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Benoit’s son suffered from Fragile X Syndrome, speculation over whether pressure was too much
Written: June 27, 2007WWE.com has uncovered information that Chris Benoit’s son Daniel suffered from Fragile X Syndrome, a genetically passed on condition that results in impairments ranging from physical and learning disabilities to more severe cognitive or intellectual disabilities.

Pam Winthrope, whose own 12-year-old son suffers from Fragile X syndrome, told NEWS 1130 in Vancouver, that she and her husband talked to Benoit about the condition five years ago.

“We talked to him because I was trying to set up a support group in BC and in Canada, we only have a couple of them.” she said. “My husband was struggling when we got diagnosed with our son, and Chris was struggling with his. They talked for a few minutes, and then he said he didn’t want to be a public face for Fragile X. He just wanted to keep it really, really quiet.”

Sources close to Benoit recall similar conversations with him where he described his son’s condition as “a learning disability much like autism”. These sources quote Benoit as saying “Daniel wasn’t capable of interacting with other children and was afraid of other children. Daniel also had a hard time making eye contact with everyone which was symptom of his disability”. Benoit claimed that his son was on medication for this condition.

Winthrop discussed the pressures facing parents of children diagnosed with Fragile X syndrome. During her interview with News 1130 she stated that families can be torn apart by the disease because it's very difficult to find help and support. Winthrop added, "You as a parent have to go out there and find what's available and it's not easy --they don't tell you." Friends of Benoit echo sentiments from him along similar lines. According to these sources “Chris stated that Nancy loved Daniel but did not want to be a stay at home mom. Nancy was also frustrated about Daniel’s learning disabilities and development. Nancy also struggled and lacked knowledge on how to discipline Daniel, when Daniel misbehaved. Chris was concerned about this and went home anytime he could from the road.”

A co-worker and long time friend of the Benoit’s speculates that perhaps the pressures of home and Daniels illness got to him, causing him to snap and take the life of his wife Nancy and son Daniel before taking his own life.

“Is it possible that after Chris killed Nancy (for whatever reason) that he felt Daniel wouldn't be able to get the care and attention he required as a special needs child (if that is indeed true) with no mother and a father either in jail or dead?” said a co-worker who knew Benoit for more than 15 years and idolized him. “Did he then decide that the only way he could protect and take care of his son was to take him to the next world and go with him? In his warped and twisted state did he think this was the only way to shield his son from a difficult life of pain and hardship? It doesn't condone or justify a damn thing but it's the best reason I can think of. I'm trying to put together some semblance of logic for his actions, but it's an impossible task trying to explain this.”

Maybe being a small bit harsh on the Galway full back line there lads. Its one of the rare off days they have had in the last couple of years and God knows, Maxwell will go away now and not show his face again til Leitrim plays Galway again!
I can see the merits of playing a big man inside from Sligo's point of view though but I dont see the Galway full back line playing that poorly again.
The backs are not major concern, the form of Meehan and to a lesser extent P Joyce would be. Id be more worried about Galways tendency to start lorrying ball in on top of Joyce and Meehan....while they are strong enough to win plenty of their own ball, the forwards seem more effective when the likes of Nicky Joyce or Savo are running off the shoulder of the man in posession. I see Bane out and Armstrong in the next day too.
Will be a close one......

Anchor's Angle with Michael Lyster

Normally in this column, we look ahead to the upcoming matches and fixtures in Gaelic games but I would just like to dedicate this article to a reflection on two events from this week in relation to Ulster football.

The first is the passing of Eamonn Coleman, the former Derry manager and the man who was in charge when the county made their breakthrough in 1993 by winning the All-Ireland title.
The early Nineties were very special years for Ulster football as the province well and truly dominated the Championship scene. Down had two All-Ireland victories, Donegal claimed the Sam Maguire in '92 and then Derry got in on the act twelve months later. Only Tyrone in 1995 failed to keep the hit rate going but then, of course, they were to be finally rewarded a few years later themselves.

Eamonn began his playing career at minor and Under-21 level with distinction for the county in the Sixties and he followed that up with a lifetime of dedication to football in Derry.

When he took over the Derry senior side in the early Nineties it was to become the most successful period in the county's history. In a spell of a little more than 16 months, they had won the National League, the Ulster Championship and the All-Ireland itself.

