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Well done Galway, A fine minor team indeed Mattie wasnt talking sh1te. There is the prospect of 5 or 6 seniors from that team if they keep it up. Comfortably the better team I thought.

I saw  some of the Galway matches for selection on this team. I had no program so dont have any names. The County was divided up as follow.
Galway West and City
Galwat South
Galway East and
Galway north.
Mayo and Roscommon were also invited however Roscommon did not travel for some reason.

The final was between South and East with East winning by a point in a fantastic match inPearse. The standard was very high, but what impressed me most was the physical size of these lads. Standing on the sideline I felt small and I am 6" even.

Tipperary Supporters Club Under 16 hurling tournament

Group 1: Limerick 1-9 Wexford 1-6; Limerick 0-15 Offaly 1-5; Wexford 1-10 Offaly 1-9
Group 2: Waterford 3-8 Cork 1-12; Galway 3-14 Waterford 0-7; Galway 3-7 Cork 1-10
Group 3: Kilkenny 2-9 Westmeath 0-13; Dublin 2-7 Kilkenny 0-7; Westmeath 2-12 Dublin 2-9
Group 4: Tipperary 4-9 Clare 0-6; Tipperary 4-23 Antrim 0-4; Clare 5-16 Antrim 0-1

Shield Semi Finals:
Clare 1-14 Wexford 1-9; Westmeath 4-9 Waterford 2-8

Cup Semi Finals:
Tipperary 2-15 Limerick 1-12; Galway 0-14 Dublin 0-12

Cup Final

Tipp v Galway

Shield Final

Westmeath v Clare


Was down at this yesterday- phenomenal standard of hurling. The u16's of today are even better then the current senior inter county players were at the same stage. Delighted with Dublin's performance and it was great to see Westmeath with so many fine young players.

Many thanks for this info INDIANA. When is the Final between Tipp v Galway and where?

This will be a titanic battle going on form. I would have said that this Kittens team were hard beat after their good win over a very handy Tipp side, but going on Galways performance yesterday after coming in 'cold' with due respect to Antrim, this has the look of a classic and a preface of battles to come in the senior grade. I think above all Galway minor teams that this one has the potential to give Galway 5 or 6 seniors. Richie Cummins, Niall Burke, Glennon, O'Regan in midfield, one Joe Cooney and the full back all looked serious players. In fact there were more great displays but cant name them all.

I think Galway can win this by 3. Thats a big score considering how close the battles between KK and Galway have been in underage in the recent past.


PLus - we owe them after last year.

Fair play Mattie, keep it up.

There is a perfect storm in Kilkenny at the moment for hurling greatness if you will.

1) A top class underage structure which churns out at least 1 or 2 genuine top-class intercounty standard hurlers a every year. The rest are merely very good senior intercounty hurlers.
2) A Top Class current Senior team with about 5 outstanding hurlers while most counties are lucky  to have 1, and 2 genuine best of all time contenders (Sheff and Walsh)
3) Serious experience within that senior team... Confidence is the end result
4) A manager with a simple game plan but a highly successful man-management policy.
5) A C-u-nt of a manager who is driven by a chip on the shoulder to supress every other county while is watch lasts, to drive a nail into the debate about the best hurling county of all time. Make no mistake, Cody's muse is ENVY and an INFERIORITY complex which drives the man and subsequently his players.
6) A county board and a county which is communist like in its slavish pursuit of anything and everything to do with hurling...
7) A competitive and high standard senior club  set-up.

They dont have to keep going at that level for the whole year Reillers. All they have to do is lay off the training in May, let them back to their clubs for a few weeks, and ramp it up again for the Leinster Final, (ok, ramp it up a tiny bit)

I'm envious, and disheartened by the Kilkenny domination of hurling at the moment. There does not look to be an end to it.

['Arry Redknapp... He's a Top Top Manajaa]

Since 'Arry took over - W5 D1 L0, scored 18 - conceded 8

The attack was/is razor sharp but our defence is woeful, and Gomes is 50% of that tumor.. He has to go..


'Arry Redknapp... He's a Top Top Manajaa

He's officially done for the season

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/09/08/brady.ap/index.html

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is out for the season with a left knee injury that will require surgery.

