-final in Dublin and has now discovered a family link with the club.

His grandfather, Sam O'Neill, played for Loughgiel Shamrocks in the 1920s.

Cllr Stevenson said he will take his seat for the anthems before the game.

DUP First Minister Peter Robinson recently attended his first GAA game but arrived after 'The Soldier's Song' was played.

Sports Minister Carol Ni Chuilin watched Northern Ireland's football team play at Windsor Park last year and also took her seat after the anthems.

But Cllr Stevenson said he had no problem standing for the Republic's national anthem at Croke Park on St Patrick's Day.

"Whatever country I am in I will respect their national anthem just the same way I would expect that a nationalist in Northern Ireland would stand for 'God Save The Queen', though they strongly object to it," he said.


Ballymoney Mayor Ian Stevenson will stand for the Soldier's Song before the All-Ireland hurling final

"At the end of the day, I am confident in my own identity and belief that I should be able to respect others, even though I strongly disagree with them, so long as those beliefs are peaceful and are peacefully held."

Family ties
Cllr Stevenson was the first unionist elected to Ballymoney Borough Council to attend a Loughgiel game and afterwards he discovered his family link to the club.

"I was told my grandfather on my mother's side, the late Sam O'Neill, who was a member of the Church of Ireland, played hurling for Loughgiel in 1926-27," said Cllr Stevenson.

"Only after investigation have I been able to confirm this but I also found out that I have further out relatives associated with the the current camogie team in Loughgiel, who I met earlier in the year.

"I believe it was because it was the only sport that the young people of the area were playing so that is why he got involved.

"I would be surprised, after many centuries together, if many people, even the staunchest ones, didn't find a few surprises in their history.

"I said when I was made Mayor I will be Mayor for all in the borough and I will be back on St Patrick's Day to attend the Loughgiel game.

"It is good to see a team from the Ballymoney borough doing so well in sport and yet another example of the high level of sporting achievement in the borough and in Northern Ireland as a whole."

[Landmark ruling in favor of Irish pub sued for showing soccer game live]

Landmark ruling in favor of Irish pub sued for showing soccer game live
Judge rules that use of Slingbox device does not constitute satellite piracy
By JAMES O'SHEA, IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Thursday, March 8, 2012, 7:17 AM Updated Thursday, March 8, 2012, 7:17 AM
 
An Irish bar and restaurant owner in America has won a landmark case against Premium Sports which has had a monopoly on showing Irish GAA and many soccer and rugby games in selected bars throughout America.

Eugene Rooney, owner of the Old Castle Pub in Manhattan won his case by proving that the game he showed was not pirated from a satellite signal.

Instead the court agreed with Rooney that the game he showed on February 13, 2010 between Scotland and Wales in soccer, was not simultaneous transmission but rather was a minutely delayed signal from a Slingbox device in a home in Dublin.



<A href="http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Landmark-ruling-in-favor-of-Irish-pub-sued-for-showing-soccer-game-live-141885283.html#ixzz1oXee9kXl">Full story</a>

I'd be surprised if companies like Premium Sports had much life let tin them.  Technologies like Slingbox or tricks like IP cloaking are getting easier to do and people are waking up to the fact that they're being gouged by these people.  They remind me of the old telecoms companies trying to hold back the tide of VOIP.

Colm Egan from Chicago GAA, who heads up the North American Board's Hurling Development Committee, leads a training course for hurling coaches in 1 hour film shot by his hosts at Indianapolis Hurling Club.  This is incredibly informative and is more advanced than the foundation level course, so Irish clubs will find this useful.

Footage from Sunday's opening game of the Northern California hurling championship.  Some players have been at it for a few years, others for a few months and they're playing here in their first ever game, so there's a wide range of skill levels on the field here.

Footage from Sunday's opening game of the Northern California hurling championship.  Some players have been at it for a few years, others for a few months and they're playing here in their first ever game, so there's a wide range of skill levels on the field here.

From wiki: "Amhrán Dóchais"   "Song of Hope". Words by Osborn Bergin, to a traditional air arranged by Aloys Fleischmann.