That was a time when I got to know Eamonn Coleman quite well and, indeed, many of the players who were on that Championship-winning side, not least a certain Joe Brolly. Eamonn was a quiet man and you got the impression that he wasn't always comfortable with the presence of the media. In truth he was probably a little bit shy but he was certainly good company.

I recall going to do an interview with him one time at his home in the lead-up to a big Championship match. Somewhat lengthy and convoluted directions eventually brought me to a house sitting in splendid isolation on the shores of Lough Neagh. When I knocked on the door, Eamonn shouted for me to come in.

He was sitting in the living room watching a video of some match, so for the next while the two of us just sat there, watching, nothing much being said by either of us except for the odd comment on a player or a passage of play in the match. When the tape had finally run its course, Eamonn chirpily said: 'Sure, we might as well do this interview.'

For some reason, that evening has always stuck in my memory, partly for the slight oddness of the situation but partly because of the world-apart setting of his home which, I think, I possibly envied.However, if Eamonn was slightly wary of the media at times he certainly had no trouble communicating with his players. He was very much a players' man and was noted for constantly boosting their confidence by telling them how great they were as a team and how talented they were as individuals; mind you, I doubt if he had to work too hard to bring out Brolly's self belief!

As so often happens, of course, the close bond that forms between a manager and his players can make County Board officials feel left out of the party and so it came to pass that, less than a year after their massive All-Ireland success, Eamonn Coleman was dropped as Derry manager. The good times, short-lived as they were, had just come to an end.

While I got to know Eamonn Coleman during those years, I never got the chance to make the acquaintance of young Tyrone minor Paul McGirr. It's exactly a decade ago (15 June) since Paul's life came to a sudden and unbelievable end following a collision during their Ulster Championship match against Armagh in Omagh. As the Dromore player chased a ball that brought Tyrone the decisive goal in the game, he was involved in a heavy collision with the Armagh goalkeeper and died some hours later in hospital as a result of fatal bleeding from a torn artery.

A look at the Tyrone minor team photo from that day is a poignant reminder of what might have lain ahead for Paul in his football career. In that picture are most of the players who went on to win the minor All-Ireland in 1998, the Under-21 national crown in 2000 and the county's first senior All-Ireland in 2003, players like Kevin Hughes, Stephen O'Neill, Brian McGuigan and, of course, another young man whose life was to be tragically short, Cormac McAnallen. But a decade after Paul's  death, his memory lives on with his former colleagues and manager, Mickey Harte, and it is fitting this week to see that Tyrone are supporting a project in his name to bring an improved quality of life for people in need in Africa.

Galway hurler Alan Kerins set up a similar project a couple of years ago with great success to date and I am delighted to see that Tyrone are marking the tenth anniversary of Paul's death by ensuring that his name will live on as an inspiration and as a benefit to others.  

In a week of suspensions, fines and general off-the-field headlines, it's no harm sometimes to take a step back and take a look at the bigger, clearer picture.

In Galway club football, Corofin v Dunmore, back when the Donnellans were playing with Dunmore in late 1990's/early 00's. Nowadays, Killererin v Caltra, Rest of Galway v Salthill, Caherlistrane v Corofin. Tuam Stars were the team everyone wanted to beat but no one gives a shite for them now since they went to the dogs!!

In hurling, Loughrea v Portumna (nuff said!)

I made it to the double-headers in Tuam on Sat evening and on Sunday evening. All four matches were poor enough.....granted the weather didnt help with a gale on Sunday and a very wet Saturday evening. One thing i noted in two of the four games - the pure diabolical nature of the umpiring! Whats the use of having umpires if they are unwilling to make a call? Killererin twice yesterday evening came on the wrong end of umpiring decisions....once from Nicky Joyces miss of the season (seriously, ya wouldnt believe it if ya saw it!) and again from an Annaghdown "wide" which was given as a point. The ref (Nally from Galway) left the players on the pitch for 3/4 mins before starting the second half and was tripe apart from that! He was bad for both teams though. No complaints, Annaghdown were way better - hadnt as much ball but used it very well when they got it. Killererin lads didnt know where they were going or what they were at....dunno what the game plan was but if you're a point down with 2/3 mins to go im not convinced left half back is where the bould Nicky should be loitering! They spent their time mouthing at the manager and each other. Worst Ive ever seen from a Killererin team.

