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What do you want to see?

Mickey to persist with playing to the strengths of the squad he has - all hand on deck at the back, retain possession and somehow work a score in rugby league like fashion? We'll beat most sides outside the top 3/4, scoring 0-15.

A fresh approach - scour the county for 1-2 real ball-winning strong forwards in the mould of a Freeman or Mannion or Donaghy - a couple of sticky corner backs.....and blend in the undoubted talent we have. Move the ball faster from 45 to 45. We might lose a few games initially.

I know Mickey knows more in his wee finger etc - but in a fantasy world...?

http://tag.huggity.com/fanpic/195-2013-eircom_gaa_semi1/event/195-2013-eircom_gaa_semi1/prelaunch/

Hope I wasn't scowlin the child.

http://www.waitbutwhy.com/2013/07/7-ways-to-be-insufferable-on-facebook.html

I read this earlier and it fairly summed up all the most irritating elements of these types of platforms (for me). Then I read the comments underneath and it has fairly divided opinion. There was one post though that opened my eyes a bit. They moreorless said FB is what it is for whoever uses it - if someone's personality/posts on it irks you then that's life - you've no obligation to be on it in the first place. I suppose this place is a version of it.

Is there anyone on here who uses no other form of social network (mostly facebook and twitter)?
Are these platforms a bad thing?

Is it fair to say that the team sheet is blank right now or do we have a player who has nabbed a spot no matter what happens?

The safety net of the back door means it's not do or die but what's the feeling here?

Tyrone won the same fixture last year 0-14 to 1-8.

'Not a single parking ticket' issued in Coalisland


NO parking tickets were issued over a three-year period in a Co Tyrone town, it has emerged.

Information released in reponse to a question by DUP MLA Lord Morrow, revealed that no parking penalities were issued in Coalisland, while Fivemiletown had more than 200 from 2010 to 2012.

"Coalisland is the next largest populated town in the Borough of Dungannon and South Tyrone - second only to Dungannon itself - yet amazingly not a single ticket was issued in past three years," said the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA.

"By comparison, Fivemiletown has a considerably lower population but appears to have a disproportionate number of parking tickets.

"Motorists who have received tickets could be forgiven for assuming that parking in some of our towns is not enforced whilst in other towns can be over-zealous.

"I am looking forward to the Minister's replies to my follow-up questions in relation to this alarming disparity. Communities need to be assured that parking is enforced in an equitable manner," the DUP peer added

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/not-a-single-parking-ticket-issued-in-coalisland-1-5134785

I remember thinking during the league that he looked a lot thinner. On the radio today he revealed he was sick during the month of September and, when assessed, was told his heart was working at 15%.

He has lost over two stone naturally and has managed to avoid the suggested heart transplant or bypass by luckily responding to medication.

Lucky man - goes to show we should visit the doc at first signs of anything abnormal.

(maybe this is old news)

The highlight of the year again, just ahead of Christmas.

The Irish lad sings in the semis on Tuesday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNQNdHV279w

He'll get through OK but can see a mid-table finish on Saturday.

Have listened to a few of the leading contenders but think Denmark have it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlZYtfISqV8

And this girl has a nice dress - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hnC6T3cOzo

I was watching a repeat of the Kerry/Dublin 2009 game and was thinking of the worst inter-county hidings. I think there were a few in 2001.

Any over 20 points at inter-county level?

[Bizarre case of masked man found in cattle barn with vet's glove and broom shaft]

Bizarre case of masked man found in cattle barn with vet's glove and broom shaft


By Ronan McSherry

WHEN a local farmer went to investigate noises in his barn during the early hours of the morning, he found a 'blind' man wearing a balaclava, a veterinary inspection glove and carrying a wooden brush shaft.

This "bizarre and unusual" case was heard before Omagh Crown Court last week when Anthony Morris (44), of Bradkeel Road, Plumbridge, faced a charge of intending to cause damage to cattle. Morris also had a torch strapped to his head and was carrying a piece of rope.

He attempted to hide himself when the farmer, a former employer of Morris, and his brother entered the barn at 2am in the morning. However, they managed to drag Morris over the top of a cattle pen and pin him down on silage while they waited for police to arrive.

While he was being held, the intruder spoke in a 'foreign accent' saying, "Me-me-steal-ear-tags. Me-me-look-at-tags."

Police officers arrived at the scene and removed the balaclava to reveal Morris who had worked for the farmer in the past.

He was wearing a body warmer that he stole from the farmer's lorry a number of weeks earlier and was also carrying a penknife.

The farmer recognised his body warmer due to the presence of sheep's wool under a piece of Velcro on its left side, stains on the collar and a faulty zipper.
In a day-long trial, described by a defence barrister as a "strange and unusual case," Morris was found guilty of possessing a pen knife, an inspection glove, a wooden shaft and a piece of blue rope with the intent of causing damage to cattle, as well as stealing a body warmer and a Solar calculator that was in its pocket.

QUESTIONED

Morris was originally questioned about 'cruelty to animals.' However, none of the cattle in the barn were injured and it was not stated in Omagh Crown Court what he specifically intended to do to the animals.

During the trial he walked with the aid of a stick and claimed to be totally blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other. Morris said that he can only see "black blobs" and was diagnosed with limited sight in 2005.

However during the trial it emerged that he had a collision on his motorbike in 2008.

