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Keith Duggan's interview with Andy McEntee.
Very enjoyable read, regardless of your county allegiance.
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/by-royal-appointment-andy-mcentee-trying-to-reverse-meath-s-slide-into-obscurity-1.3104110

And by 'we', I mean the GAA.
Yesterday was one of the most enjoyable days of action I can remember in a long time.
There was a huge sense of excitement & tension across all the divisions (well 1-3 anyway) as the games progressed and teams moved up or down in the table  relative to one another.
Added to this, we had great crowds showing up at grounds all over the country for hurling and football on a gorgeous Spring day.
I'm all for tradition, but it seems abundantly clear to me that the league is our premier competition in terms of quality & competitiveness.
Could it become the premier competition in the hearts & minds of the average GAA fan?
The answer to all our fixture woes, and the lack of competitiveness in the championship is staring us in the face.

I thought this picture of the Wexford lads stretching after the game pretty much summed up the whole day.



p.s. I'm not interested in rehashing loads of different 'alternative' structures for the championship.
The alternative is the league.
It's really that simple.

Did not let petty local rivalry get in their way today.
Instead, they went all out to save their close neighbour's Division 1 status.
I salute them.
It was the manly thing to do.

What do we know about this fella?
I believe he's a Dub.
Still though, he deserves a chance.

[Restriction on kick-outs being looked at by GAA]

Restriction on kick-outs being looked at by GAA

Jarlath Burns, chair of the standing committee, says that an anomaly has arisen in that players in the corners are both outside the 20-metre line and 13 metres from the ball and the idea of requiring the kick-out to go forward is being considered.
'Slip of hand'
"There is an argument that there is a slip of land on the field where it would be advisable to prohibit a player from receiving a kick-out if you wanted to make the ball go forward. When the rule on kick-outs was changed the rule wasn't correspondingly changed that the ball had to go forward 20 metres.
"It has been discussed and might be worth looking at. It wouldn't take a lot to change that but it might have a positive implication."

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/restriction-on-kick-outs-being-looked-at-by-gaa-1.2935222#.WHiWV4lToVE.twitter

I suppose it's basically closing a 'loophole' that the wording of Rule 2.7 didn't allow for.

http://gaaclubplayers.com/
Registered yesterday and it took me about 30 seconds.
You don't have to register as a player either, as there are a number of options.
I'm curious to know if people object to this, or don't see any particular reason why they should register.
Seems a no-brainer to me, but that's only my opinion.
I doubt anyone who listened to Liam Griffin on Off The Ball last night would see this as anything other than a big step in the right direction.

[Joe Sheridan set for shock Meath return - as a goalkeeper]

Joe Sheridan set for shock Meath return - as a goalkeeper

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/joe-sheridan-set-for-shock-meath-return-as-a-goalkeeper-35301484.html

['We were unfair on managers' - Mayo star regrets player revolt']

'We were unfair on managers' - Mayo star regrets player revolt'

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/we-were-unfair-on-managers-mayo-star-regrets-player-revolt-35274707.html

Just reading about Conor Gillespie this morning and it looks like he'll have to jack in football altogether.
Very disappointing for him and it's an awful pity we didn't get to see him build on his potential.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/meath-star-gillespie-set-to-call-it-a-day-as-injury-persists-35234607.html

In the last 10 years, we seem to have had a disproportionate amount of serious, chronic injuries to some of our best players.
And by 'serious', I don't mean hamstrings etc. I mean stuff that will actually affect your quality of life when you've stopped playing football altogether.
Kevin Reilly had loads of back & hip trouble, as did Shane O'Rourke.
We'll probably never see Shane in a county jersey again either.
Are taller players more susceptible to this type of thing or is the training load (and quality) a factor?
Or is it just bad luck?
We've also had a fair few cruciates in that time as well.

Have to say, I found this absolutely captivating.
To be honest, at this stage I don't care about the Declan Bogue stuff, but the bits where Jim talks about the death of his two brothers, and the impact this had on him, are incredibly powerful.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/paul-kimmage-meets-jim-mcguinness-peeling-away-the-layers-of-a-man-a-manager-and-a-sporting-enigma-35057252.html

I give it two years, and by that I mean we will be competitive in the All-Ireland series again.
Promotion to Division 1 has to be the short-term goal.
The two boys won't accept anything less than 100% commitment so hopefully next year we will see a fitter, stronger, better organised group of players that are terrified of the management team.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/andy-mcentee-time-for-meath-to-catch-up-with-dublin-415101.html

"Obviously, everybody realises there's a big gap, and needless to say our ambition is to close that gap. We're not really competing with Dublin, who are the benchmark for everybody. So that's the aim, to close that gap and to be more competitive."

On the appointment itself, he said: "Any Meath man in a managerial role would like to be managing Meath. It's a huge honour and a huge privilege and that's the way I'm approaching it."