Is it just me or does this always get played to a tune that sounds just like the start and end of the German national anthem? How did that come about?

Is Ireland the only country that has honours music for the office of its prime minister?

Have any of you ever felt the need to stand for it at Croke Park? Or has respect for that office been undermined by too many of the boys who have held it lately?

Of the people who stand for the Presidential Salute I wonder how many do it because they think they've started the national anthem.

Anybody remember this documentary series? I remember our family watching it years ago. Someone has posted the whole thing on YouTube and I've been glued to it for the last week.

Good cautionary tale  here about the perils of professionalism and how it can undermine the community spirit that keeps the game going.

Step in the right direction for equality yesterday from the 9th circuit court of appeals.  But what will the Supreme Court make of Prop 8?

I await the chorus of conservative howling about "judicial activism" in 5-4-3-2-1-

Robinson 'targeting liberal voters'
(UKPA) – 7 hours ago 

Peter Robinson's appeals for a shared future in Northern Ireland are aimed at wooing liberal Protestants rather than Catholics, a rival unionist has claimed.
In a string of high-profile gestures, the DUP leader has called for integrated education, recently attended a GAA match, and even expressed hopes of attracting the support of Catholic voters.
But former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said he believed the moves are actually aimed at securing the support of those unionists who have previously been deterred by the DUP's hardline past.
Lord Trimble also questioned whether Mr Robinson was bringing his party with him as he embarked on a more liberal agenda. "Is it for just window dressing?" Lord Trimble said. "Does it mean a significant shift in terms of the alignment of the party in the future?"

In an interview on the eamonnmallie.com website, Lord Trimble added: "I am doubtful as to whether the DUP can change its character to the extent that Robinson suggests. This is not something we can give a clear, hard and fast answer to."

He said the party had yet to shed sectarian baggage, adding: "I find it difficult to believe that party can be in a completely different place."

He said he believed the DUP leader's strategy was to woo liberal unionist voters, rather than the professed aim of reaching out to Catholic voters.

"What one has to do is to see how things develop," said Lord Trimble. "I would be looking, not so much at what one individual, all be it the leader, what he is saying - I'd be looking to see what other people are saying."

The Democratic Unionist MLA Jonathan Bell pointed to divisions in Lord Trimble's former party. Mr Bell said: "The DUP is absolutely committed to building a shared future in Northern Ireland, and unlike some others is united behind those efforts led by our party leader."

But Lord Trimble said Mr Robinson's calls failed to win the support of rank and file members at the DUP's last annual conference. "Putting it crudely - a journalist said to me with regard to one of the conference speeches in which Peter was saying these things that we're talking about - was that what they should have done was look at the audience - this was the bit that nobody clapped - nobody agreed," said the former Ulster Unionist leader.

Copyright © 2012 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

Makes sense. What better way for Peadar to kick the UUP when they're down than to moderate the message and try to pick up some of the garden centre prods who haven't voted in a while? Better to see them doing that than playing to the sectarian orange gallery like Trimble did in his day.

Post deleted, sorry I posted on the wrong board. Now posted here instead.

Motion to add a new offence to rule 4:

Posts advocating animal cruelty or contributing advice on how to engage in animal cruelty.

Well, they've certainly got the media's attention with this, haven't they?

Shame their "learn more" page redirects back to the blacked out page.

Here's how I recall the hierarchy of victims (at least in terms of media coverage) during the troubles:

• Civilians in Britain
• British soldiers
• Northern Protestants
• Northern Catholics

I always find it a bit amusing when I hear people complain about there being a "hierarchy of victims" as soon as they perceive that they've been overtaken in the pecking order.

Supposing Scotland were to secede from the UK (and if you want to get into the yes-it-will-no-it-won't debate can you please use the Old Firm thread where that's already being discussed), and supposing Wales were to make progress in that direction, how would that affect the quest for Irish unity?  Would northern unionists keep pledging allegiance to the Queen of England or would they want to throw in their lot with their Scottish brethren? Would they become even more confused than they are now?  And if so would this help or hinder the Irish nationalist cause?

Discuss.