17 July 1997 Edition
Sportsview: Formula Waste
Yes, I have an inexplicable fascination with motor sport and yes, last weekend I watched the British Grand Prix, where it seemed all you have to do is not crash and you were in with a chance of winning. Contender after contender dropped or crashed out.
The Formula One championship which is to be floated on the stock market is an example of just how over the top modern sport can get. Hundreds of millions of pounds are poured into developing the technology to drive at incredible speeds. Precious metals and scarce fossil fuels are expended without care.
As a spectator sport it leaves a lot to be desired. Give me a Lada demolition derby any day. At least there the chances of actually finishing a race are massively higher than the spectacle we witnessed last weekend.
Tour De France irony
One of the cruellest sporting ironies of the decade must be the blanket coverage available on Eurosport of the Tour De France. As a child I used to listen to what was then Raidio Eireann for the brief two minute sport bulletins to hear news of Seán Kelly's progress in the great race. There was almost no television coverage, not even the half hour Channel Four round up. With luck there might be a ten minute segment on Saturday's Grandstand.
During all of this time Kelly was the outstanding cyclist of his generation, winning the Green Jersey and countless other races.
When Stephen Roche won the tour in 1987, RTE relented and provided television coverage, but only when he grabbed the Yellow Jersey.
In the week that's in it we should also remember the antics of Charlie Haughey who used the Dublin Government jet to fly to Paris so he could upstage Roche on the winner's podium.
Now we have endless coverage and no Irish involvement except for Stephen Roche commentating. Next year there will be three stages of the Tour in Ireland and no replacements for Roche and Kelly. Well here's at least one failure you cannot blame on not having a 50 metre swimming pool.
Wexford 2-14, Kilkenny 1-11
Wexford have finally arrived as a hurling force. Of course I know that they are the All-Ireland champions, but last Sunday they truly arrived by winning two Leinster titles back to back, doing what Clare, Offaly and Limerick couldn't do in the 1990s; come out of their province two years running. If they go on and do the double in terms of All Irelands; well, they will be able to lay claim to the title team of the decade.
Consistent winning form has been the illusive ingredient for the top teams over the past five years. Consistency was certainly absent in Croke Park last week when Wexford came from five points behind at half time to win by six. Kilkenny, like beaten Munster finalists Tipperary a fortnight ago, live to fight again and a rematch between these two Leinster teams is not beyond the realms of possibility.
Dismal Celtic
Where is Jorge Cadete? Can he please phone Celtic General Manager Jock Brown and tell him that come August he will be back at Parkhead? Even the Hepatitis stricken Cadete would be an improvement on the form shown in their two matches this week in Ireland. Combined with the still unresolved problems over Paolo Di Canio's relationship with Fergus McCann it looks like it's going to be another bleak and hopeless season. Does it really have to be like this?
BY NEIL FORDE
The Formula One championship which is to be floated on the stock market is an example of just how over the top modern sport can get. Hundreds of millions of pounds are poured into developing the technology to drive at incredible speeds. Precious metals and scarce fossil fuels are expended without care.
As a spectator sport it leaves a lot to be desired. Give me a Lada demolition derby any day. At least there the chances of actually finishing a race are massively higher than the spectacle we witnessed last weekend.
Tour De France irony
One of the cruellest sporting ironies of the decade must be the blanket coverage available on Eurosport of the Tour De France. As a child I used to listen to what was then Raidio Eireann for the brief two minute sport bulletins to hear news of Seán Kelly's progress in the great race. There was almost no television coverage, not even the half hour Channel Four round up. With luck there might be a ten minute segment on Saturday's Grandstand.
During all of this time Kelly was the outstanding cyclist of his generation, winning the Green Jersey and countless other races.
When Stephen Roche won the tour in 1987, RTE relented and provided television coverage, but only when he grabbed the Yellow Jersey.
In the week that's in it we should also remember the antics of Charlie Haughey who used the Dublin Government jet to fly to Paris so he could upstage Roche on the winner's podium.
Now we have endless coverage and no Irish involvement except for Stephen Roche commentating. Next year there will be three stages of the Tour in Ireland and no replacements for Roche and Kelly. Well here's at least one failure you cannot blame on not having a 50 metre swimming pool.
Wexford 2-14, Kilkenny 1-11
Wexford have finally arrived as a hurling force. Of course I know that they are the All-Ireland champions, but last Sunday they truly arrived by winning two Leinster titles back to back, doing what Clare, Offaly and Limerick couldn't do in the 1990s; come out of their province two years running. If they go on and do the double in terms of All Irelands; well, they will be able to lay claim to the title team of the decade.
Consistent winning form has been the illusive ingredient for the top teams over the past five years. Consistency was certainly absent in Croke Park last week when Wexford came from five points behind at half time to win by six. Kilkenny, like beaten Munster finalists Tipperary a fortnight ago, live to fight again and a rematch between these two Leinster teams is not beyond the realms of possibility.
Dismal Celtic
Where is Jorge Cadete? Can he please phone Celtic General Manager Jock Brown and tell him that come August he will be back at Parkhead? Even the Hepatitis stricken Cadete would be an improvement on the form shown in their two matches this week in Ireland. Combined with the still unresolved problems over Paolo Di Canio's relationship with Fergus McCann it looks like it's going to be another bleak and hopeless season. Does it really have to be like this?
BY NEIL FORDE