Youâre not suggesting that Joe would ever make stuff up??? 
That anecdote he told on Eir last week about Paul Mannionâs Da going off looking for a stud for Paul, the morning of the Final in 2019 was definitely made up anyway.
The greatest GGA player of the last 10 years has called GGA a hobby. That article is at odds with this
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100 pc. Heâs constantly bemoaning the fact that football is too serious and no room for a few pints and characters. He absolutely loved that fermanagh full forward a few years ago who ate pizza.
I actually think the whole article is some sort of dig at aidan o shea and mayo who dont seem to have any off field discipline problems.
Joeâs article skips over Jack McCaffrey - doesnât fit Joeâs narrative.
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And Rory o Carroll and mannion
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And the lad who crashed his car drunk
Joe is a man of many contradictions
It was the year that Mickey Harte finally landed his dream job, Dublin won six in a row, and Donald Trump lost the presidency.
Trumpâs America is ending as it began. A sociopath, after all, cannot change his sociospots. Last week, his favourite lawyer, Lin Wood, claimed that the US Supreme Courtâs Chief Justice John Roberts was a murderer and paedophile. He also tweeted that âJeffrey Epstein is alive!â Interestingly, Elvis said exactly the same thing to me when I bumped into him outside Tesco on the Lisburn Road on Friday.
On Wednesday, Trump attacked Georgiaâs Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensberger, tweeting that Bradâs brother Ron âworks for China. So disgusting!â When it was pointed out to him that Brad does not have a brother called Ron and he has never been in China, Trump called it âfake newsâ. Wouldnât it be nice to be standing behind Trump as a high-dropping ball came into the crowded square?
Speaking of fake news, Mayo were happy to turn up in yet another All-Ireland final, without having the slightest possibility of winning it. James Horanâs team remind me of the blond chap with the winning smile and terrific-looking CV who creates an impression of unbeatability before being fired in the first round of The Apprentice.
At least Mayo were happy to be there, which is more than can be said for Waterford, the critters. When they took their places for the throw-in in the All-Ireland hurling final they looked tiny beside the Limerick men, who sport the physiques of a Russian superheavyweight boxing team from the 1980s.
It reminded me of a championship match we played against Castledawson in the early '90s. Eunan OâKane, an eccentric genius who had led Derry minors to an exhilirating All-Ireland title a year earlier, was chosen at right corner forward, with me at right half. Just before throw in, Eunan walked past me and said, âIâm not marking that man, heâs a bodybuilder. Look at the f*****g size of him,â and headed for the sideline. He explained his situation to Andy Murphy, our manager, who burst out laughing. Head shaking with mirth, Andy signalled for me to move to the corner. Eunan duly took his place at right half and off we went. Problem solved.
No such luck for Waterford, who were badly beaten up like a pub team playing the All Blacks. Limerickâs revolutionary anti-opposition puck-out system, their youth, power, skill and that unique style of theirs - half rugby league, half hurling - strongly suggests they can build a dynasty to rival Dublinâs.
Earlier last year, Shinji Sugiura, a biologist at Kobe University in Japan, was studying the Regimbartia Attenuata beetle. The beetle co-exists with frogs, which was perplexing to Shinji, since the frogs eat them. When he looked more closely, however, he made an amazing discovery. As soon as the frog swallows the beetle, it scuttles quickly down the frogâs gut and frantically attacks its back passage, forcing it to poop. The beetle emerges, as Professor Sugiura put it, âslightly soiled, but aliveâ. Which is precisely what happens to Dublinâs opponents in the football championship.
After this yearâs final, Niall Scully said: âWe love making each other happy.â This seemingly corny remark brings us as close as we can get to their secret. They are proud of each other. They revel in each otherâs company. Witness Paul Mannion dancing in the Croke Park changing room after the final like Fr Noel Furlong dancing in the tiny caravan in Father Ted, un-selfconscious and completely at his ease as his team-mates clap and join in.
They play for something good but indefinable. Their deepest instinct is not to let each other down. This is why they work exhaustively on honing their skills and fitness. What binds them is a fraternity of skill and suffering and loyalty and humility. It is this fraternity that gives each member of the group the confidence and freedom to make decisive contributions.
Think of Eoin Murchanâs wonderful, out-of-the-blue solo goal to crack Kerry in the 2019 replayed final. Or Con OâCallaghanâs extraordinarily assured debut season, when he scored audacious solo goals in the semi-final against Tyrone and final against Mayo as though he were a multi-decorated veteran. This culture creates real confidence, the confidence of each member of the group to make decisive contributions when the moment comes. It is something more than winning. It is more akin to honour.
On the Ulster football front, Louthâs loss is Tyroneâs gain. Louth was Mickeyâs dream job and while he is not giving interviews after Louth games, Tyrone will become a serious threat to Dublin. With Fergal Logan in charge, the culture will be very different. People will be chosen strictly on merit. Attacking play will be restored. Tyrone will play like, well, Tyrone. After Dublin, they have the best group of forwards in the country, many of whom have not been given a fair chance to date.
If potential can become reality, then they will seriously compete for a fourth All-Ireland, the son of God electrifying Croke Park the way God the Father did in the '90s and noughties. They are a group that is serious about football, deeply serious, which is the bare minimum requirement for avoiding being swallowed by the frog.
Ironically, when Mayo last won the All-Ireland in 1951, it was a frog, SeĂĄn âThe Frogâ Wynne (nicknamed this because although he was a small man he had an extraordinary leap) who was their goalkeeper. That group of players, who won two in a row in 1950 and '51, were pioneers. After they had conceded three goals against Meath in the 1949 semi-final, losing in the process, team captain SeĂĄn Flanagan organised a trip to Highbury for his defenders and goalie to observe and learn from the method of Arsenalâs back four and goalkeeper.
At that time, Arsenal had perhaps the most formidable defence in the league. In 1950, Mayo were ready, throttling their opponents on their way to the All-Ireland, conceding two goals in the entire championship and decisively beating all comers. In 1951, they repeated that triumph, their superb defence conceding a miserly average of eight points per game in their five-game campaign, with Wynne imperious throughout.
I have become friendly with SeĂĄnâs son Eamonn, nicknamed âFrogspawnâ, who recently loaned me a marvellous scrapbook covering his fatherâs magnificent career. Eamonn is in Mayo General Hospital over Christmas and the New Year recovering from a serious event and all of his many friends were thrilled when he was able to take part in a Zoom call a few days ago. I wish Eamonn and all of you well, even Trump supporters.
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Shots fired at the Limerick mafia.
The last thing we need is Joe Brolly on our case.
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Nobody say anything. Quiet as fuck now. And he might walk passed and leave us alone.
If he senses a fight heâll dedicate his life to bringing them down
This virus has a left an awful lot of lads with too much time on their hands
past
Poor Joe is caught in a vortex of US politics Twitter
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Noted and thanks
He has turned in to an awful drone
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Joe has written the same article now for about two years.
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Joe shoehorns some fairly well told anecdotes into his weekly ode to The Democratic Party. Everything he says about Gormley is true but very mild - the story about the Miku is interesting, chances are Gormley got there before Kondo.
A sort of return to form.
Anybody do the favour on his offering from todayâs indo? GRMA