22-20 to the Argies. Lack of a decent placekicker killed Ireland - Wallace went off...not a placekicker anyway to be replaced by Geordan Murphy. Gavin Duffy took over the kicks slotting one and missing another. Pack seemed to do pretty well but no coherency in backs but hardly surprising in the circumstances. Fairly ok performance without getting any of the first 15 too worried. Flannery put in some huge hits, Neil Best good bar daft binning and Heaslip had a huge match.

Killanain v Mountbellew-Moylough                      Mountbellew
Glenamaddy v Dunmore McHales                       Glen
Killererin v Annaghdown                                   Killererin
Claregalway v Tuam Stars                                Tuam
Ml. Breathnach v Cortoon Shamrocks                 Shamrocks
Milltown v Caherlistrane                                   Caherlistrane
Menlough v Caltra                                           Caltra
Corofin v An Cheathru Rua                               Corofin
Kilkerrin-Clonberne v St.Brendan's                     Ballygar
Salthill-Knocknacarra v Barna                             Salthill

Killererin v Annaghdown will be a cracker.......I've still not forgotten that Co Final and that damned crossbar in Tuam Stadium!!! I believe Mike Newell is out for Annaghdown so that will be a huge loss-puts big pressure on a small man in Frankie. Killererin to have just enough.

There should be a shock somewhere in there but i dont see where its going to come unless Menlough can turn over Caltra. Local rivalry - you never know?

Not wanting to be a conspiracy theorist but does anyone else deem it unlikely that Mayo will start Nallen......I just have a niggling suspicion that if David Brady is fit, he will be in midfield with Nallen on the bench, BJP at CHB and Heaney back on Joycer? Nallen didnt have the legs for CHB last summer on Declan O'Sullivan, or for midfield v Donegal so what makes them think he can do it Sunday?
Also Padden didnt do too badly at CHB in league semi final but thats as much to do with the half forward line he faced rather than anything inspired that he did. Granted he did get a bit of a run around in league final but then again, so did most of the Mayo back line.
And Heaney on Joyce...........Joycers bogey man unfortunately.
You could just imagine the lift the Mayo crowd would get if Brady appeared from dugout five mins before throw in.
Dunno, just seems like something Johnno would pull.
From a Galway perspectve, would have liked to have seen Coleman in half forward line as opposed to midfield to give us more physicality in that line. Hed be ideally suited to Gardiner - stop the forward runs at source like last years league semi. Otherwise, it went along expected lines bar Blakes injury. Huge loss.......I could see Coyne having a hard afternoon ahead of him Sunday and Im still not convinced hes up to it.

No team named in Galway anyway - a fair few little niggly injury worries ahead of the game. Nicky Joyce, Meehan, Blake all carrying knocks and two subs out, Paul Geraghty & Alan Burke both with hamstring problems.
Lyster cant be writing all that much....has his hands full trying to keep a small bit of manners on Brolly....I wonder what abuse he has in store for Galway & Mayo or will he be a bit tamer after being reprimanded for last weekends OTT stuff

