Everyone seems to be struggling for the spots lately. Minor one for me this weekend.
On my way to UCD gym on Sunday morning, spotted former Government press secretary PJ Mara.
Another one from a trip to UCD gym last night, spotted Marty Morrissey on his way to play some 5-a-side. Always like Marty since his commentary on the 1996 Leinster SHC Final, used some phrases that day that still send a shiver down my spine.
My favourite was probably when Larry Murphy scored a superhuman point from his own 65 at the touchline right under the Cusack Stand:
āAnd scooping it up, almost shovel like, is Larry Murphy, who sends the ball straight over the bar! What a point! What a man! Larry Murphy!ā
Another from that day, after Tom Dempseys goal in the second half:
āTears in the eyes of a Wexford man alreadyā¦No wonder you take off your hat Sir - today could be your dayā.
It really is pathetic that Iām still on about a victory from 10 years ago.
PJ Mara would be a good one alright, especially at his age and him being in a gym.
Now with the move to the new board I think we should just clarify the celeb spotting rules again. I suppose the two main ones are:
- Spots that friends, family or acquaintances make donāt count. It has to be you doing the spotting.
- It doesnāt count if itās the celeb somewhere in their line of work, e.g. spotting a football player at a football match.
I think we can allow a little bit of leeway in the second one, for example going to a Morrissey gig and saying āIāve spotted Morrisseyā doesnāt count but say you were in the queue for a beer there and Bono strolled by then Iād class that as a fair spot. Any thoughts? I think this one is open to debate.
I also think we should give as much detail as possible, what they were wearing, who they were with, what their manner was like etc etc.
It will help us to build up a profile of the class of celeb we should invite to the freekick bash.
What if one isnāt too sure of a spot, lets say for examples sake, a well-known celeb/sportsstar (in their particular sport and part of the world) was in your local pub, but noone would really notice him (as they only know gaa & soccer) and the spotter was absolutely blind drunk and is therefore not too sure if it was them.
Whats the rule?
That sportstar would be a massive invitee to the freekick bash!
Donāt let alcohol issues get in the way of a good celeb spot.
Spill.
We probably need a committee or a working group to flesh out the finer details of this one. Iāll give an example of a spot I would have claimed if the thread had been open when I made it.
Example:
At the Ireland-Sweden friendly match in Lansdown Road in March, former Rep. of Ireland goalkeeper Packie Bonner was sitting directly behind me in the West Stand.
I would argue that this is a āspotā, firstly Bonner was there only as a spectator like myself and secondly because of my proximity to him, i.e. it was a sighting from afar. However Iām sure many of you would disagree, I am aware a sighting of former GAA President Sean Kelly at Croke Park was previously ruled out.
Should have clarified this one, I was the one going to the gym. He was headed elsewhere.
Iām fairly sure I saw Merv Hughes the former Australian cricketer in one of my locals last summer.
It was before the ashes series but after the 20-20 matches and around the time of the one-dayer series.
I recognised him cos of his huge tash and massive build (major jimmy kelly on him too, if memory serves me right). I know nobody else in the pub recognised him as its a massive GAA pub.
Again this is subject to the amount of alcohol that had been imbibed before the spot. But I reckon it was him
Rule 3) It has to be recent.
24 hours is too short. It should be a week anyway, what if you make a cracking spot on a Friday evening and donāt have access to the internet again until Monday morning? Likewise if someone is away on holidays and makes a spot surely they can wait until they come back to let us all know about it?
Didn?t post it earlier as I?m not sure if it counts outside county circles but said I would seeing as the spot was in Dublin.
On Tuesday evening I saw Wexford hurler, David ?Doc? O?Connor, here in Dublin. He was wearing a suit and looked very professional but also quite goofy too. Apparently, he?s a decent chap but he looked like a right fool the other day walking along eating what appeared to be 2 chocolate chip cookies at once.
I probably should have posted this within the 24 hour deadline but preying on my mind was the fact that he?s such a minor celebrity and I didn?t know what to do.
But is he on Gavin Lambe Murphy?s team though? You know the one that Brian Kennedy and Stephen Gately line out for?
That cooooont, was in college with him. Not worthy of a post, which is the case for most inter county players. DJ was and is the only genuine GAA player with celebrity status. A genius.
Anyway that lad is a complete no mark, heās not on Gavin Lamb Murpyās team though. Iām pretty sure about that, even saw him with a bird one time. The story in college was that one of his cousins was of that inclination and was in college round the same time. Iām pretty sure its the bent lookin fook that used to hang around with the Wexico commerce(99-02) gang in UCD who went to work for and was subsequently fooked out of IIB.Heard nothin about the cooont since, maybe bandage could fill me in?
Saw that lanky streak of piss, ex Irish International (i hope), most capped Irish rugby player, foremost Ruck Inspector Malcolm āiām not as good as POC or DOCā OāKelly at the Radiohead Concert in Marley Park last night.
Well, to be fair he does have an absolutely cracking taste in music.
I felt sorry for the people standing behind him.
Iād argue the point, but heās well-proven himself and doesnāt need me to defend him.
OāConnell is a legend, but I look forward to seeing Donkey OāCallaghan earning his place; he hasnāt done it yet.
Bring Back Big Bob I say.
I knew youād respond ;), Bob has a chance tonight to show Leinster what they are missing, Leinster and Ireland need the competition in the second row, Munster are lucky that MOD is always pushing DOC.
He did go missing in the HC semi-final last season though, and his lineout was taken apart.
Iād possibly have MOD ahead of DOC to be honest. Heās a cracking player. With Wyatt as well Munster have 4 top class second rowers this season.
Wyattās only there for Magners/Bulmers league
Crazy choice by Wyatt imo. Even if he plays better than them, no chance heās ever going to get in ahead of the local heroes.
no chance, but back up obviously suits him fine