The 2007 NFL Most Valuable Player will be placed on injured reserve, the Patriots said Monday, one day after his knee was injured in the first quarter of a 17-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

A statement issued before coach Bill Belichick's news conference said Brady will have surgery, ending his 128-game starting streak.

Brady left Sunday's game against Kansas City after he was hit by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. Brady was not available for comment, but reports circulated around the league that he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament.

"We feel badly for Tom about the injury," Belichick said. "You hate to see anyone go down. No one has worked harder or done more for this team than Tom has."

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DISASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While I can understand the distaste for defensive tactics and rugby league style robustness etc, the 2002 Galway Kerry clash was nevertheless virtually tackle free (and I mean tackles of any description). In all, the game was almost completely devoid of passion and I was amazed that the Tribesmen surrendered their title so tamely.

Its like anything Tony, there is a happy medium between both to be found and you will find no complaints from me over Galway matching Kerry physically should that enable us to win the game.

Lads, looking forward to this one as an aftermath to the big game when I can relax after Armagh have booked their place in the semis. I do recall the 2002 encounter at the same stage and was amazed that there was hardly a hard tackle or shoulder charge in the game,instead you would have thought it was an exhibition match, and Galway were defending All Ireland Champions as well.

I trust there will be more of a cutting edge on Saturday?

Cutting edge? A cutting edge indicates incisive forward play and scoring passages of fine play. Depends whether you like football or rugby league without the tackle count Tony..
You mean a dour defensive struggle with gang tackles?
In all seriousness, we are going to have to match Kerry in the physical stakes if we have any hope..

Upcoming games in the Bord Gáis GAA Under 21 Hurling Championship are:

July 30, 7.30 Cusack Park, Ennis, Munster Final, Clare V Tipperary
July 30, 7.30 Keady, Ulster Championship, Armagh V Antrim
July 30, 7.30 Ballycran, Ulster Championship, Down V Derry
August 6, 7.30 Ballycran, Ulster Championship, Down V Armagh

August 23
All-Ireland Semi Finals:
Galway V Kilkenny
Clare/Tipperary V Ulster Champions

September 13/14
All-Ireland Final

Your next chance to see him live in an inter-county jersey.

He will add 2000 to the Galway crowd, and a fair few hundred to the knowledgeable KK crowd.. Just to see him play. Not too many 19 yr olds can lay claim to that...

Is there any hope for the knicks next year? at least there's a new coach coming to town

The word is the new GM from Indiana will lookat Tom Thibideau who is with Boston this year. I know they got Garnett who has just been named defensive POY but the difference in defence since last year has been astounding.

Its looking more and more like a Celtics v Lakers final...


http://www.nba.com/playoffs2008/index.html

Eugene McGee had a fair cut off the players today, and today's players, basically calling them all 'dirty'. It got me thinking. I've played against football against a lot of teams in various matches at different levels, albeit very little at Senior level, and there are only a few lads I would call 'dirty'. I would have been a corner forward, or wing forward, and the natural target for any 'dirt' that was going on. So what is 'dirt'?

I was peripherally involved in a huge row against Laois in an under 21 game, and by that I mean I got the head beaten off me as about 20 other lads beat the shite out of each other as well , and I still wouldn't say they were dirty. I didn't like it at the time, naturally, but I thought it was just one of these 'blow ups' that occur every so often. I met the two main Laois lads who were using me for punching practice a few weeks later, and we had a couple of pints together.

To me, dirt is off the ball punches, or knees, spitting, grabbing at your crown jewels, walking on a lads calf in front of you, dropping knees into a fella, headbutting, gouging, deliberate elbows or clotheslines or any of that sort of stuff, and that very rarely occurred. Certainly the only time I was spat at was in a Leinster Minor Championship game, I won't say which county. Other than that, very little of anything apart from jersey pulling which is just annoying.

Dirt, to me, is hitting someone that isn't expecting it, or with their back to you. Or trying to injure a helpless opponent who is on the ground or something. And in all my years playing, I've never had that myself, and have only seen it occasionaly. Certainly in a few games against teams labelled as 'dirty' like Meath or the old Laois, it has never happened. I've been bruised as feck coming off, but there was honestly no strokes that I would call dirty.