Anchor's Angle with Michael Lyster

While the Championship campaign of 2007 kicked into action last weekend, I have to admit that, from my own point of view, the real stuff begins next weekend with the meeting of Galway and Mayo in Salthill!
Now, I say that with no disrespect to those who were involved last weekend - indeed we had a couple of good matches featured live on The Sunday Game. Longford showed great fighting qualities to come back from an eight-point deficit to beat Westmeath, while the second half of Cavan and Down was absolute tit-for-tat stuff until Down ended up drawing the game with a dramatic late score.
I also say it with no disregard for our opening live game on Sunday, the meeting of Fermanagh and Tyrone. We'll be keeping a keen eye on how Tyrone's Championship claims for 2007 are shaping up, while also wondering if Fermanagh can put recent poor league form behind them and raise themselves again to the heroic displays they put in a couple of summers ago.
However, when the first inter-county Championship game you ever went to as a kid was Galway versus Mayo, then I think you'll understand why next Sunday's latest joust between the sides is so special. Memories of younger days come flooding back every time I see this fixture posted and, while many of those are of games played in Tuam and Castlebar, Pearse Stadium in Salthill is also a fixture in that  walk down memory lane.
I suppose the thing to remember here is that I'm talking about the early and mid-1960s when your sporting world revolved around the fortunes of Galway in their annual quest for Championship glory.
There was barely any big-time sport on telly in those days, no Premiership or Champions League, no Formula One or rallying from Argentina and certainly no watching Ireland playing cricket against Pakistan!
So your fix was following Galway through their battles with Mayo or Roscommon or the other Connacht counties. I have to say I just loved the buzz of the entire occasion, even down to the smell of the freshly cut grass.
I got a small reminder of that sense of youthful wonder a few weeks back when I brought my youngest son, Jack, to Old Trafford for his first visit. For once I didn't do well on the seating front at the stadium - stuck down near the rabble at the Stretford End! But I certainly picked the right match, United against Roma in the Champions League quarter-final.
It was the night of that famous 7-1 victory and even though we struggled to see a few of the goals at the far end with everyone constantly leaping up and down the atmosphere was just incredible.
Watching Jack lap it all up that night, that's how I remember going to all those Connacht Championship games, not sitting back in a cosy box eating prawn sandwiches, but in the thick of the crowd, heaving and swaying, often getting soaked wet but always coming away exhilarated.or most of the time coming away exhilarated, at any rate.
Fortunately, as a Galway fan, the Maroon and White usually held the upper hand in those days. This, after all, was the era of their three-in-a-row and it was easy to stick your chest out and wave your flag going to those games.
In the decade of the Sixties, Galway claimed the Connacht title six times, Mayo and Roscommon claiming two apiece of the remaining titles. In more recent times, of course, it has been Mayo who've held sway in the province and even if that big silver cup in the east remains a hidden treasure, they certainly have the panel to defend their title again this year and make another stab at claiming Sam.
County loyalty prevents me from saying I expect them to win Sunday's game in Salthill, but they will certainly be hard beaten, and I feel Galway will need to show a bit more passion and self belief than they've displayed in the past couple of years in the Championship. People will look to some of the older, experienced heads to point the way but I believe that the energy in a team comes from youth and the new kids on the block now have to grow into their roles as senior inter-county players.
Whoever wins the match, I know for sure that I'm going to thoroughly enjoy our visit to Galway and the live presentation of the game from Pearse Stadium. Before the programme goes on air I will look out across the Salthill venue and I'll swear I caught a glimpse of Enda Colleran, Mattie McDonagh or John Morley fielding high balls and driving their colleagues on.
It's Galway versus Mayo. Where else would I want to be on a Sunday?

oirthear . for mayo to win by six points would be under performing . we tend to give galway too much respect in mayo. their performance over the last 4 years or so other than against mayo have been very poor for example should they lose sunday p forde could well be out of a job before the qualifiers. where as mayo have been winning connachts and getting to AIF on aa regular basis. by what criteria are people making it a close game other than its a local rivaly. maybe they will put it up to may like leitrim did last year but  that would be a lesson not learnd by mayo. msaybe the blueshirt has taken his eye off the ball

Mayo to win by six - fair play to ya.....its been a while since there was three points between the teams never mind six! Also, truth be told.....what does a Connacht really mean to either side at this stage? Would Mayo fans really care about another provincial title at this stage? I couldnt give a flyin shite if we never won Connacht and ended up in Croke Park in Sept. Hell, it worked for us in '01! And gettin to All Ireland Finals means little if you dont win them.......

Brolly said that there were plenty of lads on both teams that weren't the relations of county players! Apparently he was down amongst the masses in Breffni for the first half....pity he wasnt lynched

Thats Cullinane that can solo! Cant say theres a major problem with Bergin given that hes as athletic as midfielders come, well able to field a high ball and can kick scores for fun when the mood takes him....havent noticed his inability to solo a ball!!!
Higgins is a good corner back (cant remember him getting roasted too often and particularly not by a Galway player), and yes maybe Meehans not all hes cracked up to be...........when he regularly beats the likes of the Higgins, Laceys, Mallons, Griffins, McCarthys and Anthony Lynch's of this world and does it regularly on the big stage rather than destroying the Rossies, Sligo et al Ill be much more convinced. Hes a serious player but maybe doesnt have the pace for corner forward....id much prefer him at 14 given his strength and aerial ability.

Apparently her mothers trying to set up an interview with a TV station from her cell so reality TV comment is not far off the mark...........wonder if theyll get Liveline to do the interview after last week?!!!

Dunno, your probably right Juice but if the purpose of having the game in London was to promote the NFL in Europe, you would hope the allocation to the US fans would be moderate enough so as to give as many people on this side of the water a chance to experience the NFL live.
It just seems that those registered on the NFLUK website prior to announcing the game have proven themselves to be genuine fans and should not lose out on a ticket because some lad tuned in one Sunday night and heard about the game and said 'feck it sure ill throw my name in' in the hope that he gets a ticket.