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Sorry to yank Dustin's Euro-glory neck here but apparently the Eurocrats are investigating whether to put a hold on his entry because only humans can enter this competition to unite all sections of our peoples (in song).

There may be trouble ahead - and Dusty still has to get through the semi-finals too, don't forget.

Sure didn't Mr. Blobby enter for the UK back in the 90s?

[He wasn't really over the top nor high]

Personally- and casting any bias aside- I don't think it was the worst tackle I've ever seen. He wasn't really over the top nor high, and it looked simply very badly timed. Probably deserved a red card, but don't agree there was a lot of intent.

Tacke of legal action is stupid. Sure why doesn't Nani get Gallas charged for his assault last week?

I'm sure he didn't mean to break his leg, but that was a dangerous, high tackle. Even if he had got there in time, he would have went over the top of the ball.

As someone said, only Taylor will know whether he meant to do damage or not, but regardless, as a professional footballer, you KNOW the risks of going in late, high and with studs showing. It was a disgraceful tackle in my opinion. Professionals know that tackles like that are potential career enders, so at the very least Taylor was reckless.

The images remind me of David Busst's career ender (accidental of course) against United. I hope Eduardo doesn't suffer the same fate.

As for Taylor, I would love to ban him for the length of time that Eduardo is out, but at least until the end of this season.

Just like the NFL one.

Yeah, Diamondhead is the volcano that juts out at the end of Waikiki Beach. It dominates the skyline down that end of the beach.

I'm jealous, I'd love to go back to Hawai'i.

I'd say you'll have a good while to get used to them juice. By the time those two sentences from Dempsey are realised, it'll be time for us to retire anyway.

hey....speak for yourself, ive a long way to go before retiring 

So have I, that's my point

Mr Dempsey says that while he has no ideological difficulty with congestion charges, he believes they should only be introduced when sufficient public transport alternatives are in place.

The Transport 21 suite of plans must be complete or almost complete before we can seriously examine the possibility of congestion charging, he says.

I'd say you'll have a good while to get used to them juice. By the time those two sentences from Dempsey are realised, it'll be time for us to retire anyway.

We've tried forward, reverse and sideways psychology on Gary, and he is still hit and miss. At times he can dominate alright, but they are very few and far between. Normally he has you tearing your hair out as a 5' 8'' wing back wins the ball by timing his jump better.

And then he must be the most hooked ball striker I've ever seen. His size mitigates his ability to get the ball away, because it takes him too long to swing the hurley around, and he rarely shortens the grip.

He'll try like a divil, and he will do some good things, especially if he has space, but the brother Rory is a much more natural hurler.

I wouldn't worry too much about Gary Hanniffy in the air. He is the 'smallest' big man I know. I don't mean that in a nasty way, regarding his courage or anything like that,  but he never dominates in the air the way he should. Too often there's a lonely hurl being waved around above his head, or more often, above the head of the wing back or centre back out jumping him from in front. His timing is very bad for a man his size.

That's just copycat stuff by the other lads in my opinion. They think it's affecting their mechanics.

All good free takers need a routine though. From Charlie Redmond's lick hands, wipe on shorts, to fellas pulling up their socks, to three little skips at the start of the run up, to always pacing 8 steps back or whatever. Practice, Repetition, Routine and Visualisation.

Two words.

Blazing Saddles.

1. Internalising: Picture yourself making the perfect kick

I used to do this, Tony McTeague was the man who told me about it. Basically, I'd kick at least 20 or 30 frees after training every night, and on days 'off'. Then on the day of a game, I knew I was able to kick the free, and I just visualised the ball arcing over the black spot every time. I used to even envision the curl of the ball as it came in.

I never counted, but I'd say I had at least a 90% success rate with frees. I used to be shocked if I missed one.

My biggest problem was with distance, but inside 40 yards, I was very confident and this visualisation was a big part of it.

I'd strongly recommend that every young free taker would use this technique, along with practise. Oh yeah, and kick the frees off the fecking ground.

When's the big day guys?

22nd March for me

Same anniversary as myself and the better half. We got poxed lucky with the weather that year, it was beautiful down in Killarney.

Re your honeymoon, Hawai'i is the business. When I lived stateside I went to Oahu for 6 days with friends. It is beautiful.

Make sure you do a couple of things.

1) Drink a cocktail on Waikiki Beach at sunset, facing Diamondhead. It is possibly as close to heaven as you can get on this world.
2) Go snorkelling in Hanauma Bay, it's a natural cove protected by reef, so only the small, colourful fish get in there, and a few small 'cudas. But it is gorgeous as well.
3) Go to the North Shore, if you can rent a car, and visit some of the beaches up there.  Be careful about swimming, because the north shore is notorious for rip tides, but there are a couple you can swim in. Beware the sudden breaking waves though, they can knock you on your arse!!
4) Visit Pearl Harbour. Count the Japs there Ah no, seriously, Pearl Harbour is a lovely spot, and it is very eerie, but not spooky. You can take a walk around the 'Bowfish' which is a WWII submarine. (How they stayed on it, I'll never know), and of course, take the launch out to the memorial for the USS Arizona. It is a humbling experience, no matter what your thoughts on America and their foreign policy.
5) Deep Sea Fishing. If you are only there for a couple of days, you mightn't want to do this, and it's not exactly romantic watching your skipper gutting a Mahi Mahi It is a great day though, and the excitement when you hook onto a big one is hard to beat. I landed two Mahi Mahi on our trip, but a friend of mine battle a Marlin for 40 minutes before the first mate f*cked up with the gaffe, and freed the fish right at the side of the boat. The friend was sick, because he was so tired, but I was secretly happy as the Marlin was a lovely looking fish, and I wasn't looking forward to seeing it getting the works.

Don't go to the Polynesian experience up in the North Shore, it's a waste of money in my opinion, unless it has changed dramatically. It's not too bad to walk around actually, but we paid for the 'cookout' as well, and that was rubbish. It's not what it says on the tin. Actually, if you can get cheaper tickets and are up in the NS for a while it might be no harm, but I certainly wouldn't be going up specially.

Some pictures of what I'm talking about....

1) Waikiki Beach at sunset,


2) Hanauma Bay


3) Waimea Bay, North Shore


4) Pearl Harbour Arizona Memorial


5) A Mahi-mahi

I don't get the whole Anchorman phenomonen, although I do think it's quite funny in parts. The fight scene with all the news crews is gas. And I love the 'Go fcuk yourself San Diego'

Excellent. Sue the b*stards for libel, defamation, gross negligence, whatever the hell we can think of.

Incidentally, I dont think anyone presumed they would get the points.

There were three options, throw Cork out, make them play the games again, or give the points to Dublin and Meath and play the rest.

I dont think option three was widely predicted on here beforehand, unless Pillar and Coyle had inside information.

They did the right thing and kept their noses out of it.

Ahem.....

I'd imagine they'll forfeit the points against Dublin and Meath in the football, and Kilkenny and Waterford in the hurling.

Then any ties will be settled, if they have to be, with a playoff.