What do ye consider dirty? Do ye think Eugene McGee is right, and every row, or dust up, is by it's nature 'dirty'? I'd be interested in what ye think.

I just think its false Machismo. Here hold me back sorta stuff. These lads have a fecked up view of what a hard man is supposed to be and they act out. They see one lad, then 2 lads go in and they dont want to be left out. Its group think.
If Pillar Caffrey had any control over his players and team they would not have 9 reds and a backroom member suspended since JANUARY!
Alot of those red cards were dirty, or just plain stupid tackles/ Vaughans being the most prominent. I mean cold cocking an opponent when he is not looking is cowardly and dirty. I have no problems with 2 lads sorting it out mano o mano but on balance. Dublin seem to get the 'timing' and technique of their tackles all wrong.  

Canning delight for Tribesmen
Portumna star gives Galway boss the news he's been waiting for


By Colm Keys
Tuesday April 15 2008


Suddenly Ger Loughnane appears to have all his ducks in-a-row.


On Sunday, Joe Canning made a very satisfactory Galway debut and contributed in no small way to their advance to a first league final in four years.

Then yesterday, Ollie Canning confirmed that his return to the Galway squad was imminent after his decision to end a near two-year exile.

The timing of Ollie's announcement couldn't be better at the beginning of a week when Loughnane, who has managed to replace the chaos of last spring and summer with a new united front, prepares to nail down his first silverware as Galway manager.

Coaxing the 31-year-old back is significant as much for harmony as it is for the presence of an experienced operator in Galway's most problematic area.

Impressive

The concession of 24 points to Cork, regardless of the lead they had built up in an impressive first half, reminded Loughnane that for all the attacking flair that Galway possess, the leakage, particularly in the full-back line, remains their foot on the trapdoor to failure.

The return of the older Canning now surely draws a line under the controversy of the 2006 senior hurling final that Portumna lost amidst accusations of heavy-handed tactics deployed against the then 17-year-old Joe.

Ollie's beef wasn't with Loughrea, however. It was the nature and outcome of the investigation by the Board that followed which really irked him.

As a consequence he stayed out of the loop last year, along with Joe, as Galway hobbled from one disappointment to another in league and championship until Kilkenny finally put them to the sword in an All Ireland quarter-final, albeit after a struggle.

Cushioned by their involvement with Portumna in pursuit of a second All Ireland title in three years, the topic of a return wasn't visited much over the winter, but in February Loughnane extended a beckoning hand after the Clare league match in Pearse Stadium when he implored Ollie to reconsider.

"The big problem is, I still think defensively. We need someone like Ollie Canning in there as well. I think he could still do a fantastic job for Galway.

"I wouldn't go near him this time of the year until the club championship is over. I am just saying that he is the type of player -- a cute player," said Loughnane at the time.

So, Ollie has obliged, suggesting that he was uncertain if he had anything to offer last year until Portumna's triumph in March convinced him otherwise.

Agreement

He met with the Galway management last Wednesday and agreed in principle to return once the business of Sunday's league final with Tipperary is out of the way.

"Last season I just wasn't sure if I had anything left to offer at inter-county level. There are a lot of miles on the clock and the forwards all seem to be getting younger. Basically, you question yourself and wonder if you're up to it anymore," he said.

"The long club run with Portumna this year has helped. With our run to the final I've been putting in the work at training throughout winter so there is a base of fitness there.

"I've also been fortunate, touch wood, with injuries over the past year and I've enjoyed an unbroken 12-month spell with nothing serious going wrong.

"At the age I'm at now, this is vital and currently I just feel in good shape and feel that I would be able to do myself justice at inter-county level.

"We had a very positive chat and they assured me that they felt I had something to offer the camp. Whether that's on or off the pitch remains to be seen, but either way I'll be back in training the week after the league final and will be giving it 100pc.

"I have had a bit of a break since the club final and the rest has left me fresh and raring to go and, at this point, I'm just looking forward to getting back into training," he said.

Canning's pledge to return has surprised some local observers who felt that, even allowing for his All Ireland club final performance, inter-county hurling could leave him exposed after such a break away.

- Colm Keys

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