True Dedication

Recently I find that my mind is never far from the upcoming appointment of the new Galway hurling manager, which I feel is the most important decision for the counties hurling in 20 years. But as everyone is talking about or praying for the appointment of the Clare man Ger loughnane to the post, I can’t help but think back to the last time I witnessed truly great leadership by a Clare man.

That act of, dare I say heroism, occurred a month ago in the Irish Poker Cup, when the Clare captain, after paying €560 to play in the event, got himself knocked out of the tournament so he could be available to advise and support the other players on the team. Whereas some people would say that there was a number of flaws in this strategy, I applaud the single minded dedication to win shown by the captain, Keith “I can’t win a fucking thing since I lost my lucky hat” McInerney.

Whether this tactic will be adopted by all Clare men and, that given the job, Ger loughnane would break one of his players legs, don the colours and a helmet, and roam around the pitch during the games giving support and tactical advice to his team remains to be seen, and if he wants to let him. Lets face it, we’ll try anything to get our hands on Liam again.

A Sad Day I was very saddened by the recent news that one of the biggest names in Irish Poker, Donal MacAonghusa (wow 16 letters, now that’s impressive), retired from Poker Events. The letters, emails, telegrams and forum posts have been streaming in for all around the world since, thanking Donald for his hard work and wishing him well for the future. On hearing the news, speaking for his home in Paris, Padriag Parkinson, one the most renowned names in world poker, simple said “Jesus, how much did he steal?”. A beautiful sentiment that I feel we can all share in. But never fear, pokerevents spared no time or expense in finding an able replacement for Donal in the form of Ross “Mighty Mouse” O Boyle. MR F(intan) has decided to go with the Alex Ferguson methodology and rather then pay big money for outside talent, he has plucked his man from the relative obscurity of the pokerevents youth team and, one can only assume, will personally take him under his wing and groom he to be the next great midfield general. The difficulties with the suddenness of this appointment were very apparent this Wednesday night in the Westwood, as Ross wandered around the room looking a little dazed, wearing his sky blue confirmation shirt and his new black pants that desperately needed to be taken up and have the price tag removed from the arse. But give him time, I feel that if he could show just a little less regard for the players and their wishes he could be one of the greats. But seriously, best of luck Ross. Just two small pieces of advice for ya, buy a tie and never ever listen to a poker player about anything, if their lips are moving they are trying to pull a fast one or, worse, tell you a bad beat story.