In an attempt to explain his presence in the barn, Morris claimed that a man he described as "a blast from the past", whom he hadn't seen in 17 years, came to his house in the early hours of March 18 last year, and forced him to go to the barn with him.

He said the man told him that the farmer who owned the barn had stolen three of his cows.

Morris, however, refused to reveal the identity of the man, and in an interview read to the jury of six men and six women he  said to investigating police officers, "I felt the b******d would take my f*****g head off."

He also claimed that the man threatened to harm his 14-year-old son.

Morris further claimed that he told the man there was no way the farmer would have stolen the cattle and described him as "straight as a gun barrel."

THREATENED WITH A GUN

Under cross-examination by prosecution barrister Michael McAleer, the defendant added, "I knew the history of this man who made me go to the barn. He touched me with something metal."

Mr McAleer asked, "Are you going to tell us what it was?"

Morris replied, "No."

The barrister then asked, "Was it a stick? A bar? A coat hanger?"

Morris responded, "It wasn't a coat hanger."

The barrister then asked whether the metal was a gun.

Morris replied, "It was a gun. On May 17, 1995 this person (the man) starts the way he always starts; slobbering, saying what he's going to do. I put him on the ground with a knuckle duster and I got three years."

Morris was adamant that he did not intend harming the cattle. He stressed that he was forced to go to the barn in a car with the mystery man to check the tags on the cattle.

None of the witnesses or police saw a man or a car in the area of the farm that morning.

GUILTY

The jury took approximately one hour to reach their verdict. They found Morris guilty on both counts.

It was then revealed that he has an extensive criminal record, with convictions for burglary, firearms, six theft offences and road traffic violations.
He will be sentenced in Derry Crown Court on April 17.

Morris was allowed to remain on bail but was warned by Judge Phillip Babington, "You should not take that as an indication of what will happen to you."

http://ulsterherald.com/2013/03/22/bizarre-case-of-masked-man-found-in-cattle-barn-with-vets-glove-and-broom-shaft/

What does it mean to you?

Should be deadly. A chance to send each other down? Will someone think of the children? Love across the barricades? 1000 white doves? 99 red balloons?

There's bound to be a county out there with no stories (on the net) referring to on-field gouging, ball-tugging, jaw-breaking, spitting, wire-jumping, back-kneeing, barrel-throwing, referee-slapping and so on. Surely Leitrim or Waterford.

WTF? In my day the kick you got from getting a Mars Bar for 2p less because your mate was serving at the tuck shop kept me going for months.




School children playing deadly 'fainting' game

A TYRONE mother has warned that school children are risking their lives through a macabre craze dubbed 'the pass out challenge'.

Lynette Hegarty, from Strabane, spoke out following an incident when her son lost consciousness while attempting the game with friends. Gerard McGarrigle, an 11-year-old pupil at Holy Cross College, was rushed to hospital on Wednesday night after being found unconscious at Springhill Park.

The 'pass out challenge' involves asphyxiating or hyperventilating yourself to attain a euphoric high. It comprises of standing against a wall and holding your breath while someone punches you in the chest.

DANGERS

Ms Hegarty said the sight of seeing her eldest son being stretchered away by paramedics was the "scariest moment of her life". She added that the incident involving her child was far from isolated and that parents needed to be aware of the dangers of the so called 'game'.

"This is what young people are doing and with Gerard, it went badly wrong," she told the Tyrone Herald.

"He passed out, fell to the ground and hit his forehead. I've been told that he was turning blue because he couldn't breathe.

"When I arrived he was on a stretcher and when I saw him laying there I honestly thought he was gone. He was unconscious and it didn't look good at all."

RELIEF

To his mother's relief Gerard came round a short time later in the ambulance. But after what she described as the worst experience of her life, Ms Hegarty said the message had to go out to other parents.

"The message is that young people are doing this sort of thing and I nearly lost my son over it. It's not something they should be doing and it is very, very dangerous. What they are doing starves the brain of oxygen so God knows what state they could end up in.

"I have three younger sons and I want to get the message out to them too about the dangers of it," she said.

http://ulsterherald.com/2013/03/11/school-children-playing-deadly-fainting-game/

The lowest of the low.

There's meant to be footage of a Cookstown player spitting on Galvin. Anyone seen it?

Irish pick on Late Late now.

Second best night of the year.

This is shaping up to be a close contest.

Carlow beat Tipp by a point
Limerick defeated Leitrim by two
Waterford beat Clare by 1
Offaly had an 8-point victory in London although trailed at half time.

Clare were unlucky not to go up last year but Micko has made a dodgy start, at home too. Bad start also for Tipp who were fancied to go straight back up. Rainbow's Carlow the surprise package? Their only wins last year were over Waterford, London and Kilkenny.
Offaly may be the team to beat although they'll find it tough against Limerick this weekend.

Up Division 4.

I think he's a great fella.

I admire the Destination Newry and Armagh GAA initiative. To see live games like that on the TV is a treat at this time of the year, especially for those who cannot make the games. Are there any other examples of live games being streamed on the net?

How are the Ulster Council taking this? I know there aren't that many who attend the games at this time of year but if this continues into the NFL I wonder will viewing rights (from HQ) etc come into play.

Is there anything to stop me streaming games?

I was talking to an elderly boy today who makes sure his volume on the TV is at an even number.
I know a boy who drinks beer in even numbers (i.e. finishes of 2 or 4 or 6 cans...)

I don't walk under road signs with 2 poles.

Any other headcases out there?