As for what type of football Meath will play under him, the Dunboyne-based man said: "You got to do what you got to do but I still have ideas about how I like to see it played. You still have to compete. I wouldn't make any definite predictions but Ballyboden play a certain way similar to the way the Meath minors played a number of years ago so it's hard to see it change too much."

McEntee's brother, former Meath midfielder Gerry, along with ex-county players Donal Curtis and Finian Murtagh have been named as selectors.

McEntee said he didn't need to ask his sibling twice about getting involved.

"Gerry is the type of guy who when he makes his mind up , makes his mind up. People probably know that! This is something he's wanted to do for some time as well. He feels now is the right time and of course, it's nice to have a big brother there to help you along and mind your back! He's been doing it all his life so why change now?"

This time during an IFC game in Meath between Curraha and Drumbaragh.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/team-mates-revive-gaa-star-after-he-suffered-suspected-heart-attack-on-pitch-34951003.html

Another incident which highlights the importance of,
a) Having IMMEDIATE access to a defibrillator,
and
b) Having people that know how to use it and do CPR.

Best of luck to Danny and I hope he makes a full recovery.
How many times have we seen potential tragedies like this averted in recent years?
It's a testament to the great work being done by clubs and county boards, with the help of organisations like The Cormac Trust.
That reminds me, how is Kevin McCloy getting on now?

If Usain Bolt was from Tyrone, the IOC would have disqualified him for eating a box of chicken nuggets before the 100m final in Beijing.

I'm not taking about the All Stars.
The legends.
The 'go-to' guys.
I'm talking about the fringe players.
The lads who were 'in-and-around' your more successful teams but were probably never that highly-rated within their own county (relative to the superstars at least).
Or the lads that were considered solid and dependable and could play in a few different positions (and possibly suffered as a result by sacrificing their own game).
From 1999 onwards for us, that would be lads like Ray Magee, Daithi Regan, Donal Curtis, Nigel Crawford, Hank Traynor, Nigel Nestor etc.

[Eamonn Fitzmaurice: 'There was basically rape and pillage going on']

Of course I don't mean literally hung, drawn and quartered as that would be insensitive to all the people who have been hung, drawn and quartered.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/eamonn-fitzmaurice-there-was-basically-rape-and-pillage-going-on-394851.html

Eamonn Fitzmaurice: 'There was basically rape and pillage going on'

The Examiner's sports sub-editor did his job anyway.
Eamon will either apologise quickly or he will be made to apologise.
If he's smart, he'll opt for the former.
We all know what he meant, but you simply cannot use the 'R' word nowadays in any context outside of the actual crime itself.
Funnily enough, if he'd simply said, 'There was basically murder going on', nobody would bat an eyelid.

Good game so far, 20 mins gone.
Some nice footballers on both sides.

Maghera 1-02
Brendans 0-05

Would someone in the Tyrone county board please give Seán a small bit of media training.
Every time a tape recorder is put in front of him he blurts out whatever half-formed notions he has in his head.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/sean-cavanagh-players-willing-to-take-risk-on-banned-substances-382396.html

Have a look at the various different headlines doing the rounds on the back of this today.
He's obviously a well educated, intelligent lad so surely he understands that the media will do their best to cherry-pick quotes and present them out of context.

You have to hand it to Martin.
As the foremost winter doom-monger, year after year, I'm assuming this is a rhetorical question.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/martin-breheny-why-so-little-joy-on-planet-gaa-34400069.html

'And before the media is blamed, it's the role of commentators to raise questions.' 

[Athlone footballer "brought back from the dead"]

Athlone footballer "brought back from the dead"

There were dramatic scenes before this evening's Westmeath IFC semi-final in Cusack Park when Athlone substitute Cathal Joyce collapsed on the pitch.

It's believed the youngster's heart stopped for several seconds before he was resuscitated by medics who used a defibrillator. Cathal was taken to hospital where he is recovering after his near-death experience.

One of the first to come to Cathal's aid was his brother and Athlone team physio James Joyce.

"Cathal collapsed in the warm-up after suffering a cardiac arrest," Athlone PRO Brian Melinn told hoganstand.com

"There's a good chance he would not have survived but for the quick thinking and swift action of Dr Patrick Boland, who was a sub on the Rosemount team, and one of our subs, Colm O'Leary, who's a Garda trained in CPR. The club is extremely grateful for their assistance."

The Athlone team later made a Lazarus-like recovery themselves to reach the IFC final. Trailing by 0-2 to 2-5 at half-time, they scored an unanswered 1-8 in the second half to win by 1-10 to 2-5, with the winning goal coming from an injury-time penalty scored by county star John Connellan.

"It was some comeback from the lads, but what happened to Cathal beforehand really puts things into perspective," Brian added.

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=244082

We're gone soft according to Wee Martin.
Too rich and good-looking.
You need to be farming rocks and hauling lobster pots all day to be a decent footballer nowadays.

http://www.the42.ie/martin-mchugh-meath-2163430-Jun2015/?utm_source=shortlink